How To Set Up Vivaldi

Vivaldi is a very powerful browser. Its vast complement of useful features puts it near the top of my list of favorite browsers. But all these useful features need some setup time. Vivaldi offers a large amount of configurability, so this article is a recommendation of features that I think are useful to configure and enhance the browsing experience. If you do not like some of the features that I configure, or if you want to go more in-depth than this guide, the browser will still work and will not leak your data.

The first step is to install the browser. Go to vivaldi.com and click the 'download' button to install the app. The installer will ask you to read an EULA, stating that you can't tamper with the browser's code and that Vivaldi won't collect your data. Then it will instruct you to move the browser into your applications folder (Mac) or Windows/Linux equivalent. Once you have done this, open the app to begin setup.

When you open the app, two tabs will be open: the Vivaldi website, which has information about new features, and the setup page. Go to the setup page and select what version you want. For this article, I will go with Classic, but I currently run 'Fully Loaded'. If you want a more minimalist browser, choose Essentials. The Classic package unlocks the side panel, Vivaldi's best feature. Fully Loaded goes a step further with a built-in calendar and mail client. You will then be asked to import bookmarks. Choose your old browser and click 'Import'. Next, you will be asked to pick a theme. After that, choose the position of the tab bar. I recommend using the top or bottom positions, as they take up less space. When you are done, click Finish (first click 'continue' from the tab page).

At this point, the  set-up will move into the settings panel. At the bottom of the side bar, there is a settings icon. Clicking on it opens a new window with settings. Starting in the Appearance section, click 'open settings in a tab'. This will allow the settings panel to open within the main browser window. Next go into Tabs. If you leave many tabs open and don't like them shrinking, enable Horizontal Scrolling. This will allow you to scroll through your tab bar, so your tabs will not shrink. Vivaldi tabs have the close button on the left side. If you are used to right-side close buttons in Chrome or other browsers, move the button to the right by disabling 'On Left Side' under 'Display Close Button'.

Now we will set up the panel. If you are running 'Essentials', skip this step, as your browser does not have a panel. The button on the left of the status bar at the bottom activates the panel. If you don't want the status bar, enable 'Show Panel Toggle' so that you can still activate it after hiding the status bar in the Appearance section. You can add websites to the panel with the + button at the bottom of the panel to view them in the panel. This is especially useful for search engines, allowing you to see search results while browsing the resulting pages. 

Next, go to Search and set your default search engine. You can also use a different engine for private windows. If you don't want the separate search bar, disable it under 'Search Field Display'.

Vivaldi ships with privacy out of the box, but there are a few settings that need to be configured. Go into the Privacy section of the settings panel to begin configuring your privacy. Disable unnecessary Google services (hangouts, DNS, form autofill) to reduce Google data collection. Also disable 'Broadcast IP', as this allows websites to determine your location. Then scroll to the bottom to configure Vivaldi's tracker blocker. I recommend setting it to the highest level of blocking. 

Your browser setup is now complete. You can begin using your browser. For more information or to learn how to use Vivaldi's unique features, visit vivaldi.com.