Daniel’s blog

Update 2011-11-01: for Opera versions newer than 11.5x.

We have introduced a new method to manage multiple user-data and preference sets (bookmarks, mail, everything) in Opera 11.01.

In single profile mode, Opera will save all user-data and preferences including the cache inside a single folder at the root of the volume.

To do a portable installation of Opera, you must follow these instructions:

1. Copy Opera.app over to an external drive—including USB memory sticks
2. Start Opera from the Terminal using the command /Volumes/external-drive/Opera.app/Contents/MacOS/Opera -csp

The command line switch -csp (create single profile) will create a hidden folder on the external drive containing your data so you can carry it with you from machine to machine.

Running the -csp switch on an Opera installation on your Macintosh HD disk will create a single profile folder inside your Home folder.

To do a local single profile installation of Opera, you must follow these instructions:

1. Copy Opera.app over to the Applications folder
2. Start Opera from the Terminal using the command /Applications/Opera.app/Contents/MacOS/Opera -csp

On both portable and local single profile installations you can maintain separate user-data and preference sets.

1. Setup a portable or local single profile installation (using the above instructions)
2. Copy Opera.app and rename it "Opera <suffix>.app"
3. Start Opera from the Terminal using the command /Applications/Opera\ work.app/Contents/MacOS/Opera -csp

This will put your user-data and preferences in a separate hidden folder named after the suffix you gave it.

This only works with single profile installations.

This mode has some drawbacks and incompatibility with some Mac OS features. Learn more about the drawbacks of using this mode.

Read the blog post again and have a look at the more detailed technical piece, and then post your question in the comment section.