This document was last updated for Opera 11.61
Please note Opera Widgets will be disabled by default in Opera 12.00 and unavailable as of Opera 12.50. More information about this is available here.
Voice support will be removed as of Opera 12.00, as the voice-detection library is no longer supported by the third-party vendor.
This document lists the available command line switches for the UNIX and Windows platforms.
Note: UNIX command line switches are case sensitive. They use the prefix ‘-’. Example: to launch Opera without home page or saved sessions, enter opera -nosession on the command line. The full list of command line switches is given below, and may be recalled at any time by entering opera -help on the command line.
| Switch | Description |
|---|---|
newwindow |
Open URL in new window |
newtab |
Open URL in new tab, this is the default behavior for opening a given url |
newprivatetab |
Open URL in new private tab |
activetab |
Open URL in current tab |
backgroundtab |
Open URL in new tab in background |
fullscreen |
Start in full screen mode. Works only if no Opera instances are already running |
geometry <geometry> |
Set geometry of toplevel window. Format: WIDTHxHEIGHT+XOFF+YOFF |
remote "<command>" |
Send command to another Opera window |
window <window id> |
Launch remote opera window. Works for remote commands. Accepts a hexadecimal or a decimal argument. |
windowname <window name> |
Launch remote opera window with a symbolic name. Works for remote and newwindow commands, will override newwindow if a named window is located. Accepts "first", "last" and "operaN" where N=1 means the first window and so on |
noraise |
No window raise when receiving remote commands. Only works for remote commands that do not open a dialog box |
nosession |
Launch without saved sessions or home page |
nomail |
Launch Opera without internal e-mail client |
noargb |
Do not use an ARBG (32-bit) visual |
nolirc |
Do not use LIRC (infra red control) |
nowin |
Launch without any open pages. Will disable any URL argument |
display <displayname> |
Set the X display |
version |
Display version number |
full-version |
Display version data and build details |
debuglibraries |
Loading of optional libraries |
debuglayout |
Turn on UI layout debugging features |
pd <path> |
Location of alternative Opera preferences folder |
sd <path> |
Location of alternative Opera shared resource folder |
bd <path> |
Location of version-specific binaries folder |
mail |
Starts displaying unread mails |
help or ? |
Display list of command line options |
kioskhelp |
Display extra settings for kiosk mode operation |
debughelp |
Displays available debug options |
lirchelp |
Extra options for LIRC (infra red control) |
urllist <filepath> |
Load each line in the given page in an automated run |
urllistloadtimeout <seconds> |
Timeout for each page specified with 'urllist' argument |
uiparserlog <filename> |
UI parser log file for dialogs.yaml |
uiwidgetsparserlog <filename> |
UI parser log file for widgets.yaml |
profilinglog <filename> |
Startup and exit profiling log file |
dialogtest <dialogname> |
Test a dialog layout |
inidialogtest <dialogname> |
Test an ini dialog layout |
language <file> |
Use translation from specified file |
binarydir <path> |
Location of version specific binaries |
personaldir <path> |
Location of alternative '.opera' directory |
debugdns |
Simple debugging of asynchronous dns lookup |
debugfont |
Simple debugging of font handling |
debugkeyboard |
Simple debugging of keyboard events |
debugmouse |
Simple debugging of mouse presses |
debugplugin |
Simple debugging of plug-in handling |
debugxerror |
Simple debugging of X errors |
disableinputmethods |
Disable input methods |
Note: Mac OS command line switches are case sensitive. They use the prefix ‘-’. Example: to launch Opera without home page or saved sessions, enter opera -nosession on the command line. The full list of command line switches is given below, and may be recalled at any time by entering opera -help on the command line.
| Switch | Description |
|---|---|
newtab |
Open URL in new tab, this is the default behavior for opening a given url |
newprivatetab |
Open URL in new private tab |
nomail |
Launch Opera without internal e-mail client |
nowin |
Launch without any open pages. Will disable any URL argument |
debuglayout |
Turn on UI layout debugging features |
csp |
Set to create a single user profile |
ps <suffix> |
Suffix to append to Opera preferences folders |
screenheight <height> |
Screen height resolution in pixels |
screenwidth <width> |
Screen width resolution in pixels |
mail |
Starts displaying unread mails |
help or ? |
Display list of command line options |
kioskhelp |
Display extra settings for kiosk mode operation |
urllist <filepath> |
Load each line in the given page in an automated run |
urllistloadtimeout <seconds> |
Timeout for each page specified with 'urllist' argument |
uiparserlog <filename> |
UI parser log file for dialogs.yaml |
uiwidgetsparserlog <filename> |
UI parser log file for widgets.yaml |
nocrashhandler |
Turn Opera crash logging off |
crashlog |
Display the crashlog |
profilinglog <filename> |
Startup and exit profiling log file |
dialogtest <dialogname> |
Test a dialog layout |
inidialogtest <dialogname> |
Test an ini dialog layout |
pd |
Use the specified personal directory |
Note: The following Windows command line switches are case insensitive. Example usage to search for the planet Jupiter: opera.exe ? jupiter
| Switch | Description |
|---|---|
/Settings <full path> |
Launch with specified settings (opera6.ini) file |
? <keywords> |
Search for <keywords> with default search engine |
/Debug |
Voice debug mode |
-pd |
Use the specified personal directory |
Kiosk mode switches are identical for the Windows, Mac OS X, and UNIX platforms. See the kiosk mode documentation for more details. To review the kiosk mode switches, enter opera -kioskhelp on the command line.
All remote commands must be enclosed in quotation marks, for example:
opera -remote "openURL()"
| Switch | Description |
|---|---|
openURL() |
Open "Go to" dialog box prompting for input |
openURL(url[,noraise]) |
Open URL in active window |
openURL(url[,dest][,noraise]) |
Open URL in destination <W | T | B | P> |
openFile([dest]) |
Open file selector in destination <W | T> |
openM2([dest][,noraise]) |
Open M2 list view in destination <W> |
openComposer([dest][,noraise]) |
Open M2 composer in destination <W> |
addBookmark(url) |
Add url to bookmark list |
raise() |
Raises the opera window |
lower() |
Lowers the opera window |
A standalone url argument or -newwindow, -newtab, -backgroundtab, -newprivatetab or -nowin will disable -remote commands.
[dest] Replace with any of the following:[noraise]Need help? Hit F1 anytime while using Opera to access our online help files, or go here.