▷ Solution: Opera VPN does not work

Opera has been in the browser industry for quite some time and had mobile browsers as old as the Symbian era. It is undoubtedly a pioneer and tends to engage the user in a different way compared to other browsers that exist..

Opera VPN does not work

One of its innovative features is the built-in VPN. Opera allows you to connect to a VPN automatically without using any third-party software when you are browsing. The VPN is quite simple to use and also offers a customizable VPN location. However, despite active development, still reported cases where the VPN does not work. Refuses to connect or gets stuck in a loop “Connection”. In this article, We will go over all the causes of this issue along with solutions to fix it.

What makes Opera VPN not work?

We looked at this particular topic and tried to replicate the scenario on our own workstations. After verifying initial user testing and reports, we came up with a list of causes that could conflict with the VPN and cause it to not work. These are some of the reasons:

• ISP problems: if your ISP has blocked access to the Opera VPN through your front door, will not be able to connect. If there are indeed ISP limitations, you may not be able to use other VPN products as well.

• Faulty installation of Opera: there are some cases where Opera installation files are faulty and some modules are missing or corrupted. Reinstalling the browser could fix the problem.

• Opera extensions: if you have some third-party Opera extensions enabled in your browser, may conflict with Opera's VPN. Disabling them might solve the problem.

• Security applications: Opera officially released a statement that the security software was in conflict with the in-app VPN. Disabling them or whitelisting Opera could solve the problem.

• VPN location: in some cases, Specific VPN location may not be available to you. Changing the location does the trick here.

Before continuing with the solutions, make sure you are logged in as administrator on your computer. What's more, You should also have access to your Opera account credentials if you are using it to sync.

Solution 1: change the VPN location

Before trying any technical method, we will try to change the location of the VPN. Opera VPN has the option to use a VPN from a specific location. If the VPN for that specific location is not available, Opera will not be able to connect to it. In this case, if you have chosen another specific location, try switching to the default location and, if you are using the default location, switch to some specific location.

1. Click on the VPN icon next to the website address.

2. Once the window appears, click Virtual Location and change your location.

Change VPN location

1. After changing the location, save the changes and close the pop-up window. Now try to access the web page again and check if the problem has been resolved.

Solution 2: Test your ISP

All Internet traffic is transmitted to your ISP and ISP, at the same time, resend the data. If your ISP sets limitations regarding the use of VPN, might have trouble connecting. ISPs are basically Internet service providers and can place firewalls and other mechanisms within the network architecture..

If you are using the Internet at home, your local subscription company will be your ISP or if you are using it in any public space, the Internet provider that provides you with the Internet will be the ISP. Therefore, you should try trying different ISPs. If you are using the Internet in a public space, switch to a private connection or if you are already using a private connection, switch to another connection elsewhere.

Once you are absolutely sure that it is not your Internet Service Provider that is causing the problem, continue with solutions.

Solution 3: disable Opera extensions

Extensions are types of add-ons that are added to your browser to increase functionality or based on your preferences.. These extensions can vary and perform different tasks. If any of these extensions conflict with Opera's VPN system, it may not work. Therefore, you should try disabling all your extensions and see if this solves the problem. If so, it means the problem was indeed with the extensions and then you can start to fix the problem that was the culprit.

1. Click on the Menu icon present at the top left of the screen and click on Extensions> Extensions (Ctrl + Shift + E).

Access extensions – Opera

1. Now select each extension one by one and select Disable.

Disable opera extensions

1. After disabling all extensions, check if the problem is solved and you don't have any kind of problem using the VPN.

Solution 4: clear browser settings and data

Each browser saves additional settings and data for its operations. These data files may contain website preferences, cache or history of your website. Configuration files are known to cause the problem when trying to access Opera's built-in VPN system. In this solution, we will open the data window and delete each element. After that, we will try to access the VPN and see if it works as expected.

1. Presione Ctrl + Shift + Delete in sequence to open the navigation data window.

2. Once i see the window, click on Advanced tab and check all options.

Note: You can exclude browsing data from the list if you need your history to be saved. Otherwise, you can also delete it.

Clear browser configuration files

1. Click Clear data after selecting. Now restart your browser and try to access the VPN again. Check if the problem has been solved forever.

Solution 5: disable security apps

Opera officials have posted an official statement on Twitter urging their users to disable their security applications on their computers.. According to them, there are several applications that tend to block Opera's activities and make some of its functions not working.

Therefore, you should go ahead and disable your antivirus applications on your computer temporarily and see if this works. If it does, you can proceed to whitelist Opera from the software and activate Antivirus again. As usual, these apps think Opera is using a lot more resources or modules than expected and flag them (a false positive). A specific antivirus that caused problems was Avast (but you still have to test your antivirus). You can consult our article on How to deactivate your antivirus.

Solution 6: search for other third-party apps

If you have other third-party firewall or network applications running in the background, will conflict with Opera's VPN module and cause it to not work as expected. These applications can be of any type, namely, other VPN clients, firewalls, network monitors, etc. In this solution, we will review the applications that are running on your computer and see if any of them are problematic.

1. Press Windows + R to start Task Manager. Once in the task manager, open the Processes tab.

2. Now go through the list of running apps and see if any of them are problematic.

Checking apps in Task Manager

1. Try disabling them by right clicking on them and selecting End Task.

2. Now look at the bottom right of your screen and see if there are icons for these apps. If there are, right click on them and select

Close applications from the taskbar

1. Restart Opera and try to access your VPN. See if the problem is solved.

Accessing Opera VPN again

Solution 7: reinstall / update Opera

If all the above methods don't work and you still can't connect to Opera's VPN, your Opera installation may be corrupted or modules are missing. This is a very common case and usually occurs when the browser installation directory is changed without proper steps or if an update was interrupted.

Note: make sure you have your credentials handy and have saved all relevant work. This solution will completely remove Opera from your computer and we will try to install a new version.

1. Press Windows + R, type »appwiz.cpl» in the dialog box and press Enter.

2. Once the application manager opens, search the Opera list. Right click and select Uninstall. Uninstall Opera

1. Now restart your computer. After reboot, navigate to the official Opera website. Download the latest version, right click and select Run as administrator.

Downloading a new copy of Opera

1. Restart your computer and run the browser. Now check if the problem has been solved and you can use the VPN properly without problems.

Note: We also ran into cases where the browser was not working at all for everyone due to a server-side issue. Therefore, you can also check other forums to find similar issues from other users. If you see a pattern, it probably means there is a problem with the server and there is nothing you can do except wait for the problem to be resolved.