Vivaldi 7.6 Makes Its Tabs Fully Customizable, Saying That 'Everything' Is Customizable

Vivaldi browser continues the pattern of customization. And version 7.6 introduces refinements aimed at making navigation, tab management, and daily use more practical.

Knowing that all browsers do the same thing, there needs to be something to make one distinguishable from the rest. And Vivaldi is trying to differentiate itself by making things customizable to users' liking. After all, users have different preferences, and that there is no one-size-fits all solution when it comes to addressing this.

First of, users can control the width of tabs, allowing them to stay expanded or collapse neatly depending on the number in use.

Then, the address bar now supports @ shortcuts, letting users search only within tabs, bookmarks, or history by typing commands like @tabs to jump straight to an open tab by name, or @bookmarks and @history when they need to find something fast.

Context menus have been reorganized, presenting fewer but more relevant options. On touchscreens or trackpads, navigation has been improved with swipe gestures that move backward or forward in browsing history.

Vivaldi 7.6 also makes hibernated tabs resume faster.

This should help users when working with sessions that involve many open pages.

The main highlight however, is the 'Tab Button', which centralizes tab-related actions.

From one place, users can see all active tabs, revisit recently closed ones, and detect duplicates. Search and filtering are also available directly through this menu, reducing the need to manually scroll through large tab collections.

The Tab Bar has been made fully customizable. Items can be rearranged, removed, or adjusted to suit personal preferences.

"A tab management game changer! The Tab Button lets you search through open tabs, synced tabs, duplicates and recently closed ones, all in one view. You can select the categories you want to be shown by opening the three-dot menu. Forged for you to rule all your tabs," said Vivaldi.

Security changes are also part of this release.

The built-in ad blocker has been updated to stop certain pop-ups and unwanted windows that attempt to bypass normal blocking rules. These adjustments aim to reduce interruptions while browsing without affecting site functionality.

"The new popup rules will automatically close sneakily-opened tabs or windows that try to sell you something. They target known advertisements, while keeping legitimate site behaviour intact. More control over potential interruptions!" said Vivaldi.

Vivaldi 7.6 does not attempt to redefine the browser experience but instead refines it.

By focusing on how tabs are handled, how menus are organized, and how search functions can be filtered, it offers more precise control over tasks that most browsers handle in a fixed way.