Opera has updated the vertical tab layout in its Opera One browser, moving the 'new tab' button from the bottom of the sidebar to the top. This change ensures that newly created tabs appear directly below the button, streamlining the user interface.
The company acknowledged that the previous design was inefficient, as users had to move their cursor across the screen to create a new tab. On a 1080p display, the button was located 950 pixels from the address bar, while on a 4K monitor, this distance exceeded 2,000 pixels.
A survey conducted by Opera between August and September 2026, involving 4,900 desktop users, revealed that over 73% of respondents prefer clicking the button over using keyboard shortcuts. The update also improves the contrast of active tabs and adds a plus icon to tab islands for easier management.
