Browser stuck indefinitely "Checking for updates..."

eltoddo

eltoddo

Opera One browser is Installed on my Windows 10 Pro desktop machine. The browser's Update and Recovery panel couldn't complete a check for updates, with the status of the check saying "Checking for updates..." for the hour I let the panel stay open.

Seems nobody else has run into this! Searching for answers around the internet, and these forums yielded nobody else reporting the same issue. Lots of recommendations around reinstallation to get upgraded browser components installed. Since it seemed harmless enough to simply "reinstall," and at least a few others reporting similar update check errors seeing them resolved by a re-install, I went ahead and did just that.

Browser updated quickly and easily from the online installer, confirmed by a significant change in the version numbers. I'm at least up to date with published release versions now... but the Update and Recovery panel, as well as the About Opera panel both show "Checking for updates..." with no option to stop it, force a retry, or provide any information which might allow someone to debug the issue.

I won't be using Opera much longer if I have to guess when updates are available. Not with the constant danger of 0-day exploits requiring constant diligence on having up to date browser components.

Any suggestions for debugging of the issue are welcome. I'm a developer, so feel free to point me to any hidden logs opera may be squirreling away in its internals.

leocg

leocg Moderator Volunteer @eltoddo This post is deleted!

eltoddo

eltoddo

Just coming back with a bit more info for anyone else having a look at this. The problem still persists. I'll be doing some debugging of my own in light of lack of any other reply...

I poked at the "installation_status.json" files to confirm the before and after update versions of Opera One on which I am experiencing this:

Version of Opera One installed when run for the first time in a while, the other day (Sep 26, 2025) - 117.0.5408.197 - Installed on Apr 12, 2025.
Version of Opera One re-installed over the above version to see if a manual update would work (same day, Sep 26, 2025) - 122.0.5643.71 - Latest general release available at install time, successfully upgraded Opera One by online installer.

I noticed the issue after not having run Opera One in some time when I fired it up for more regular use the other day. I can confirm it never previously asked me to update, but I hadn't committed to using it frequently enough for it to grab my attention. I suspect auto-update has never worked on this system. Not currently running Opera on any other desktop environments, so have no comparison (yet) with respect to my local router's firewall.

Since most other debugging hasn't turned up anything specific for my Windows environment, I plan to double check Windows Firewall to make sure it's not failing due to an aggressive rule. Can't imagine this is it, since the browser itself is otherwise totally functional. Windows firewall logs will tell for sure. I'll also have a look at any aggressive filtering at my network gateway.

I'll also be digging for more Opera logs in the user profile subdir. That'll probably at least indicate when the check is starting to debug the connection out.

If any other ideas, please post 'em!

eltoddo

eltoddo

I didn't end up finding a solution to this. But I did realize why I installed Opera, then quickly stopped using it...

Opera One lacks of any multi-profile support, and for some reason Workspaces don't separate browser sessions. Separation of browser sessions should be part of the minimum viable product requirements.

I really wanted to like Opera, but it's flaky behavior (especially inability to self-check for updates, or even detect when that's failing), lack of any reasonable support, on top of absolutely no emphasis on its feature sets' acceptance by users, makes it impossible for me to justify using it. I know browsers are all trying to find ways to monetize to stay competitive, but man, this really falls off the mark.

When did Opera lose its way? It used to be the standards-based browser which SET the bar for other browsers to mimic. Now it's playing catch-up by refusing to do anything about the quality of the user experience.

I'll check back again in a few years when the dust settles again.

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer

Just in case you still want to play around with things:

Uninstall Opera (but don't choose to delete your data when uninstalling). Then, delete the Opera install folder in "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Programs. The uninstaller doesn't delete the whole folder and leaves a few files behind.

Then, delete everything in "C:\Windows\temp" and "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\temp".

Then, open up the Windows Task Schedular, select "Task Scheduler Library" and look for any Opera autoupdate tasks that are in the list. There shouldn't be any since Opera is uninstalled, but remove any that you find.

Then, hit Windows key + r to open the run dialog, type wf.msc and press enter to open the Windows Firewall settings. Select "Inbound rules". Then, click the "Name" column header to sort the list by name. Then, go through the list and remove all Opera-related entries you find. Then, do the same for "Outbound rules". Then, if you ever get a firewall prompt for Opera, choose "allow".

Then, in settings in Windows, goto "Network & Internet -> Proxy" and make sure a proxy is not enabled. And, disable "Automatically detect settings".

Then, download the Opera installer from https://www.opera.com/download (and not the Microsoft Store or anything like that), install Opera and see how things go.

If going to the opera://about or opera://update still hangs on checking for updates, you might want to check connections to Opera's servers. You can hit Windows key + r, type cmd and press enter to open a command prompt. Then, do:

ping autoupdate.opera.com

and then:

ping autoupdate.geo.opera.com

and then:

ping na-autoupdate.opera.com

You should get replies from each of those. If it says something like "couldn't find host", you probably have a DNS issue on your system or your router or your ISP. If you think that's the case, see https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/setup/windows/ for how to use Cloudflare's DNS servers instead.

In certain countries, it could be your ISP blocking some of Opera's servers. In those cases, you can try a VPN to see if you can work around it.

Another cause of your issue could be that you have some security software that's interfering with just Opera. Kaspersky, NordVPN, Bitdefender, Eset and CCleaner are all known to do that. To fully test if one is interfering with Opera, you have to uninstall it and not just disable it.

Or, it could be something with your data or settings. To test if that's the case, while Opera is closed, in both "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software" and "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Opera Software", you can rename the "Opera Stable" folder to "Opera Stable old", start Opera and see if the checking for updates works then.

In settings in Windows, you can goto "Privacy & Security -> Windows Security". Then, in "App and Browser Control", you can disable Smark App Control and all the Repputation-based protections to test if they're interfering.

In settings in Windows, you can goto "Apps -> Advanced App Settings" and make sure "Choose where to get apps" is set to "Everywhere".

If you're Windows user account is part of a Microsoft Family, that could be limiting functionality of Opera. You'll want to leave the family if possible to test if it was interfering. Also, don't rename opera.exe to try and work around Microsoft Family issues.

Besides all those things, not sure.

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer

Opera One lacks of any multi-profile support

Opera does have a manual way of having multple profiles. See https://www.reddit.com/r/operabrowser/wiki/opera/new_profile/#wiki_create_multiple_profiles_for_opera for more info.

and for some reason Workspaces don't separate browser sessions

Correct. That's kind of normal for workspaces to just be a visual separation of tabs. It's just that because browsers like Arc and Zen are more advanced in that area and support assigning profiles to workspaces, users have seen how awesome that can be. You're not the first to wish for Opera to have something like that to. Opera had workspaces first and them having separate sessions wasn't a thing.

eltoddo

eltoddo

@burnout426, these are welcome, thoughtful responses. I appreciate that you took that time, and has me thinking Opera still may work for me, and I was too quick to dismiss. I haven't uninstalled anything. In fact I've been so utterly disgusted at the state of the browser landscape, I can't see a single browser I even like anymore. Seems like most browsers are jumping on the poorly implemented AI bandwagon, complete with privacy, tracking and security concerns thrown right out the window. Or vendors are so concerned about losing market share or monetization opportunities, that they've lost the forest through the trees, and are selling all our data as capitalism implodes in real time. I shouldn't be surprised that bloatware IS the browser now; You don't even have to buy a new PC anymore! Browsers like Brave have decent privacy features but is far too barebones to be a productive-use daily driver.

Hopefully the eventual need for our AI assistants to be able to modify all our software to do exactly what we want will push everything toward open-source. The design visibility to know exactly what our software does, and trust it'll do so with security and privacy confidence, is worth the price of giving up "feature rich" (privacy leaking) proprietary bloatware. Maybe then we'll finally see open source browsers worth installing, meant for mainstream use. For now, I'll make due with the less than ideal options available.

Back on topic though...
I'll follow your suggestion to uninstall Opera and reinstall. I suspect that could be the best way to make sure the issue isn't with Opera itself.

As for multi-profile support, I already went down that road the first time I bumped into this limitation. I get that most users see Workspaces as you stated, and likely Opera's Product Owners do too: visually/logically separate places into different spaces, for quick and easy changes in workflows. But I hardly see this as much different than managing different Windows for each workspace. For me in particular, I find Opera's concept of "Workspaces" to be extremely inadequate. More curious, there's multi-profile support in Opera GX. Is Opera refusing to support multiple profiles in Opera One simply an attempt to distinguish One from GX? If you're an Opera product owner reading this, and you're thinking "yeah, finally someone's got it," then I question the need for 2 browsers to begin with. If you'll hold back features from one, while shoehorning every feature equivalent of "RGB case fans" into the other, it seems like you're forcing both browsers to be insufficient for anyone but the demographics for which they're designed. There's a middle ground best served by one focused, but flexible browser. I think Opera's users are better served by a browser that may capture the likely broader market segment of middle-ground users who aren't looking for a stripped down experience (Opera One) or a "Gaming Focused," feature-bloated browser (Opera GX).

I just want a browser that isolates every tab into its own sandbox of session and cookie isolation by default. A standard browser experience should be available to the user with controls for how the isolation is allowed to be broken, including the necessary fine grained controls to pick and choose which specific sites can access individual sessions and cookies. You know, like you'd design a browser if you could. It's unlikely to be popular with the folks (browser vendors included) who make money off all that nonsense. Mentions of this sort of control put into users hands, has been the subject of many a privacy advocating blog post, including the likes of Chrome and Firefox, likely Opera too, as privacy was, at least outwardly, a priority for Opera, at some point. It just never seems to happen. Sounds like a good first-mover advantage to me.

Forgive the rantings of an industry jaded software developer/product owner. I've just seen too many companies fall into this kind of profitability trap, pivoting till they find the direction that allows market traction. With the game changing so quickly with AI tech, not just on the horizon--but here, now--capitalism's trappings will be the undoing of many a company, not finding their way out of before their runway is gone. True innovation over and above the rest is the only way to succeed, but even innovation doesn't guarantee success if the base product isn't at least doing what the others do. Someone will get it right eventually.

burnout426

burnout426 Volunteer @eltoddo

@eltoddo Opera One having side profile support like Opera GX would indeed be nice. Even just multiple profiles in the UI the way Chrome does it would be welcome..

Being able designate a specific profile for a workspace would be pretty neat too. I suspect that’s a lot more work, but would indeed be cool.