Files Used by Opera for Windows
This document explains the purpose of the files used by Opera for Windows. This can be useful for everyone who likes to tinker with their copy of Opera, for those who manually make separate profiles for different uses or users, or for those who have tinkered and would like to know how to survive a new installation process.
Warning: Tinkering can make your copy of Opera unusable, or cause data loss. Do not tweak while Opera is running, except when told otherwise. Deleting files will cause data loss! Always make backups before making any changes.
This document was last updated for Opera 9.10.
Note: The number in some file names does not correspond to the current Opera version but to the version in which the file format was last changed.
Profiles
There are three categories of Opera files: installation files, profile files, and mail files.
- Installation files
- are placed on your hard disk by the installer, in or directly under your chosen installation directory. They will generally be overwritten when you upgrade or reinstall Opera in the same directory.
- Profile files
- contain all data related to your preferences and browsing history and are generally not overwritten on upgrade or reinstall.
- Mail files
- contain all data related to your mail, newsgroups, newsfeeds, and chat accounts. They are generally not overwritten when you upgrade or reinstall Opera.
When you install Opera for the first time, you will get a choice between:
- Using a single profile for a single-user installation. The Profile and Mail directories will then be created directly under the main installation directory, on the first run of Opera.
- Using the Windows user system (available since Windows 98SE, used by default on Windows 2000 and Windows XP). The Profile and Mail directories will be created under <system application data folder>\Opera\<Opera installation folder name>\, the first time a user runs Opera.
Your choice between single-user and multi-user is stored in the parameter Multi User in OperaDef6.ini. This determines the location where Opera will look for the profile data when it is started. If you upgrade an existing installation, the choice will not be offered. In that case the existing settings will always be preserved, and the existing profile or profiles will automatically be reused. The active paths for the Profile and Mail directory can be found under .
Directories
Installation files
main installation directory |
classes |
defaults |
locale |
program |
skin |
styles |
uninst
Profile files
main profile directory |
bt_metadata |
cache4 |
images |
keyboard |
menu |
mouse |
opcache |
sessions |
skin |
styles |
toolbar |
UnInst |
voice
widgets
Mail files
main mail directory |
autofilter |
indexer |
lexicon |
store
Installation files
Main installation directory
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| c3nform.vxml |
text/xml |
Yes |
Vxml form for c3n (Command, control, content navigation); installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| chartables.bin |
binary |
Yes |
Tables for Unicode support |
| dialog.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Definition of all dialogs |
| E1FKAL00.LE |
binary |
Yes |
Voice related, for the high quality text-to-speech; installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| E1MKAN00.LE |
binary |
Yes |
| ecictts.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Voice related; installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| ecienus.syn |
binary |
Yes |
| ecissml.dll |
binary |
Yes |
| english.lng |
text/plain |
Yes |
Language file, contains all text strings in Opera's user interface; when using the International installer more than 30 files for other languages are included in the locale subdirectory [1] |
| en-us.bin |
binary |
Yes |
Voice related; installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| fastforward.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Defines what activates the Fast Forward button; instructions for customization are included in the file |
| html40_entities.dtd |
text/dtd |
Yes |
Character entity set |
| License.txt |
text/plain |
Yes |
License governing the use of the software |
| lngcode.txt |
text/plain |
Yes |
List of languages and their two letter code, used in Opera when choosing preferred language () |
| Opera.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Opera program library, the main part of Opera |
| Opera.exe |
binary |
Yes |
Opera executable; wrapper for opera.dll |
| OperaDef6.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Stored default program settings; see also Opera6.ini explained |
| ouniansi.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Unicode to ANSI conversion for Windows 95/98/ME |
| plugin-ignore.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
List of plug-ins that Opera will ignore because they cause serious problems for the browser |
| prondict.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Editable pronunciation dictionary for Voice. Installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| ready.pcm |
binary |
Yes |
Voice related; installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| search.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Default settings for the search engines available in Opera |
| spellcheck.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Spelling check plug-in that connects Opera to Aspell |
| spellcheck.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Specifies which plug-in is used to check spelling |
| vxm.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Voice related; installed automatically when enabling "Voice" in Opera |
| vxmconfig.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
| vxmdict_en-us.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
| vxmplugin.dll |
binary |
Yes |
| vxmservices.dll |
binary |
Yes |
| xmlparse.dll |
binary |
Yes |
XML parser module, only used by Voice in Opera 9 |
classes
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| opera.jar |
binary |
Yes |
Connection to the Java Runtime Engine |
| opera.policy |
text/plain |
Yes |
Sets permissions for Java applets running inside Opera [2] |
defaults
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| embedded_keyboard.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Keyboard shortcuts configuration used when the opera.dll is embedded in another application |
| embedded_menu.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Menu configuration used when the opera.dll is embedded in another application |
| embedded_mouse.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Mouse gestures configuration used when the opera.dll is embedded in another application |
| operadef6.adr |
text/plain |
Yes |
Default bookmarks file, will be copied to opera6.adr in new profiles |
| standard_keyboard.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Opera standard keyboard shortcuts configuration [3] |
| standard_menu.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Opera standard menu configuration [3] |
| standard_mouse.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Opera standard mouse gestures configuration [3] |
| standard_toolbar.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Opera standard toolbar configuration [3] |
| standard_voice.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Opera standard voice commands configuration [3] |
locale
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| *.lng |
text/plain |
Yes |
Collection of language files for the user interface, in a subdirectory for each language. Only installed when using the International installer. When switching preferred language in the Preferences (General tab), the matching user interface language file will be selected automatically when available. [1] |
program
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| netscape.exe |
binary |
Yes |
A very simple program that starts Opera. Some plug-ins will only install in the plug-ins folder when there is a file called 'netscape.exe' in a directory called 'programs' one level up. 'Netscape' is started after installing those plug-ins. |
| plugins\npds.zip |
binary |
Yes |
Windows Media Player related |
| plugins\npdsplay.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Windows Media Player related |
| plugins\npwmsdrm.dll |
binary |
Yes |
Windows Media Player related |
| plugins\np*.dll |
binary |
No |
Other installed plugins. More info on plugins for Opera. |
skin
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| standard_skin |
zip |
Yes |
Opera Standard skin |
| windows_skin |
zip |
Yes |
Windows Native skin |
styles
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| images\*.png |
image/png |
Yes |
Collection of images used by the style sheets |
| user\*.css |
text/css |
Yes |
A collection of user style sheets. These will seed the profile\styles directory. |
| about.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the About Opera page |
| cache.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the Cache page |
| certinfo.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the certificate information dialog |
| config.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the Preferences editor |
| contentblock.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the display of pages in content blocking mode |
| dir.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of directory listings |
| drives.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the local drives page |
| error.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of error pages |
| history.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the History page |
| im.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of chat pages |
| image.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of separately displayed images |
| info.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the Info panel |
| mime.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of e-mail messages and newsgroup articles |
| plugins.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of the Plugins page |
| warning.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of Fraud Protection warning pages |
| wml.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of WML pages |
uninst (only with Classic installer)
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| backup\*.* |
various |
No |
Files that are replaced during the installation with the Classic installer are backed up in this folder, to be restored if you opt for a 'rollback' uninstallation. If you perform multiple installations in the same directory, duplicate backup files will be saved with numbered file extensions. |
| install.log |
text/plain |
no (logs for subsequent installations are appended to this file) |
Logs all actions (file copied, directories made, registry entries made etc) performed during installation; needed for properly uninstalling Opera |
| OpUninst.exe |
binary |
Yes |
Provides specific helper functions during uninstalling |
| OpUninst.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Data for the Uninstall program |
| unwise.exe |
binary |
Yes |
Generic WISE uninstall program |
| UnWise.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Text strings for the Uninstall program |
Profile files
Main profile directory
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| browser.js |
text/plain |
Yes, after performing a manual version check and once a week automatically |
Browser JavaScript file, automatically downloaded and updated if Browser JavaScript is enabled. The file will be ignored if edited locally. Use User JavaScript for your own scripts. |
| contacts.adr |
text/plain |
No |
Stored contacts used for e-mail and chat. The file can be saved and renamed, and another file can be selected from the context menu on the Contacts panel |
| cookies4.dat |
binary (see description) |
No |
Stored cookies. The file is removable, but cookies can also be erased using in Opera [5] |
| download.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored information about recent downloads to allow resuming of downloads that were interrupted. To adjust the number of days to keep download data available, change KeepEntriesDays in opera:config |
| global.dat |
text/plain |
No |
Stored global history. Properties are set in . URLs stored here are used for the auto-complete function, and can be checked from . The file is removable, but you can also use 'Delete private data' to delete your browsing history. |
| notes.adr |
text/plain |
No |
Stored notes from the Notes panel |
| opcacrt6.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored CA certificates. Read more about certificates |
| opcert6.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored personal certificates and private keys. Read more about certificates |
| opera.dir |
text/plain |
No |
Stored 'Go to page' dialog history; can be accessed from the "Go to" dialog, or by clicking on the arrow to the right of the input field. The file is removable, but its contents can also be cleared by using 'Delete private data' in Opera. |
| opera6.adr |
text/plain |
No |
Stored bookmarks. The file can be saved and renamed, and another file can be selected from the context menu on the Bookmarks panel. Several third-party bookmark managers provide functionality to export to other formats. |
| opera6.ini |
text/plain |
no [6] |
Stored program settings. If the file is removed, a new opera6.ini will be created by Opera on the next run, containing some basic settings. Use the command line switch /settings and add the file name/path to run Opera with a different settings file. See Opera6.ini Settings Explained and the System administrator's handbook for more information. This way you can make multiple shortcuts, which start Opera with different settings. (Use of the /settings parameter was broken in Opera 9.0-9.02.) Before reusing an opera6.ini file in another directory, first edit all the file paths to conform to the new location, to prevent Opera from storing user data in the old location. |
| oprand.dat |
binary |
No |
Random seed file, used for generating keys |
| opssl6.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored SSL preferences |
| override.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Stored site specific preferences. Access from webpage context menu, and for all sites from . Can be hand-edited as well to allow more overrides than available in the dialog, but not all preferences can be set on a per-site basis. |
| override_downloaded.ini |
text/plain |
Yes, after performing a manual version check and once a week automatically |
Automatically downloaded file with site specific preferences. User edits are kept unless they collide with items in the downloaded file. |
| search.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Settings for the search engines available in Opera, and where they are displayed in the browser. Only overwritten when the version number in the existing file is lower than that of the search.ini file in the main directory |
| spellcheck.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Stored settings for the spelling check engine, like preferred language |
| urlfilter.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Stored content blocking settings. The settings can be accessed from the webpage context menu, and for all sites from . The file can be hand-edited as well. |
| vlink4.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored visited links. The file is removable, but its contents can also be cleared by using 'Delete private data' in Opera [5] |
| wand.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored login data. The file is removable, but to clear all Wand data, you can also use 'Delete private data'. Single entries can be removed using the 'Server Manager' dialog |
| widgets.adr |
text/plain |
No |
Stored settings for widgets, used to populate the Widgets menu and panel, to preserve the state of widgets (location/zoom) when widgets are closed and to determine how the widget should be uninstalled. When it is marked with 'clean uninstall', all widget data, including the widget package will be deleted when it is uninstalled. |
bt_metadata
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| * |
binary |
No |
Stores BitTorrent metadata about which blocks have been downloaded and CRC checked, so Opera does not always need to recheck the whole torrent when you restart a stopped one. |
cache4
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| dcache4.url |
binary |
No |
Index of the cached files. dcache4.url is updated on closing Opera. Cache settings can be found at . The files are removable, but emptying the cache can also be done by using 'Delete private data' in Opera [5] |
| opr*.* |
same as the original files |
No |
the cached files |
images
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| *.* |
image/* |
No |
Icon files, shown in bookmarks. Display settings are found in |
keyboard
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| standard_keyboard (1).ini |
text/plain |
No |
Keyboard shortcut setup file automatically created after editing keyboard shortcuts in . The file contains only the changed sections; missing sections will be taken from standard_keyboard.ini in the 'defaults' directory. Keyboard shortcut setup files can also be downloaded from the My Opera community |
| *.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Downloaded or manually copied and renamed keyboard shortcut setup files |
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| standard_menu (1).ini |
text/plain |
No |
Menu setup file created after clicking 'Duplicate' in . The file contains only the changed sections; missing sections will be taken from standard_menu.ini in the 'defaults' directory. Menu setup files can also be downloaded from the My Opera community |
| *.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Downloaded or manually copied and renamed menu setup files |
mouse
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| standard_mouse (1).ini |
text/plain |
No |
Mouse gesture setup file automatically created after editing mouse gestures in . The file contains only the changed sections; missing sections will be taken from standard_mouse.ini in the 'defaults' directory. Mouse gesture setup files can also be downloaded from the My Opera community |
| *.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Downloaded or manually copied and renamed mouse gestures setup files |
opcache
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| dcache4.url |
binary |
No |
A special cache that will not be cleared, containing content received from trusted servers. By default only Opera's help files. The corresponding setting is NeverFlushTrustedServers in opera:config. (Opera 9.0x placed this directory under the main installation directory instead of under the Profile directory) |
| opr*.* |
Same as the original files |
No |
sessions
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| autosave.win |
text/plain |
No |
Stored snapshot of the currently opened pages and windows in 'Saved windows' format. Used for startup option "Continue from last time", which is the default option on the recovery dialog after a browser crash. |
| *.win |
text/plain |
No |
Manually saved sessions |
skin
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| *.zip |
zip |
No |
Downloaded third-party skins. You can get more skins from the My Opera community |
| *.* |
image/* |
No |
Images from the Web that you choose to use as Windows desktop background will be stored here. If you select an image more than once, multiple copies will be saved |
styles
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| user\*.css |
text/css |
No |
A collection of user style sheets, copied over from styles when a profile is first created by Opera. Access them from ; see Opera Style Sheets for descriptions. You can add you own user style sheets to this list by placing them in this directory. [4] |
toolbar
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| standard_toolbar (1).ini |
text/plain |
No |
Toolbar setup file automatically created after changing the toolbar setup (hiding or showing of toolbars, panels; removing or adding buttons, and so on). The file contains only the changed sections; missing sections will be taken from standard_toolbar.ini in the 'defaults' directory. Toolbar setup files can also be downloaded from the My Opera community |
| *.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Downloaded or manually copied and renamed toolbar setup files |
UnInst
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| DfltBrws\32\*.* |
binary |
No, only on changing the default browser settings |
For each file type or protocol that gets associated with Opera, a file is saved containing the previous application that was associated with it. This way it is possible to restore the association to the previous owner. Changing associations can be done
- from ,
- by changing the File associations from Windows Explorer,
- by hacking the Windows registry (not recommended)
It is only possible to restore previous associations automatically when you use Opera's Preferences. |
voice
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| standard_voice (1).ini |
text/plain |
No |
Voice commands setup file automatically created after editing voice commands in . The file contains the changed sections only; missing sections will be taken from standard_voice.ini in the 'defaults' directory |
| *.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Downloaded or manually copied and renamed voice setup files |
widgets
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| subdirectories |
various |
No |
Local storage for widgets, as cookies and cache are kept separate from Opera's normal cache |
| *.zip |
binary |
No |
Widget files; can be downloaded and automatically installed from widgets.opera.com. Run and manage downloaded widgets from the Widgets menu. For debugging, you can also start an unzipped widget by dragging the config.xml to the browser. |
| widgets.dat |
text/xml |
No |
Widget data; associates the widget zip files with the local storage directories |
Mail files
Main mail directory
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| accounts.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Stored settings for mail, newsgroups, chat, and newsfeed accounts. Not all items found in accounts.ini are active -- see also the Opera Mail Tutorial |
| imp.dat |
text/plain |
No |
Stored location of the last used import folder |
| incoming*.txt |
text/plain |
No |
Stored data on received messages for POP e-mail accounts, subscribed folders for IMAP accounts, used rooms and settings for IRC accounts, newsrc file for news accounts, and known feeds for the newsfeeds account |
| index.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Data and settings for all items in the Mail panel |
| mailbase.dat |
binary |
No |
Database of received messages |
| *.newsrc |
text/plain |
No |
List of newsgroups on server, and which postings have already been seen on subscribed groups |
| signature*.txt |
text/plain |
No |
Signature for each account, will be inserted into messages in the compose window. Can be changed from the account properties in Opera Mail. Opera will automatically add the signature delimiter "-- " if it is not present in the signature itself |
autofilter
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| filter_8.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Data for the learning filter of the Spam view; let the filter learn by adding and removing messages in Opera Mail. Editing these files is strongly discouraged |
| filter_*.ini |
text/plain |
No |
Data for other filters set to 'learn' in the filter properties |
indexer
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| indexer*.dat |
binary |
No |
Index data, determining which messages belong to which views |
lexicon
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| lexicon*.dat |
binary |
No |
Lexicon of all words encountered in messages, to enable fast searching. Removing or hiding this directory will trigger a reindexing of all messages |
store
| Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
| account*/*.mbs |
text/plain |
No |
Mailboxes organized by account and month, containing both in- and outgoing messages; Opera will automatically compress the mbs files when a certain percentage of the messages in it is deleted |
Note 1
Separate language files (including a file containing the default English strings) can be downloaded from the download section of Opera's Web site. The file can be edited locally. Select the file from . If you remove lines from the language file, the default English strings of Opera will be used for the missing strings.
Note 2
Variables from Opera6Def.ini are used in Opera to specify the correct paths to the policy and jar files, so the policy file itself does no longer have editable file paths that need to be edited on moving the main Opera directory after an install.
Note 3
The default setup files should not be modified; instead, use copies in the profile subdirectories.
Note 4
For tips and tricks regarding customization of Opera's style sheets, and to get help in making a nifty user style sheet, visit the newsgroup opera.customize.general, or the Customizing Opera forum.
Note 5
Editable with Joe Segur's Opera File Explorer, a third party helper application.
Note 6
On the first run old settings found in opera6.ini will be upgraded to new format where necessary.
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