10 Tricks to Speed Up Your Opera Web Browser

Are you struggling with a slugging Opera browser? You don’t deserve it. Just tweak the speed of your browser and change how you access the internet.

Opera is a reliable browser that has been in the market since 1995. No doubt that it's one of the oldest web browsers. One of the challenges that you're likely to experience when using Opera to access the internet is slowness.

However, that shouldn't worry you because you can solve the existing problems and boost the speed of your Opera browser. The following are some basic tricks that you use to speed up Opera.

1. Clear Browser data

Opera browser saves some data as you use it to access the internet. The saved data can eventually overload the browser and make it slow. That's why it's good to clear your data browser after some time.

The following are basic tips on how to clear Cookies and cache in opera.

Step 1: Click on the Opera menu icon (The red circular icon on the top left) and click “Settings.” Alternatively, you can press “press Alt and P” togetherfor a shortcut.

Step 2: Move to “Privacy & Security” and click on it

Step 3: Browse the page that appears and select “Clear Browsing data” as shown below.

Step 4: Select “Cookies and other site data” and “Cached images and file.” Then click “Clear Browsing data” and you’re done.

2. Disable or Remove Extensions and Plug-ins

You can increase the efficiency of your Opera browser by adding extensions and other plug-ins to it. However, too many extensions can overwhelm your browser and make it sluggish.

You need to remove or disable Opera extensions so that you don’t slow your browser. Here’s to go about it.

Step 1: Click on the Opera menu icon (The red circular icon on the top left)

Step 2:  Select “Extensions” and click

Step 3: Select the extension that you wanna disable and click on the “Disable option” Alternatively, you can toggle the blue button to the left so that it turns grey as shown below.

Step 4: Click on the “X” icon on the upper right to remove an extension

3. Turn off the Opera notifications

Just like other browsers, Opera allows websites to send notifications to users. However, sometimes these notifications become too much and slow the browser.

The following are basic tips on how to turn off opera notifications and boost its speed.

Step 1: Click on the Opera menu icon (The red circular icon on the top left)

Step 2:  Select “Preferences”

Step 3: Move to the sidebar and click “Websites.”

Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom of the page to “Notifications”

Step 5: Choose “Do not allow any site to show desktop notifications.”

Step 6: You can click “Manage exceptions” to control websites that you wanna allow or deny to send notifications.

4. Disable Java Script

You can increase the functionality of your Opera browser by enabling Java Script but doing so can equally slow the browser. That's why you should disable JavaScript if you don’t need it.

Here is a step by guide on how to disable JavaScript on the Opera browser.

Step 1: Click on the Opera menu icon (The red circular icon on the top left) and click “Settings.” Alternatively, you can press “press Alt and P” togetherfor a shortcut.

Step 2: Once another “Settings” page appears, click on “Websites” and disable JavaScript

Step 3: Alternatively, you can go to “Search settings, (Still under settings) and search for ‘JavaScript’. Then disableJavaScript or choose to manage exceptions.

5. Disable Background Sync

Using background sync in the Opera browser allows websites to finish sending and receiving data even if you have closed tabs or web pages. However, Background sync not only consumes too much of your internet bandwidth but also slows the browser.

The following are steps that you can use to disable background synchronization on Opera and boost its speed.

Step 1: Click on the Opera menu icon (The red circular icon on the top left) and click “Settings.”

Alternatively, you can press “press Alt and P” together for a shortcut or enter chrome://settings.

Step 2: Under settings, go to “Show advanced settings”

Step 3: Select “Websites” (on the left side of the settings category)

Step 4: Scroll to “Background sync”

Step 5: Click “Do not allow recently closed sites to finish sending or receiving data” as shown below.

Step 6: Close the “Settings” page and you’re good to go

6. Enable Hardware Acceleration

Opera browser comes with unique features that you can use to enable hardware acceleration and boost its speed. The following is a systematic guide on how you can do it even if you aren’t a tech guru.

Step 1: Click on the Opera menu icon (The red circular icon on the top left) and click “Settings.” Alternatively, you can press “press Alt and P” together for a shortcut to the menu.

Step 2: Scroll down and select settings

Step 3: Under “Settings”, look for the “Advanced” option button and click it

Step 4: Under the expanded menu, select “Browser as shown below”

Step 5: Scroll down to the “System” section.

Step 6: Identify the “Use hardware acceleration when available” switch and toggle it on as shown below.

Step 7: Click the re-launch button to actuate changes.

7. Reset Opera browser

It is normal to interfere with the settings of your Opera browser or even add more features as you use it. Unfortunately, such changes can slow Opera browser even if you have a stable internet connection.

That’s why it’s important to reset Opera after some time to boost its speed.

Step 1:  Open Opera Menu and go to settings

Step 2: Click on “Settings” and scroll down to “Reset settings.”

Step 3: Look for “Restore Settings to their original default” (under reset settings).

Step 4: Click on the “Reset” option and you’re good to go

8. Speed Tweaks

You can use Speed Tweaks add-on to boost the speed of your Opera browser. The add-on comes with seven different tweaks that you can use to accelerate your browser.

Step 1: Open toolbar popup UI

Step 2: Mark the items or options that you want to “tweak.” as shown below.

9. Close the antivirus program

Having an antivirus program on your computer is a good thing. However, it could be the reason why your browser is sluggish. Some antiviruses use many resources from your computer, thus slowing other programs.

Therefore, you need to close the antivirus program to boost the speed of your Opera browser.

10. Use the latest version of Opera

One of the reasons why your Opera browser is slow is that it’s outdated. In that case, the best way to boost Opera speed is by updating it.

Alternatively, you can uninstall the old version and install the latest Opera version from its official website. Here’re simple steps on how to do it.

Step 1: Open the “Opera Menu” (The red circular icon on the top left)

Step 2: Scroll down to the “Update and Recovery” option and click it

Step 3: On the page that appears, click the “Check for update” option

Step 4: Download and install updates

Step 5: Restart your browser to actuate changes

You don’t have to continue using a slow Opera browser when you can tweak its speed without paying even a dime. All you need is to try one of several tips highlighted in this article to accelerate your browser.

Remember that you don’t have to be a tech guru to boost the speed of your Opera browser because the steps listed above are straightforward.