Oslo, Norway – September 10, 2026 – Opera [NASDAQ: OPRA] is inverting the vertical tab strip in Opera One, its flagship browser for desktop. From today the “New tab” button sits at the top of the strip instead of the bottom, and newly opened tabs appear at the top rather than the bottom, except within a Tab Island.
These changes make Opera the first major browser to place both the “New tab” button and the newest tabs at the top of the vertical tab strip by default. Opera released Vertical Tabs in July this year, following the same layout as other browsers, and users who prefer that layout can restore it in the Easy Setup menu.
“We shipped the vertical tab layout that everyone else uses because we thought switching browsers should feel familiar. A few months of feedback told us that familiar doesn’t mean good,” said Mohamed Salah, Senior Director of Product at Opera. “Most browsers would take five years to change this. We’d rather admit a mistake after two months than defend it for five years.”
The feedback reached Opera through its forums, direct channels and a survey of Vertical Tabs users. The request is not confined to Opera as users have been asking for this layout in the public feedback channels of four other browsers for years, and none of those browsers has shipped it as a default.
Vertical Tabs can be more efficient
In horizontal tabs, the “New tab” button sits a few pixels from the address bar. The standard vertical tab layout moves it to the bottom of the strip, and once enough tabs are open to fill the strip it stays fixed at the bottom of the window while most other browser tools remain at the top. That is roughly 950 pixels on a 1080p display, which is close to the full height of the browser window.
Opening a tab therefore means moving the cursor down the height of the window and back up to the address bar. An Opera survey* among Vertical Tabs users found that over 73% open new tabs by clicking the button rather than using a keyboard shortcut or other methods (such as a link). This makes that round trip their default path to open new tabs rather than an occasional one.
Moving the button to the top removes that round trip.
“Opening a new tab is one of the most common things anyone does in a browser, and with our first iteration of the vertical tab layout we put that button down with the settings and sidebar controls. This is a corner you visit once in a while, not the one where we put things you use every minute. We did what everyone else did, and it was a mistake.” Said Salah.
To try the new Vertical Tabs in Opera, users can download the browser here.
*Survey of Vertical Tabs users: n=4900 users surveyed in August/September 2026 among Opera One desktop users with Vertical Tabs enabled.
About Opera
Opera is a user-centric and innovative software company focused on enabling the best possible internet browsing experience across devices. Hundreds of millions of people use Opera browsers for their unique features on mobile phones and desktop computers. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Opera is publicly listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol OPRA. Download Opera browsers and other Opera products at opera.com. Learn more at investor.opera.com.