Files Used by Opera for Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris
This document explains the purpose of the files used by Opera for Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris. 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 9.01.
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. 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.
You can install Opera as root or as a regular user.
- If installing as root, installation files will usually be placed in the following directories:
- Linux and Solaris:
/usr/share/opera, /usr/lib/opera, /usr/bin and /etc. - FreeBSD:
/usr/local/share/opera, /usr/local/lib/opera, /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/etc.
- If installing as a regular user, installation files will be placed in the directory you choose to install in, by default
~/share/opera, ~/lib/opera and ~/bin. The files that would normally be installed under /etc will not be installed. - In both cases, profile and mail files will be created in
~/.opera and ~/.opera/mail/ the first time the user runs Opera. Some profile files are not created until the features they belong to are used for the first time.
Directories
Installation files
main installation directory
|
executables and wrapper
|
system default settings
|
plugins
|
images
|
ini
|
java
|
locale
|
skin
|
styles
Profile files
main profile directory
|
bt_metadata
|
cache4
|
cacheOp
|
images
|
keyboard
|
menu
|
mouse
|
sessions
|
skin
|
styles
|
toolbar
|
widgets
Mail files
main mail directory
|
autofilter
|
indexer
|
lexicon
|
store
Installation files
Main installation directory: /usr/share/opera|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
chartables.bin |
binary |
Yes |
Tables for Unicode support |
|
html40_entities.dtd |
text/dtd |
Yes |
Character entity set |
|
lngcode.txt |
text/plain |
Yes |
List of languages and their two-letter code, used in Opera when choosing preferred language () |
|
opera6.adr |
text/plain |
No |
Default bookmarks file, will be copied to opera6.adr in user profile when the user edits the bookmarks for the first time. |
|
search.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Default settings for the search engines available in Opera |
| svg-mobd.dat | binary | Yes | Font files for SVG |
| svg-mo.dat | binary | Yes |
| svg-sabd.dat | binary | Yes |
| svg-sa.dat | binary | Yes |
| svg-sebd.dat | binary | Yes |
| svg-se.dat | binary | Yes |
executables and wrapper|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
/usr/lib/opera/<version> |
binary |
No | The binary executable |
|
/usr/bin/opera |
text/plain |
Yes |
Wrapper script that sets up the environment and launches the most recent version of Opera
|
system settings|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
/etc/opera6rc |
text/plain |
No (if installing with install.sh you will be asked if you want to overwrite) | System default settings that can be overridden by users |
|
/etc/opera6rc.fixed |
text/plain |
No (if installing with install.sh you will be asked if you want to overwrite) |
System default settings that can not be overridden by users |
/usr/lib/opera/plugins/|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
libnpp.so |
binary |
Yes |
Proxy for loading Netscape 4 compatible plugins
|
|
operaplugincleaner |
binary |
Yes |
Removes remaining plugin wrappers after Opera quits
|
|
operapluginwrapper |
binary |
Yes |
Wrapper script for starting plugins as separate processes
|
/usr/share/opera/images|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
| opera_16_16.png | image/png | Yes | Opera icon files of various sizes |
| opera_22_22.png | image/png | Yes |
| opera_32_32.png | image/png | Yes |
| opera_48_48.png | image/png | Yes |
| opera.xpm | text/plain | Yes | ASCII image of the Opera logo, in the X PixMap format |
/usr/share/opera/ini|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
dialog.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Definition of all dialogs |
|
fastforward.ini |
text/plain |
Yes |
Defines what activates the Fast Forward button; instructions for customization are included in the file |
| filehandler.ini | text/plain | Yes | Default application to use when launching files from Opera |
| pluginpath.ini | text/plain | Yes | Paths to plugins installed on the system |
|
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]
|
| unix_keyboard.ini | text/plain | Yes | Unix-style Opera standard keyboard shortcuts configuration [3] |
| xmlentities.ini | text/plain | Yes | List of XML doctypes that should use the HTML entities defined in html40_entities.dtd |
/usr/share/opera/java|
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]
|
/usr/share/opera/skin|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
standard_skin |
zip |
Yes |
Opera Standard skin |
|
windows_skin |
zip |
Yes |
Windows Native skin |
/usr/share/opera/styles|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
user/*.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Collection of user style sheets, these will seed the styles directory in the user's profile
|
| images/*.png | image/png | Yes | A collection of images used by the style sheets |
|
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
| | 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 |
| image.css | text/css | Yes | Style sheet for the layout of the image slideshow |
|
im.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of chat pages |
|
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 |
|
wml.css |
text/css |
Yes |
Style sheet for the layout of
WML
pages |
/usr/share/opera/locale|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
| en/default.adr | text/plain | Yes | Language specific default bookmarks file |
| en/license.txt | text/plain | Yes | License governing the use of the software |
| en/search.ini | text/plain | Yes | Language specific default settings for the search engines available in Opera |
| english.lng | text/plain | Yes | Language file, contains all strings in Opera's user interface
[1] |
Profile files
Main profile directory|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
| *.bak | text/plain | No | Backup files created on startup for bookmarks, contacts and notes |
|
browser.js |
text/plain |
Yes, after performing a version check |
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
|
|
download.dat |
binary |
No |
Stored information about recent downloads, as seen in the Transfer window; to keep track of downloaded files and enable the 'Resume download' function; file is removable, but to delete all download data, you can also use 'Delete private data' from the Tools menu in Opera; there's an opera6.ini-only setting for the number of days to keep download data available: LogEntryDaysToLive= under [User Prefs]
|
|
global.dat |
text/plain |
No |
Stored global history; properties for the Global history are set from Tools > Preferences > Advanced > History.
URLs stored in the Global history are used for the auto complete function, and can be checked from Tools > History.; file is removable, but to clear the global history, you can also use 'Delete private data' from the Tools menu in Opera.
|
|
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 |
Warning!
Read
note
carefully
[4]
|
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 --personaldir
and add the file name/path to run Opera with different settings. See Opera's command line options for more information. 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 Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content; 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 the collide with items in the downloaded file |
| pluginpath.ini | text/plain | Yes | Default paths to plugins installed on the system |
|
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; access from webpage context menu, and for all sites from Tools > Preferences > Advanced > Content; 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
|
|
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 metadata about which blocks have been downloaded and CRC checked, so Opera don't need to always 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
|
|
opr*.* |
same as the original files |
No |
the cached files |
cacheOp|
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 in
opera6.ini
is
[OEM]
Never Flush Trusted Servers=help.opera.com
|
|
opr*.* |
Same as the original files |
No |
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 |
sessions|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
autosave.win |
text/plain |
No |
Stored snapshot of the currently opened pages and windows in 'Saved session' format. Used for startup option "Continue browsing where I was last time", which is the default option on the recovery menu 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 user-editable collection of style sheets that can be accessed from ; see
Opera Style Sheets for descriptions. You can add you own user style sheets to this list by placing them in this directory. [5]
|
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 |
widgets|
Filename |
Format |
Overwritten |
Description |
|---|
|
*.zip
|
zip |
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.
|
| subdirectories | various | No | Local storage for widgets, as cookies and cache are kept separate from Opera's normal cache |
|
widgets.dat
|
text/xml |
No |
Persistent settings for installed widgets. Also 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 the /usr/bin/opera wrapper script 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
On the first run old settings found in opera6.ini will be upgraded to new format where necessary.
Note 5
For tips and tricks regarding customization of Opera's style sheets, and also for getting help in making a nifty User style sheet, visit the newsgroup opera.customize.general or the Customizing Opera forum.
Copyright Opera Software ASA. All rights reserved. 