What Opera’s VPN actually is
Opera itself says its built-in VPN only protects your browsing within Opera, not the whole device. So only the tabs go through it, and instead of a country you choose a region, Europe, the Americas or Asia.
That rules it out when you need a particular country, say a Russian address from abroad or an American one. In VanyaVPN you pick the country yourself, out of 187 countries, and the tunnel takes in the entire system, Discord and messengers included.
Switching it off
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Find the VPN button
Look at the left end of the address bar. If there’s a VPN button, Opera is sending tabs through its own server on top of VanyaVPN, and sites see Opera’s address rather than the country you chose.
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Flip the switch
Click the button and switch it off in the pop-up. No button, but you’re not sure? Type VPN into the settings search and make sure it’s off there.
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Check the country
Open ipinfo.io in Opera. If it shows the same country as Location in the app, your tabs go through VanyaVPN. Any other country means Opera’s server is still in the way.
Opera GX
Opera GX has the same built-in VPN, so treat it the same way. On its own it covers only the browser, while your game launcher and Discord go around it. With VanyaVPN all three share one tunnel.
If pages and videos in GX are slow even with the VPN, open GX Control. When Network Limiter is on, the browser gets exactly the speed set there, and no tunnel will change that.
Phones and YouTube
What about Opera on a phone?
It’s covered by the VanyaVPN app on the same phone. Installation, iPhone and Android alike, is in the phone guide.
Will YouTube work in Opera?
Yes. With the app connected, video rides the same tunnel as every other tab. For why it stalls without a VPN in Russia, see our YouTube article, and desktop viewing tips are on another page.