KDE Plasma Tips and Tricks¶

KDE Plasma is a highly customizable and feature-rich desktop environment. This guide organizes tips and tricks to enhance your experience, covering shortcuts, system interactions, and application-specific features.

General Shortcuts¶

Show Desktop: Press Meta + D to minimize all windows and view the desktop.
KRunner: Press Alt + Space (when focus is not on the desktop) to open KRunner for quick searches and commands. Type ? in KRunner to learn advanced syntax.
Activity Overview: Press Super + W for a GNOME-like overview of open windows.
Activities Menu: Press Meta + Tab to access the activities menu. Create separate activities (e.g., School, Home) with unique wallpapers, widgets, and panels. Disable history for specific activities as needed.
Clipboard Manager: Press Meta + V to open the clipboard history. Pin favorite entries or search through past clips.
Screenshots: Press Meta + Print to take a screenshot. Annotate directly or drag the screenshot from the notification to other applications.
Task Manager Apps: Press Meta + 1, Meta + 2, etc., to open pinned apps in the task manager (bottom panel by default).
Virtual Desktops: Scroll on the desktop to switch between virtual desktops.

Desktop Interactions¶

Search with KRunner: When the desktop is in focus (e.g., after login), type directly to search via KRunner.
Sticky Notes: Select and drag text to the desktop to create sticky notes.
Wallpaper: Drag an image or WebP video to the desktop to set it as wallpaper. Configure modes (span, center, tile) or use solid colors in System Settings > Appearance > Wallpaper. Download additional wallpaper plugins as needed.

System Tray and Media Control¶

Volume Control: Scroll over the system tray audio icon to adjust volume. Click to view live audio output intensity (highlighted in a different color during playback).
Media Control: Hover over a task manager app playing media to access a volume slider or mute it individually without affecting global audio.
Firefox Integration: Install the Plasma Integration add-on for Firefox to control media playback from the system tray and view download progress notifications.

Customization¶

Widgets: Right-click the desktop, select Add Widgets, and choose or download new widgets for the desktop or panel.
Accent Colors: In System Settings > Appearance > Colors, derive accent colors from the wallpaper. Apply these to tint apps and panels for a cohesive look.
Panels and Applets: Add, remove, or fine-tune panels and applets via their configuration pages. Note: Removing customized panels is permanent, so proceed cautiously.
Animations and Title Bars: Explore System Settings to enable animations or modify title bar contents, though these are optional.

Applications¶

Dolphin (File Manager)¶

Terminal Integration: Press F4 to open a terminal at the current directory within Dolphin.
Selection Mode: Press Space to enter selection mode for easier file selection.

Konsole (Terminal)¶

Color Previews: Hover over a hex code to preview its color.
Image Previews: View image previews directly in the terminal.

Kate (Text Editor)¶

A powerful, lightweight text editor for coding and note-taking.

Okular (Document Viewer)¶

Ideal for reading and annotating documents.

KDE Calendar¶

Displays holidays and supports alternative calendars. Access configuration via the top-right config icon.

KDE Connect¶

Seamless Device Integration: Use KDE Connect for a unified experience between your PC and mobile device. Grant necessary permissions to the mobile app.
Features:
Control media remotely.
Send files between devices.
Use your phone as a remote input device or presentation controller (e.g., change slides).
Execute custom commands, such as remotely shutting down your PC.

Additional Tips¶

Explore System Settings: KDE is simple by default but highly customizable. Dive into System Settings to discover advanced options like animations, title bar tweaks, and more.

Source: - KDE Plasma Wiki - reddit