How to Move from Arc to Vivaldi

Vivaldi has more features than Arc ever did, runs on every platform including your phone, and isn't going anywhere. The one thing it can't do is import your Spaces, so here's how to bring them across.

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Vivaldi is a good home for Arc users who want a browser built to last. It's been around since 2016, it's owned by its employees rather than investors, and it runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android with end-to-end encrypted sync. It doesn't look like Arc out of the box, but with a few settings changed it can work very much like it.

What comes across

Vivaldi's importer treats Arc like any other Chromium browser. A Vivaldi team member explained on the company's forum that it can bring over extensions, passwords and history, but not Arc's Spaces or folders. The only bookmarks it finds are ones you had previously imported into Arc.

So the job has two parts: run Vivaldi's importer for your passwords, history and extensions, then bring your sidebar across as a bookmarks file.

Step by step

1. Install Vivaldi from vivaldi.com.
2. Quit Arc, then in Vivaldi open File → Import from Applications or Files, pick Arc (or Chrome, if Arc isn't listed), and import history, passwords and extensions.
3. If passwords didn't come across, export a CSV from Arc at arc://password-manager/settings and import it at vivaldi://password-manager/settings. Delete the CSV afterwards.
4. Convert your sidebar to bookmarks. Arc doesn't store its Spaces as bookmarks, so you need a converter that reads Arc's sidebar file and writes a standard bookmarks HTML file. arc-export is a free, open-source option; several in-browser tools do the same.
5. Import the bookmarks file in Vivaldi: File → Import from Applications or Files → Bookmarks HTML file.
6. Save your Easels if you use them, from Arc's Library → Easels → Export All Easels. Vivaldi has no equivalent, but you keep a copy.

Arc's own Export Data button isn't much help here: it saves a Markdown list of links, which no browser can import as bookmarks.

Rebuild your Arc setup in Vivaldi

• Vertical tabs: Settings → Tabs → Tab Bar Position → Left. This is the single biggest step towards feeling at home.
• Spaces → Workspaces. Create a Workspace per Arc Space from the button at the top of the tab bar, then open each Space's bookmark folder in its Workspace. Switch with Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+number.
• Folders → Tab Stacks. Drag one tab onto another to stack them, or stack by site automatically.
• Split View → Tab Tiling. Select tabs and tile them side by side, stacked or in a grid, with no limit on the number. Right-click a link and choose Open Link as Tiled Tab for something close to Peek.
• Command Bar → Quick Commands. Press F2 (or Cmd+E on Mac) to search tabs, bookmarks, history and commands.
• Sync: sign in with a Vivaldi account and set an encryption password; it never leaves your device.

If you want Vivaldi to look much more like Arc, a community mod called Vivarc recreates Arc's sidebar, command bar and split view on macOS. It's unofficial and needs care to install.

Is Vivaldi the right move?

Choose Vivaldi if you want one browser on every device, love tweaking, and want something that won't disappear. If rebuilding your Spaces sounds like too much work, Zen and Dia both import them directly. See Arc vs Vivaldi for a feature-by-feature look, or the Arc alternatives guide for every option.

Sources

• Vivaldi: import and export help, forum reply on Arc import, Workspaces, Tab Tiling, Tab Stacks and Sync
• The Browser Company: How do I export my data from Arc?
• Community: Vivarc mod