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Plasma Desktop

Note

This topic mostly or entirely pertains to KDE Plasma version 5.27 and may not have been updated for newer versions.

Description

This topic focuses on the Plasma Desktop, a graphical desktop environment by KDE.

Directory

Quality of Life Improvements

Note

Feel free to skip parts of this section that you do not wish to implement.

Description

This details on some things that could be done to improve the experience of using the desktop.

Workspace Behaviour

  1. Launch the System Settings application.

  2. Expand the Workspace section.

  3. Click the Workspace Behavior menu item.

  4. In the General Behavior tab, configure as follows:

    • Clicking files or folders: Selects them

  5. Click the Apply button.

Animation Speed

This details how to adjust the animation speed of the Plasma Desktop:

  1. Launch the System Settings application.

  2. Select the General Behavior menu item under the Workspace section.

  3. In the General Behavior page, adjust the Animation speed using the provided slider (i.e. increase by 1 step from the default).

  4. Click the Apply button.

Dolphin

This details configuration steps for enhancing the Dolphin file manager's experience and functionality.

References

KRunner

Center KRunner by Default

  1. Launch KRunner by pressing Alt + Space.

  2. Click the inline Settings icon on KRunner's far left.

  3. In the KRunner Settings module, change the Position on screen option from Top to Center.

  4. Click Apply then OK.

Adding Additional Plugins

  1. Launch KRunner by pressing Alt + Space.

  2. Click the Cogwheel icon to the far left of KRunner.

  3. Click the Configure Enabled Search Plugins... button.

  4. In the Plasma Search section, click the Get New Plugins at the bottom right.

  5. Search for the plugin you wish to install using the provided search bar.

  6. Select the plugin you wish to install and click the Install button on the top right.

Spectacle

  1. Launch Spectacle.

  2. Click Configure Spectacle... which should launch the Configure window.

  3. Configure the following settings:

    • General:

      • When launching Spectacle: Do not take a screenshot automatically.
      • After taking a screenshot:
        • Save file to default folder: Enabled.
        • Copy image to clipboard.
      • While Spectacle is running:
        • Press screenshot key to: Take a new Screenshot.
      • Rectangular Region Selection:
        • General:
          • Use light background: Disabled.
          • Accept on click-and-release: Enabled.
          • Show capture instructions: Disabled.
        • Show magnifier: While holding Shift.
        • Remember selected area: Never.

    • Image Saving:

      • Save Location: ~/Pictures/Screenshots/Desktop (create the folder beforehand).
      • Compression Quality: 90%.
      • Filename:
        • Screenshot_<yyyy><MM><dd>_<HH><mm><ss>, PNG (Plasma 6).
        • Screenshot_%Y%M%D_%H%m%S, PNG (Plasma 5).

    • Video Saving:

      • Save Location: ~/Videos/Screencasts (create the folder beforehand).
      • Filename: Screencast_<yyyy><MM><dd>_<HH><mm><ss>, MP4/H.264.

  4. Head to the Shortcuts tab and add custom keybindings for:

    [!IMPORTANT]
    Skip this redundant and breaking step if you intend to use Toshy.

    • Capture Active Window: Alt + Shift + 5
    • Capture Current Monitor: Alt + Shift + 3
    • Capture Rectangular Region: Alt + Shift + 4

  5. Click Apply then OK.

Spectacle-like Window Management

This adds shortcuts that would make managing and moving windows on the desktop behave similarly to the third-party window management utility on macOS, Spectacle.

  1. Launch the System Settings application.

  2. Expand the Keyboard section under the Input & Output group.

  3. Select the Shortcuts menu item.

  4. Using the provided search bar in the Shortcuts page, search and configure the following custom shortcuts accordingly:

    [!IMPORTANT]
    Skip the following shortcuts if you intend to use Toshy.

    • Quick Tile Window to the Bottom: Alt + Shift + Down
    • Quick Tile Window to the Left: Alt + Shift + Left
    • Quick Tile Window to the Right: Alt + Shift + Right
    • Quick Tile Window to the Top: Alt + Shift + Up
    • Maximize Window: Alt + Shift + F

    [!NOTE]
    You may include the following shortcuts even if you use Toshy as they are currently unsupported.

    • Quick Tile Window to the Top Left: Meta + Alt + Shift + Left
    • Quick Tile Window to the Top Right: Meta + Alt + Shift + Right
    • Quick Tile Window to the Bottom Left: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Left
    • Quick Tile Window to the Bottom Right: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Right
    • Move Window to the Center: Alt + Shift + C

  5. Click the Apply button.

Theme Customisations

Note

Feel free to skip parts of this section that you do not wish to implement.

Description

This details some customisation options for the Plasma Desktop.

Floating Dock

  1. Right click the Default Panel (Taskbar/Dock).

  2. Click the Show Panel Configuration option.

  3. In the Panel Settings panel, set the following options:

    • Position: Bottom
    • Alignment: Center
    • Width: Fit content
    • Visibility: Always visible
    • Opacity: Adaptive
    • Style (Floating): Enabled

  4. Adjust the Panel Height as you wish i.e. 64.

  5. If used with a Menu Bar, it is recommended to remove everything from the panel except the default Icons-only Task Manager.

  6. Optionally, use the Launchpad Plasma widget as the desktop's default application launcher:

    • Install the Launchpad plasma 6 widget by adhe.

    • Add the widget to the leftmost side of the panel.

    • Configure the widget like so:

      • General:
        • Icon: app-launcher
        • Show application as: Name only
        • Apps icon size: Huge (<1080p screen) or Enormous (1080p> screen)
        • Favs icon size: Large (<1080p screen) or Huge (1080p> screen)
        • Favs icon size (Power/Restart/Logout/Lock icons): Medium (<1080p screen) or Large (1080p> screen)

  7. Click the Done button in the Panel Settings panel.

Cleaner System Tray

  1. Right click the Upward/Downward Arrow icon at the system taskbar or menu bar that says Show hidden icons.

  2. Click the Configure System Tray... menu item.

  3. In the General section:

    • Panel icon size: Small

    • Panel icon spacing: Small (<1080p screen) or Normal (1080p> screen)

  4. Navigate to the Entries section and make the following (recommended) configurations:

    • AnyDesk: Always hidden

    • firewall-applet: Always hidden

    • Updates: Always hidden

    • KDE Connect: Always shown

    • Keyboard Layout: Always hidden

    • Lock Keys Status: Always hidden

    • Clipboard: Always hidden

    • Media Player: Always hidden

    • Notifications: Always shown

  5. Click Apply then OK.

Task Switcher

  1. Install the kdeplasma-addons package using yay to add more task switcher options.

    [!NOTE]
    This additional package is no longer needed on KDE Plasma 6 or newer.

  2. Launch the System Settings application.

  3. Click the Window Management menu item under the Apps & Windows section.

  4. Click the Task Switcher menu item.

  5. In the Main tab of the Task Switcher page, within the Visualization section, configure the following:

    • Uncheck the Show selected window option to disable it.
    • Check the Effect dropdown option to enable the chosen effect.
    • Expand the Effect dropdown and select the Thumbnail Grid option.

  6. Under the Shortcuts section, configure as follows:

    [!IMPORTANT]
    Skip this redundant and breaking step if you intend to use Toshy.

    • All windows:

      • Forward: Alt + Tab
      • Reverse: Alt + `

    • Current application:

      • Forward: None
      • Reverse: None

  7. Click the Apply button.

Prettier Icons

  1. Launch the System Settings application.

  2. Click the Colors & Themes menu item under the Appearance & Style section.

  3. Configure the Icons:

    • Click the Icons menu item.

    • Click the Get New... button.

    • In the provided search bar, search for Mkos-Big-Sur and click the Install button.

    • Close the Download New Icons window.

    • In the Icons page, select the Mkos-Big-Sur-Night (Dark) or Mkos-Big-Sur (Light) option and click the Apply button.

  4. Configure the Cursors:

    • Click the Cursors menu item.

    • Install the cursor theme, bibata-cursor-theme-bin using yay directly.

      Alternatively, install the theme graphically through the KDE Plasma Desktop:

      • Click the Get New... button.

      • In the provided search bar, search for Bibata Modern Classic (Dark) or Bibata Modern Ice (Light) and click the Install button.

      • When prompted to Pick Your Installation Option, click the corresponding Install button for Bibata-Modern-Classic.tar.xz (Dark) or Bibata-Modern-Ice.tar.xz (Light).Close the Download New Cursors window.

    • In the Cursors page, select the Bibata-Modern-Classic (Dark) or Bibata-Modern-Ice (Light) option and click the Apply button.

Menu Bar

  1. Right click the desktop and click the Enter Edit Mode button.

  2. Expand the Add Panel dropdown and select the Application Menu Bar option.

  3. Right click the Application Menu Bar and select the Show Panel Configuration option.

  4. In the Panel Settings panel, set the following options:

    • Position: Top
    • Alignment: Center
    • Width: Fill width
    • Visibility: Always visible
    • Opacity: Adaptive
    • Style (Floating): Disabled

  5. Adjust the Panel Height as you wish i.e. 32.

  6. Add the following Widgets to the Menu Bar:

    • Application Launcher or Kpple Menu 6 by chrtall (Requires installation) if using Launchpad Plasma in the Dock
    • Window Title by dhruv8sh or plasma6-applets-window-title (AUR): Requires installation
    • Global Menu
    • Digital Clock
    • System Tray
    • Peek at Desktop

  7. Position the widgets by clicking and dragging them like so on the Menu Bar in this order (from left to right):

    • Application Launcher or Kpple Menu 6
    • Window Title
    • Global Menu
    • Panel Spacer (Click the Add Spacer button)
    • Digital Clock
    • Panel Spacer (Click the Add Spacer button)
    • System Tray
    • Peek at Desktop

  8. Configure the following widgets as such:

  • Window Title:

    • Appearance:
      • Text:
        • When title available: %a
        • When Application Name and Window Title are same: %a
        • When title unavailable: %q
        • Text Formatting:
          • Size: 16
          • Bold: Enabled
          • Italic: Disabled
          • Capitalize First Letters: Enabled
      • Icon:
        • Visible: Disabled
      • Margins:
        • Length: Based on contents
        • Space before icon: 4
        • Space between icon and text: 4
        • Space after text: 4
    • Behavior:
      • Info Filtering: Disable all options
      • Gestures: Disable all options
    • Leave the rest as default

  • Digital Clock:

    • Appearance:
      • Information:
        • Show date: Always beside time
      • Show seconds: Only in the tooltip
      • Show time zone: Only when different from local time zone
      • Display time zone as: Code
      • Time display: 12-Hour
      • Date format:
        • Custom
        • ddd d MMM
      • Text display: Manual
        • Font Family: SF Pro Display
        • Font Style: Regular
        • Font Size: 12
    • Leave the rest as default

  • System Tray

  1. Click the Done button in the Panel Settings panel.

macOS-like Desktop

  1. Launch the System Settings application.

  2. Click the Colors & Themes menu item under the Appearance & Style section.

  3. Configure the Colors:

    • Click the Colors menu item.

    • Click the Get New... button.

    • In the provided search bar, search for MkosBigSur-Dark (Dark) or Mkos-BigSur-Colors (Light) and click the Install button.

    • Close the Download New Color Schemes window.

    • In the Colors page, select the MkosBigSur-Dark (Dark) or Mkos-BigSur (Light) option and click the Apply button.

  4. Configure the Application Style:

    • Click the Application Style menu item.

    • Click the Configure GNOME/GTK Application Style... button.

    • Click the Get New GNOME/GTK Application Styles... button.

    • In the provided search bar, search for WhiteSur GTK Theme and click the Install button.

    • When prompted to Pick Your Installation Option, click the corresponding Install button for:

      • WhiteSur-Dark.tar.xz (Dark) or WhiteSur-Light.tar.xz (Light).

        [!TIP]
        Download the -solid variant if you are using an NVIDIA GPU.

    • Close the Download New GNOME/GTK Application Styles window.

    • In the GNOME/GTK Application Style page, expand the GTK theme dropdown and select the WhiteSur-Dark (Dark) or WhiteSur-Light (Light) option.

      [!TIP]
      Select the -solid variant if you are using an NVIDIA GPU.

    • Click the Apply button.

  5. Configure the Plasma Style:

    • Click the Plasma Style menu item.

    • Click the Get New... button.

    • In the provided search bar, search for Apple-Dark Theme (Dark) or Mkos-BigSur-plasma (Light) and click the Install button.

    • Close the Download New Plasma Styles window.

    • In the Plasma Style page, select the AppleDark-ALL (Dark) or mkos-BigSur (Light) option and click the Apply button.

  6. Configure the Window Decorations:

    • Click the Window Decorations menu item.

    • Click the Get New... button.

    • In the provided search bar, search for Big Sur Night mkos (Dark) or Mkos-BigSur-Aurora (Light) and click the Install button.

    • Close the Download New Window Decorations window.

    • In the Window Decorations page, select the Mkos-BigSur-Night (Dark) or Mkos-BigSur (Light) option and click the Apply button.

    • Configure the Window Borders:

      • Expand the Window Borders dropdown to the right of the Window Decorations title.
      • Select the Theme's default (Normal Window Borders) option.
      • Click the Apply button.

    • Configure the Titlebar Buttons:

      • Click the Configure Titlebar Buttons... button.
      • Remove the More actions for this window button.
      • Remove the On all desktops button.
      • Remove the Context help button.
      • Drag the Close button to the far left.
      • Drag the Minimize button to the right of the Close button.
      • Drag the Maximize button to the right of the Minimize button.
      • Click the Apply button.

    • Some applications require additional configuration for these customisations to be applied correctly:

  7. Configure macOS-like Icons and Cursors.

  8. Configure the Splash Screen (Optional):

    • Click the Splash Screen menu item.

    • In the Splash Screen page, select the None option and click the Apply button.

  9. Configure the Login Screen:

  • Click the Login Screen (SDDM) menu item.

  • Click the Get New... button.

  • In the provided search bar, search for Apple Sonoma V3 and click the Install button.

  • When prompted to authenticate, enter your user password and click OK.

  • Close the Download New Login Screen window.

  • In the Login Screen (SDDM) page, select the Apple-Sonoma-V3 option and click the Apply button.

  • When prompted to authenticate, enter your user password and click OK.

  1. Add an Application Menu Bar to the top of the screen.

  2. Configure the Default Panel as a macOS-like Dock.

    [!NOTE]
    It is no longer recommended to replace the default panel with a Plank dock due to incompatibility with Wayland.

  3. Install and Configure macOS-like Fonts (including Emojis).

  4. Add a Genie Mode animation when minimising or reopening a window from the dock:

    • Launch the System Settings application.
    • Select the Window Management menu item under the Apps & Windows section.
    • In the Window Management view, select the Desktop Effects menu item.
    • Using the provided search bar in the Desktop Effects page, search for the Magic Lamp setting.
    • Select the corresponding Magic Lamp checkbox to enable it.
    • Click its corresponding Gear Cog icon to configure it.
    • In the newly opened Configure window, set the Animation duration to 400 milliseconds.
    • Click the Apply button and OK in the Configure window.
    • Click the Apply button in the Desktop Effects page.

Widgets

Description

This details some additional widgets we could add to our desktop for added functionality.

Installing a Widget

  1. If the widget is available in your package manager, install the package using yay directly.

  2. Alternatively, install the widget through the KDE Plasma Desktop:

    • Right click the desktop and select the Enter Edit Mode menu item.
    • Click the Get New Widgets... button.
    • Select the Download New Plasma Widgets option.
    • Use the provided search bar to search for the widget by their name.
    • Locate the widget and click its corresponding Install button.
    • If prompted to Pick Your Installation Option, click the desired downloadable item's corresponding Install button.
    • If prompted to authenticate, enter your user password and click OK.
    • Close the Download New Plasma Widgets window after you've finished.

Adding a Widget

  1. If you wish to add a widget to the Desktop, right click the desktop and select the Enter Edit Mode menu item.

  2. If you wish to add a widget to a Panel (i.e. menu bar or dock), right click the panel and select the Show Panel Configuration menu item.

  3. Click the Add Widgets... button.

  4. Search for the widget in the provided search bar from the Widgets panel.

  5. Click and drag the widget to the desired position and release it to add it.

Configuring a Widget

  1. Right click the widget and select its Configure... menu item.

  2. Modify the widget's settings as desired in each section and click the Apply button to save the changes.

  3. Click the OK button once done to save all changes.

KDE Thermal Monitor

References

Steps

  1. Install the plasma6-applets-thermal-monitor-git package using yay.

  2. Check for available sensors on your system:

    sensors

    [!NOTE]
    Do note that some sensors may require additional packages to be installed (i.e. zenpower3-dkms for newer Ryzen CPUs).

  3. Add the widget and configure the sources:

    • Add the Thermal Monitor widget to the menu/taskbar.

    • Right click the widget and click the Configure Thermal Monitor... option.

    • From the newly opened Thermal Monitor Settings window, configure the following:

      • In the Sensors section, add each source you wish to have monitored:

        • Click the Add Sensor... button.

        • Click the corresponding + button on each source you wish added.

        • Click the X button from the Add Sensor window when you're done adding all sources.

        • For each sensor, click their corresponding Pencil (Edit) button and add a sensible Name (label) to it.

          [!TIP]
          Sample sources: lmsensors/zenpower-pci-00c3/temp1 (CPU), gpu/gpu0/temperature (GPU), lmsensors/nvme-pci-0100/temp1 (SSD)

        • Once done, click the Apply button.

      • In the Appearance section, configure the following options:

        • Temperature:
          • Show unit: Enabled
          • Enable danger color: Enabled
          • Warning threshold: 75c
          • Meltdown threshold: 90c
        • Primary label: Temperature
        • Font scale: 1.0
        • Once done, click the Apply button.

      • Click the OK button to save all changes.

Troubleshooting

Warning

This fix was for an older version of the Thermal Monitor widget on KDE Plasma 5

Fix the KDE Thermal Monitor issue requiring "Reload Temperature Sources" when plasmashell is restarted:

  • Edit the ~/.local/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.thermalMonitor/contents/ui/main.qml file:

    property var systemmonitorAvailableSources: []

    Replace the property var systemmonitorAvailableSources line with the above line.

Default Applications

Description

This details on how to configure default applications of various types on KDE Plasma.

Application Types

This section details how to configure the default application for certain types of applications.

  1. Open the System Settings app.

  2. Expand the Applications section.

  3. Open the Default Applications menu item.

  4. Here, you can configure the default application of various types including:

    • Web browser
    • File manager
    • Email client
    • Terminal emulator
    • Map
    • Dialer

  5. To configure the default application for a certain type, click its corresponding dropdown and select the application you wish to use accordingly.

  6. Click the Apply button to save your changes.

File Types

This section details how to configure the default application to open certain file types.

  1. Launch the Dolphin file manager.

  2. Select and right click a file of the type you wish to configure i.e. a .mkv file.

  3. From the context menu, hover over the Open With option, and select the Other Application... option.

  4. Search and locate the application you wish to use to open the file type i.e. VLC media player.

  5. Select the application and check the Remember application association for all files of type "X" box.

    X here represents the file type you are configuring i.e. Matroska Video for .mkv files.

  6. Click the OK button.

    Now, all files of the type you configured will open with the selected application.

Auto Login

Description

This guides how to enable auto login to the desktop for our user.

References

Steps

  1. Launch the System Settings application.

  2. Expand the Colors & Themes section under the Appearance & Style group.

  3. Click the Login Screen (SDDM) menu item.

  4. In the Login Screen (SDDM) page, click the Behavior button at the top.

  5. In the Behavior page, check the Automatically log in box and select your user from the inline dropdown. You can also change the default session (i.e. X11 or Wayland) here.

    [!TIP]
    If you instead wish to disable desktop autologin, simply uncheck the Automatically log in box.

  6. Click the Apply button at the bottom.

  7. If prompted to authenticate, enter your user credentials and click the OK button.