Why can't I remove Opera?
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RicardoVerdi last edited by
I don't think I have any extensions or ad blocker. I've hardly used it at all
I really hope someone can help me with what should be a simple task. I want to remove Opera from my windows 10 PC. I go to Remove programmes; find and hit Opera Stable 118.0.5461.60. It says the programme will be removed. But it isn't removed. It remains. I've also tried deleting lots of the opera files and folders, but some of them won't go away. It sometimes says I need administrator status to delete them. (It's just me using this PC) Also, whenever I try to remove Opera, it opens again in a new window (on a page headed Speed Dial) . I set my default browser to Chrome. Apparently a programme called opdownload opens in Opera Web Document. I'm not sure how to change this (or if I need to).
There maybe something obvious that I'm missing, but I can't think what.
Thank you -
Moved from Opera for Windows by
leocg
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by burnout426
With Opera open, goto the URL
opera://about. On that page, it will show you the "profile", "install" and "cache" paths so you know which folders to delete.Then, close that Opera, open up the Windows task manager and end task on any Opera processes that are still running. Then, delete the profile, cache and install folders. If you have any trouble deleting any of those folders, hit Windows key + r to open the run dialog, type
explorer, hold down ctrl and shift and hit enter. Then, try deleting those folders in that Explorer window.Then, open up the Windows Task Scheduler, select "Task Scheduler Library' and delete any Opera tasks listed there. Also look for any shady tasks there that look like they shouldn't be there. Or, ask first if you're unsure.
Then, launch regedit and goto "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall", expand it, right-click on any Opera subkeys there and delete them. Do the same under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall".
That should be enough, but if you want to be clean up extra stuff from Opera, see https://www.reddit.com/r/operabrowser/wiki/opera/clean_opera_from_windows/.
Keep in mind that Opera might be bundled with some program you have installed and might be reinstalling it on you.
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RicardoVerdi last edited by
@burnout426 said in Why can't I remove Opera?:
opera://about
Thank you for taking the time to help. In Opera I go to opera://about
It says "Version:86.0.4363.59
Restart Opera to update to version 118.0.5461.83
Relaunch now
Update stream:Stable
System:Windows 10 64-bitBrowser identification
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/100.0.4896.127 Safari/537.36 OPR/86.0.4363.59
Paths
Install: C:\Program Files\OperaProfile: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable
Cache: C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Opera Software\Opera Stable
Installation type
For current user
Legal Information
EULA
Privacy policy
Terms of service..."
(end of quote)I resisted the relaunch now option (but I did wonder if I relaunch it maybe I could then remove it more easily)
I haven't tried to edit the registry yet, but I may try that later.
btw I find your last comment rather worrying... Keep in mind that Opera might be bundled with some program you have installed and might be reinstalling it on you. Is there an easy way to check this? Thanks -
RicardoVerdi last edited by
@burnout426
I did try the regedit option a few days ago but there are lots of words like "operational" & "cooperative" that also appear when I search for "opera" so I got a bit frustrated -
burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
@RicardoVerdi said in Why can't I remove Opera?:
It says "Version:86.0.4363.59
Wow! That's a really old version.
Install: C:\Program Files\Opera
For current userThat's messed up. A current-user install shouldn't go there. Only an all-user install should go there.
I haven't tried to edit the registry yet, but I may try that later.
You only need to edit the registry to get rid of the entry in "Installed apps". You can leave it there if you want and just delete Opera's folders and its scheduled tasks.
Is there an easy way to check what program is bundling Opera?
Not sure. Some anti-virus apps have bundled Opera in the past. Some game mod pack installers have been known to include Opera GX. Think Opera has slipped in via Steam before for some users too.
I guess you could run the installer for anything program you think might be including Opera and choose "options" or "custom" that program's installer to see if there's an option to include Opera or not.
You can look on the "Startup" tab in the Windows Task Manager to see if there are any entries to an Opera installer. You should only see opera.exe there if it's set to run at startup and browser_assistant.exe. But, those shouldn't do anything once you delete Opera's folders.
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burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
@RicardoVerdi said in Why can't I remove Opera?:
Restart Opera to update to version 118.0.5461.83
Relaunch nowSince you have such an old version, maybe the updater is/was having issues updating.
In addition to deleting all of Opera's folders, you can delete everything in "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\temp" and "C:\Windows\temp" to clear out any Opera installer files there.
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RicardoVerdi last edited by
to burnout426 I tried some of your suggestions a couple of days ago, & waited to see if Opera reappeared. I'm happy to say it hasn't so your methods seem to have worked. Many thanks. I may try Opera again sometime but I use Chrome & Duckduckgo, and occasionally Firefox. I'm not huge computer user so that's probably enough for me.
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RicardoVerdi last edited by RicardoVerdi
@RicardoVerdi
whoops it seems I spoke too soon. I just started the desktop and Opera opened up again. I may go through everything and try again
I found startup apps; Opera Browser Assistant was on so I turned it off. But when I try to delete opera.exe and other files in a folder called Opera, it says I can't delete because the file is open in Opera Internet Browser. In Task Manager one entry reads Opera Internet Browser (7), then it changes to Opera Internet Browser (13). I hit end task ; it goes away and then returns again with a vengeance - just now it said Opera Internet Browser (16). Oh dear, will it ever go away? -
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RicardoVerdi last edited by
@RicardoVerdi Now it says it cannot delete opera.exe... "The action can't be completed because the file is open in Windows Problem Reporting" (a new one on me)
If I try to delete the folder called 86.0.4363.59 then it says The action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program. Close the folder or file and try again.
A lot of the files seem to have Date created 19/04/2025. I wonder if I check to see what other files were created on that date might it guide me to the problem program? -
burnout426 Volunteer last edited by
Scan your system with the free version of Malwarebytes and AdwCleaner to see what they find.
You can also try the free version of Revo Uninstaller to remove Opera to see if it helps.
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RicardoVerdi last edited by
@burnout426 Thank you for your suggestions. Before I saw them I remembered that I have CCleaner. I used that and managed to uninstall Opera, using the uninstall option, along with cleaning the registry which seems to have completely got rid of it.
