Once again, Opera has closed all my tabs after an update

[ImConfussed]

ImConfussed last edited by

It is funny. I still keep finding my previous post about this issue on Google.
And for a time they did fix it! Everything was fine!

But today I opened an incognito window and it updated. After that, when I closed the private window and opened a normal one, everything was gone.

Even as a secondary browser this is a bad option at this point..

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @ImConfussed last edited by

@ImConfussed Opera One, Opera GX or Opera Air?

[Jimbeesley]

Jimbeesley Banned last edited by

hahahaha... updates are for improvements so i think we should ignore these

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @ImConfussed last edited by

@ImConfussed When you restarted Opera for it to update, there was a normal window with opened tabs?

[ImConfussed]

ImConfussed @leocg last edited by

@leocg Hi!
I didn't restart it. As a matter of fact, this happened multiple times to me, and it was always the same. First and only window to open at that time was an incognito one.

I turn on the PC, I open an incognito window (maybe just after it turned on, or after half a day) as first and only Opera window and if it shows the animation that indicates Opera has been updated, I know I lost my tabs.
Always after that sequence, my normal tabs are wiped.

Which Opera? It is not GX nor Air, so I guess One? It is the basic one most people download through a Google search.

[burnout426]

burnout426 Volunteer last edited by

How are you starting Opera? Are you using the --private or --incognito command-line switch? Or, are you right-clicking on Opera's taskbar button while it's closed and choosing "New private window" to start Opera?

[ImConfussed]

ImConfussed @burnout426 last edited by

@burnout426 By right clicking on Opera's taskbar button while it's closed and choosing "New private window" to start it, yeah.

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @ImConfussed last edited by

@ImConfussed Will only use private windows?

[ImConfussed]

ImConfussed last edited by

@leocg Sorry, Nah, I open an incognito window maybe thrice per week.
On my normal window I tend to have things that I open once and do not close for a long time, like music sheets or a post about how to solve an issue, that some day I'm gonna try to follow.

But as Opera is not my main browser, it is not uncommon for me to not open any Opera window for a week or more.

And that's when I'm hit with the update + wipe combo.

[burnout426]

burnout426 Volunteer last edited by

I’ll see if I can reproduce the issue when I get a chance.

[burnout426]

burnout426 Volunteer last edited by

Here's one case where open tabs are wiped after an update:

First off, with the default of "Retain tabs from the previous session" set at the URL opera://settings/onStartup, when you exit Opera, your tabs are retained. Then, while Opera is closed, you can right-click its pinned taskbar icon and choose "New private window" to open Opera in private mode. You can then exit Opera and open Opera normally and you'll see that your normal-mode tabs are still retained. As in, opening Opera in private mode doesn't wipe out your normal mode's session in this case. So, all good.

However, if Opera is closed and it's updated via the scheduled task in the Windows Task Scheduler, if you right-click Opera's pinned taskbar icon, choose "New private window" (you'll notice the "Opera upgraded" page opens in a new tab in the private window), exit Opera and then open Opera normally, all your normal-mode tabs are gone.

So, in other words, if you start Opera in private mode after an update that happened while Opera was closed via Opera scheduled auto-update task, exit Opera and open Opera in normal mode, your normal mode session is wiped. Not sure if the normal-mode session is wiped when Opera starts in private mode after it's updated or when you exit Opera in private mode after it's updated. Seems like that latter. So, somehow Opera gets confused in this case.

I can confirm the above this way:

• Windows 11 23H2 in my case.

• Opera Stable (Opera One) is not installed and "Opera" is not present in "C:\Program Files". There's also no "Opera Stable" folders in "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software" and "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Opera Software". Probably not necessary, just showing that everything is fresh and not corrupted.

• Download Opera_126.0.5750.43_Setup_x64.exe from https://ftp.opera.com/ftp/pub/opera/desktop/126.0.5750.43/win/ and disconnect from the net.

• Launch the installer, click "options", set install for to "all users", set "install path" to "C:\Program Files\Opera", uncheck "Run Opera when my computer starts" and install. Choose to pin Opera to the taskbar when asked.

• In "C:\Program Files\Opera\autoupdate", rename "opera_autoupdate.exe" to "opera_autoupdate.off".

• Connect to the net, start Opera, goto the URL opera://version, open a new tab, goto the URL opera://bookmarks, open a new tab and goto https://example.com/. Then, close Opera.

• Then, open Opera back up to confirm your open tabs are retained. Then, close Opera.

• Then, this time, right-click on Opera's pinned taskbar button and choose "new private window" to start Opera in private mode. Then, close Opera and open Opera normally to confirm that your normal-mode open tabs are still there. Then, close Opera again.

• Then, rename "opera_autoupdate.off" back to "opera_autoupdate.exe".

• Then, open up the Windows Task Scheduler, select the Opera autoupdate task (the one that has "C:\Program Files\Opera" in its "Actions" tab), right-click it and choose "Run". You can then watch the "C:\Program Files\Opera" folder in Windows Explorer (File Explorer) to see Opera update. Once the new version folder (of "126.0.5750.59" in this case) appears, is populated, you see the old opera.exe get renamed and deleted, the new opera.exe appear in "C:\Program Files\Opera" and you see "old_status" created etc., the update is done.

• Then, right-click Opera's pinned taskbar button and choose "new private window" to open Opera in private mode. When Opera opens, the Opera upgraded page will load in a new tab in the private window. Then, close Opera.

• Then, open Opera normally.

Result: All open tabs for normal mode are gone.

Another way I tried to reproduce the issue:

• Make sure some tabs are being retained in normal mode and close Opera.

• Right-click Opera's taskbar button and choose "New private window" to open Opera in private mode.

• In private mode, goto the URL opera://about to check for, download and install an update.

• Then, close Opera and open it normally.

, but that didn't trigger the problem for me. Normal mode tabs were retained after Opera updated and I closed Opera in private mode and opened Opera normally. I even tried the "Relaunch now" button on the opera://about page. It relaunched Opera in normal mode where its tabs remained no problem.

I also tried just starting Opera in private mode, letting Opera check for updates itself via its task, waiting for the blue dot in Opera to show, closing Opera and opening Opera in normal mode. No issue there either and my open tabs were retained.

So, for me, it just seems to happen when Opera is updated while it's closed.

I did not test Opera Developer.

[burnout426]

burnout426 Volunteer last edited by

Note that you can make a standalone installation to a folder named "Opera Private" on your desktop or in "C:\Users\yourusername" for example. Then, you can right-click on its opera.exe, choose "Create shortcut", rename the shortcut to "Opera Private", move it to your desktop, right-click it, goto "properties", switch to the "Shortcut" tab, add a space and --private to the end of the target field command, click apply and okay out.

Then, whenever you want Opera in private mode, just use that shortcut instead. It'll be totally separate from your regular Opera and won't interfere with your regular Opera. That way, your regular Opera never goes in private mode.

In that private Opera, you can also goto the URL opera://settings/clearBrowserData, switch to "On exit", check all options and click "save". That way, even normal mode for that Opera will stay clean.

[burnout426]

burnout426 Volunteer last edited by

For your regular Opera, see https://www.reddit.com/r/operabrowser/comments/1qorutx/comment/o2ctael/ for how you can regular back up your "Sessions" folder with a script so that you can restore an old session in a crisis.

[burnout426]

burnout426 Volunteer last edited by

Note that you can right-click a tab, goto "save" and choose "all tabs to a speed dial folder" to back up your tabs. Then, if they disappear, you can right-click that folder and choose to open all of its bookmarks in tabs all at once to get your tabs back (from the time you created the folder).

You can also try Session Buddy or a similar extension to save your open tabs so you can get them back in a crisis.