A bug in Vivaldi browser disables the forward and back buttons if you open a new window

An unusual bug has been discovered in Vivaldi browser. The annoyance is causing the back button to become unusable, but only if you open a new window.

If you're the kind of person who opens multiple browser windows to keep things organized, you may have noticed this problem already. Don't worry, it's not just you. I read about it when a user reported the bug on reddit, and others who replied to the thread echoed in that they were able to reproduce the issue as described.

The complaint was that Vivaldi's back button became greyed out in a background window, when the user opened a new window after clicking a link on their secondary monitor. As I use Vivaldi as my secondary browser, I was intrigued by this and wanted to check if it happens on my computer. You can try it too. Open Vivaldi, visit a couple of webpages in the same tab. Now, open a second window. Switch back to the first window, and you will see that the back button in it cannot be clicked.

While that confirms the bug exists, it is not actually limited to multiple monitors like the user said. I was able to reproduce this issue with a single monitor. And it's not just the back button that is affected, the bug disables the forward, rewind and fast-forward buttons. The reload and home buttons seem to be unaffected by the issue, though a couple of users at the Vivaldi community forums claim otherwise. I also noticed that the issue isn't specific to scenarios where you open a new window, but also when you switch between two windows, you have to click inside the window, otherwise it may appear as if it's normal.

This maybe a minor hindrance because it does not actually restrict your browsing session. It is more of a glitch than a broken feature. The good news is that you can access your previously visited pages with the help of keyboard shortcuts or by right-clicking on the buttons. Let me explain, if you use the hotkeys to go back or forward (backspace or Alt + Left arrow, Alt + Right arrow, etc), Vivaldi will go back/forward to the corresponding page. When you do this, the buttons become usable again. Alternatively, you can just open a new tab in the first window and close it to reactivate the navigational buttons. It's really odd, isn't it?

The problem with these workarounds is that the navigational buttons in the other window get disabled, so it is kind of like an endless cycle. One user at the forum thread that I linked above says that their reload button also became unusable, but I don't have this problem.

The bug exists in Vivaldi 5.0.2497.35, which is the latest version available in the stable channel. What is even more unusual is that these issues had been reported over a month ago, well ahead of the holiday season, but still have not been addressed. Even the most recent Snapshot build, 5.1.2526.3, which had been rolled out two weeks after said user reports, has the same bug in it.

A bug in Vivaldi browser disables the forward and back buttons if you open a new window