How to Disable Images in the Opera Web Browser

Opera browser loading too slowly? Here's what to do

opera disable images
Scott Orgera
Updated May 17, 2017

This tutorial is only intended for users running the Opera browser on Windows or Mac OS X operating systems.

Some Web pages contain a large amount of images or a few images of a larger than average size. These pages can take a painstakingly long time to load, especially on slower connections such as dial-up. If you can live without the images, the Opera browser allows you to disable all of them from loading.

In most cases, this will speed up page load time significantly. Keep in mind, however, that many pages render incorrectly when their images are removed and as a result, some content may become illegible.

To disable images from loading:

1. Open your Opera browser.

a. Windows users: Click on the Opera menu button, located in the upper left-hand corner of your browser window. When the drop-down menu appears, select the Settings option. You can also utilize the following keyboard shortcut in lieu of this menu item: ALT+P

b. Mac users: Click on Opera in your browser menu, located at the top of your screen. When the drop-down menu appears, select the Preferences option. You can also utilize the following keyboard shortcut in lieu of this menu item: Command+Comma(,)

Opera's Settings interface should now be displayed in a new tab. In the left-hand menu pane, click Websites.

The second section on this page, Images, contains the following two options – each accompanied by a radio button.

  • Show all images: Enabled by default, this option instructs Opera to load all images contained within a Web page.
  • Do not show any images: When selected, this option instructs Opera to disable all website images from rendering within your browser.

Opera offers the ability to add certain Web pages or entire websites to both an image whitelist and a blacklist.

This is useful if you would like images to render, or be disabled, on specific sites only. To access this interface, click on the Manage exceptions button.