What is Opera Browser Assistant? How to Disable or Remove it?
Yesterday while preparing images for MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe process article, I noticed a new program listed in Windows 10 startup apps list.
I found a new program “Opera Browser Assistant” present in startup programs list as shown in following screenshot:
Advertisement
The publisher name was mentioned as “Opera Software“. By the program name and publisher name, it was easy to understand that the startup program was related to Opera web browser.
I immediately opened Task Manager (press Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys together) and I found Opera Browser Assistant (32-bit) (browser_assistant.exe) process running in background. Following screenshot shows Opera Browser Assistant process running in Task Manager:
I went to official Opera website and searched for Opera Browser Assistant program and I found following information related to the program:
Opera Browser Assistant program is installed by Opera web browser. Some people might get the extra program and some don’t. It depends upon how Opera web browser was installed in user’s device. Some people install Opera browser using the official online installer given on Opera website. Some install Opera using the standalone offline installer. Sometimes Opera browser gets automatically installed by other programs such as antivirus, tweaking software, etc as many 3rd party software programs come bundled with Opera web browser.
According to official privacy policy of Opera, the browser may include “Browser Assistant”, a component that provides contextual hints about certain Opera browser features and other useful information which users might be interested in. It displays desktop notifications promoting the browser’s features. It checks if any notifications are pending on a scheduled basis.
To improve user’s browsing experience as well as the relevance of hints, this component may collect feature usage statistics as well as feedback on the suggested hints. It may anonymously report occurrence of certain system events (namely low battery, low hard disk space, new Wi-Fi network connected, another browser installed). This information is not collected by Opera and no personal information is sent.
Advertisement
Opera Browser Assistant creates a startup entry for it and automatically starts with Windows. That’s why people see it running in Task Manager. It can also show its icon in Taskbar notification area (system tray) randomly. When user right-clicks on Opera Browser Assistant icon, 2 options are shown in context menu: Launch Opera and Close.
So it seems Opera Browser Assistant is installed randomly using some kind of A/B testing. Some users may get it and some may not.
Since Opera clearly mentions that Opera Browser Assistant shows notifications and hints about new features, etc, I’m sure it may annoy many Opera users.
Also there is a thing to worry about! Opera says that the Browser Assistant may collect usage statistics.
So it might be a wise idea to disable or remove Opera Browser Assistant from your computer.
Following steps will help you in getting rid of Opera Browser Assistant program in your computer:
Table of Contents
STEP 1: Disable Opera Browser Assistant from Windows Startup
First of all disable Opera Browser Assistant from startup so that it doesn’t start automatically with Windows.
1. Right-click on Taskbar and select Task Manager option. It’ll open Task Manager. Alternatively, you can also direct launch Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys together.
If Task Manager is opened in mini mode, click on “More details” button. It’ll launch Task Manager in full version mode.
2. Now go to “Startup” tab and there you’ll see a list of all startup apps.
PS: In older Windows versions, you’ll need to open msconfig and go to Startup tab.
3. Look for “Opera Browser Assistant” item. Select it and click on “Disable” button.
That’s it. Now Opera Browser Assistant will no longer automatically start with Windows.
STEP 2: Block Opera Browser Assistant Using Firewall
You should also disallow Opera Browser Assistant (browser_assistant.exe) to access Internet using your Firewall program.
Open following folder using RUN dialog box:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera\
Now look for “assistant” folder. Once you find the folder, open it. You’ll see browser_assistant.exe file inside the folder.
If you can’t find “assistant” folder, it means Opera Browser Assistant is not installed by Opera browser in your computer system.
PS: If you are using Opera Beta or Developer versions, you’ll find the “assistant” folder inside following folders:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera beta\
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Programs\Opera developer\
You can create a new rule in your Firewall settings to block this EXE file. Once you block Opera Browser Assistant from connecting to Internet, it’ll be unable to send usage statistics data to Opera servers.
STEP 3: Delete or Rename Opera Browser Assistant Executable File
If you are not using a firewall program or unable to block the file from accessing Internet, you can simply delete or rename the “browser_assistant.exe” file. Once you delete or rename this EXE file, Opera Browser Assistant will never launch and run in background.
Just go to above mentioned folder and delete browser_assistant.exe file and Opera Browser Assistant will no longer run in your computer. If you find any difficulties in deleting the file, make sure browser_assistant.exe is not running in background, if it’s running then End Task of it using Task Manager and then try to delete it again.
If you want, you can delete whole “assistant” folder to get rid of Opera Browser Assistant program.
Also Check:
[Tip] How to Disable or Block Auto-Update Feature in Opera Web Browser
How to Disable GoogleUpdate.exe Background Process After Installing Google Chrome
How to Disable or Remove MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe Process Running in Task Manager?
You can install Opera without the Assistant package. See this post on the official Opera forum:
forums.opera.com/topic/52284/uninstall-opera-browser-assistant