The latest update in the Dev channel of the Opera browser, version 86, introduces a new way to navigate through your tabs, particularly beneficial for users who tend to accumulate numerous tabs.
This new feature, called Horizontal tab scrolling, incorporates arrow buttons at each end of the tab bar. Clicking on these arrows enables users to navigate left or right along the tab list. Opera’s tab bar differs from other browsers by adjusting the size of tabs dynamically as more tabs are opened. This can make finding a specific tab challenging, making the new tab navigation feature handy. Nevertheless, at present, the Search Tabs panel remains a preferred method for managing tabs.
After updating to the latest version, some users might initially believe that the horizontal tab scrolling feature is not functional. Firefox offers a similar feature (mouse wheel gesture) that activates with 25 tabs or more. Familiar with this functionality, I assumed Opera might have a comparable requirement and proceeded to open more tabs. The arrow buttons for tab scrolling in Opera do not appear until the entire tab bar is filled. On my 1080p monitor, it took opening 54 tabs for the icons to surface.
Horizontal tab scrolling is activated by default and cannot be directly disabled from the browser’s settings. However, users can change a preference in the opera:flags page. Locate the “Scrollable tab strip” flag, click the drop-down menu next to it, and choose the Disabled option.
For users on the stable channel of the browser, enabling this setting mentioned above allows them to experience horizontal tab scrolling without requiring the dev channel build.
Hide Tabs from the Same Website
Another enhancement in the latest Opera version is the option to conceal the list of tabs from the same website within the tooltip that appears when hovering over a tab. To deactivate this feature, navigate to Settings > Advanced > User interface and toggle off the switch next to “Show tabs from the same domain in tab tooltip.”
New Snapshot Tools in Opera Browser
Opera has introduced a couple of new Snapshot tool enhancements recently. One new tool is a crop feature accessible in the snapshot editor post screenshot capture. This tool functions akin to typical image editors, allowing users to resize the rectangle by dragging its borders.
The second enhancement enables users to capture a Snapshot by selecting text. By highlighting a minimum of 3 words, the “Snapshot” button appears in the pop-up panel, providing a shortcut to save the snapshot as text or an image.
You can download Opera 86 for Windows, macOS, and Linux from the official website.
While the horizontal tab scrolling feature is beneficial, there is room for improvement in its implementation. Personally, I prefer scrolling through tabs using the mouse wheel, a feature currently absent in the application. However, considering Opera’s history of innovative mouse gesture features, it’s plausible to expect this functionality in the future.
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