Installation of plug-ins for Opera on Windows and Mac

This document was last updated for Opera 11.60

Table of contents

• General instructions for installing plug-ins
• Adobe Reader
• Adobe Shockwave Player
• Windows Media Player
• QuickTime
• Java
• RealPlayer

For Linux, see Installation of plug-ins for Opera on Linux.

For the most commonly used plug-ins, Opera provides an installation wizard to help you. For other plug-ins, major software applications usually have excellent systems for installing and updating software, making it possible to download and install a plug-in with a simple click or command. However, on this page we give additional instructions for those who prefer to install the plug-in manually, or for those experiencing difficulties.

General installation instructions

Follow these general steps when installing plug-ins:

1. Download and install the plug-in.
2. Close and restart Opera so that the plug-in is detected. The plug-in should be listed under Page > Developer Tools > Plug-ins.

In some cases, you may need to configure Opera so that it can find the plug-in. To do this, add the directory containing the plug-in to the plug-in path. From the Opera menu, select Settings > Preferences > Advanced > Content, click Plug-in options, then Change path.

To be certain that Opera will use the plug-in and not an alternative application, go to Settings > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads , and select the mime-type associated with the plug-in. Click Edit, and make sure that Use plug-in is marked appropriately.

Specific installation instructions

Adobe Reader

1. Download from http://get.adobe.com/reader/. If you have difficulty downloading, click Other versions.
2. Close Opera.
3. Open Opera. Opera will detect the plug-in and will launch the Acrobat Reader when you use Opera to view .pdf files.

You can change the way Opera opens PDF documents in Settings > Preferences > Advanced > Downloads Edit the MIME type assosiated with PDF files to either Use plug-in or Open with default application.

For more information, refer to the Adobe Reader support page.

Adobe Shockwave Player

To install the Adobe Shockwave Player plug-in, follow the steps below:

1. Download the Adobe Shockwave Player installer or the full installer for Netscape from the Adobe site..
2. Close Opera before installing it.
3. Run the downloaded installer and follow the instructions. If Opera is not listed in the installer, click the Browse button and locate the Program\Plugins folder in your Opera installation folder, which should be C:\Program Files\Opera\Program\Plugins by default.
4. The necessary file, np32dsw.dll, should now be present in the Program\Plugins directory in your Opera installation directory. To verify that it was correctly installed in Opera, go to Page > Developer Tools > Plug-ins and check that the Shockwave Player is listed.

For more information, refer to the Adobe Shockwave Player support page.

Windows Media Player

1. Go to Download.
2. Install the plug-in.
3. Restart Opera.
4. Try using Windows Media Player.

QuickTime (for Windows)

Download the installation file from the QuickTime site, double-click it to start the installation wizard, and follow the on-screen instructions. If the QuickTime installer does not install the plug-in automatically, follow the instructions below to install it manually:

1. Locate npqtplugin.dll in the QuickTime installation directory: C:\Program Files\QuickTime\Plugins.
2. Copy it to the Opera plug-ins directory: C:\Program Files\Opera\Program\Plugins.
3. Restart Opera.

If you still have problems, please refer to Apple support for more information.

Java

For Windows, Opera uses the Java plug-in to run Java applets. If you do not have Java installed, Opera will automatically offer to take you to a download site when you encounter such content. To install Java, go to the Java website and follow the instructions.

RealPlayer

To install, follow the steps below:

1. Download from the RealPlayer site.
2. Close Opera.
3. Double-click the RealPlayer installer.
4. Follow the installer instructions.
5. Restart Opera. Depending on your operating system, you may be forced to change themes when loading the plug-in.