KDE Tips and Tricks

When I switched to NixOS, I also switched distros (because I am a glutton for punishment). Instead of Pop_OS!, I now use KDE full time.

And I like it. KDE has a ton of little niceties that I missed in Pop. Most of them are pretty minor things, but when you use computers 8-10 hours per day, like I do, minor things can be important.

So let’s talk about KDE.

The KDE Ethos #

Before we get into specific features, I’d like to express my feeling of the OS as a whole. KDE is an excellent distro out of the box: it has everything you need, and then a bit more.

But the big idea, or the “ethos” behind KDE seems to be one thing: ultimate customizability. KDE doesn’t lock anything down. If you want something in KDE, you can probably do it.

Now that’s true for many distros, but few put their money where their mouth is like KDE. Not only can you customize virtually anything in KDE, but it also generally gives you visual interfaces to help you do it. You don’t have to modify obscure text files to customize KDE, you just have to open up and explore the system settings, or the application settings.

Now, this could also be seen as a downside. KDE has preference files stored everywhere, so if you want to create a perfectly reproducible KDE environment, it’s… hard. Not impossible, but hard. But if you like tweaking and customizing every app to perfectly fit your use-case, then KDE could be for you.

Tip 1: Moving and Resizing Windows #

This is a trick that a friend of mine taught me. If you want to move a window in KDE, you don’t have to hunt for an open location on your title bar. All you do is hold down the super key, and drag anywhere on the window, and it will move. Super handy, especially for those of us who like to hide the titlebars on our applications.

In the same vein, to resize windows, hold down the super key and drag with right click, and you can resize. The window will resize based on the quadrant that you right-click on: If you right-click on the side of the window, it will resize horizontally. Right-click near the top or bottom, and it will resize vertically. Also super handy.

Tip 2: Keyboard Shortcuts #

KDE is amazing for keyboard shortcuts. Never have I seen a tool that makes it so easy to customize the keyboard shortcuts on your OS.

Why is KDE amazing for this? One reason: if you go into system settings and add a new keyboard shortcut, then KDE will warn you if the shortcut you are adding is already in use. Even better, it will tell you what that shortcut already does, and give you the option to overwrite it if you like.

This sounds minor, but it’s a game changer. Adding keyboard shortcuts in Gnome always worried me, because I worried about conflicts. Eventually I figured out how to use the “Hyper key”, which helped, but it feels inefficient to use the hyper key for everything. Four years ago I said this:

You need to be able to add shortcuts to your computer quickly and effortlessly, without thinking about it.

The Hyper key was my solution at the time. But KDE has a better solution, and it’s simple: it warns you if you’re overwriting an existing shortcut. Simple as that.

I’ve never felt more free to add my own keyboard shortcuts, and that is incredibly valuable!

Tip 3: Virtual Desktops #

One quibble I have for KDE is this: why aren’t virtual desktops enabled by default??

Virtual Desktops allow you to create as many desktop spaces as you want. I use these all the time, especially when I’m working on a laptop, so they are the first thing I enabled after installing KDE.

KDE also allows you to create whatever layout you want for your virtual desktops. You can have a horizontal row, like MacOS. A vertical row, like Pop_OS. Or a grid. I went with a 2x3 grid, but I may change this at some point.

KDE also has some great tools for viewing and organizing your workspaces. If you press super+G, it will show you all workspaces and allow you to drag-and-drop windows. If you press super+W, it will show you all windows in the current workspace. Both things I first saw in MacOS, and I’m so glad KDE supports them.

As a bonus tip, if you have a trackpad that supports multi-finger gestures, KDE supports those too. They work exactly how you expect them to, if you’re used to a Macbook.

Tip 4: Explore Settings in Everything #

As mentioned before, KDE is incredibly customizable. Every app has its own settings, and the System Settings app has a ton to offer as well. If something annoys you in KDE, you can probably fix it. And you can improve your own efficiency simply by exploring settings and knowing what is there. You might be surprised at what you find.

Tip 5: Explore Your Apps #

KDE has an incredible array of well supported apps. You can of course use most of these with any distro, but they work without a hitch in KDE, which is nice. Here are a few of the most useful that I’ve found:

Dolphin #

The default KDE file manager, it’s really nice. I used Nautilus in Pop, and it was fine, but Dolphin feels a bit more powerful.

It supports a ton of different layout options, and if you open the “information” panel it has a great preview: click on a file and you can see a preview in the sidebar on the right.

Dolphin embodies the ethos behind KDE: anything you can imagine, you can do. On the surface Dolphin looks simple, but if you dive into the application settings, there is very little that you can’t do with a little creativity. If you love customizing apps to perfectly fit your use-case, then KDE might be the distro for you.

Spectacle #

I wish someone would have told me about Spectacle sooner.

Spectacle is the default screenshot tool in KDE, and it is nice.

Gnome Screenshot was fine. It got the job done. But I was always having problems with it, rarely did it just work.

Spectacle just works, and it routinely delights me when I discover that it has yet another feature that I didn’t know I needed. Spectacle screenshots the whole screen by default, and then immediately opens the screenshot and gives you a suite of simple tools to help you edit it. I find I prefer this workflow over trying to precisely drag-to-screenshot the exact portion of the screen that I need. With Spectacle you capture the whole screen, and then crop. It’s just as fast, but less fussy than most other screenshot tools.

As a bonus, Spectacle also allows you to add arrows, boxes, text, and it’s automatically bound to the default Print Screen key. It just works.

KRunner #

Another powerful app that is built-in to KDE, KRunner is a multi-purpose application launcher. I’ve used ULauncher for years, but I find that KRunner is faster and more powerful (particularly in Wayland).

KRunner also supports plugins, so you can customize it to fit your needs, but I’ve had trouble getting them to work. In any case, the default features are good enough for 99% of my needs.

KDE Connect #

Last but not least, KDE Connect. This is an app for your phone that connects it to you computer. KDE Connect gives you all sorts of options for integrating your phone with your computer, including the ability to receive both phone calls and text messages on your computer.

This is one of the features that I miss the most from my years as a Mac user. The text message integration in MacOS is so good, it make it much easier to hold conversations while using a computer.

KDE Connect is not as seamless as Mac Messages: it’s a bit buggy and slow. It feels like beta software, like it still needs a few months of polish from the dev team.

But despite its lack of polish, it does what it’s supposed to do. It allows me to effortless transfer anything I like in any direction I like: I can pass files, clipboards, texts, or even phone calls back and forth from my computer to my phone. It might have a rough interface, but the functionality is incredibly valuable.

Honorable Mentions #

There are a few other apps I’ve found that you might be interested in:

• Kdenlive - Video editor
• Krita - Painting tool
• Elisa - Music player
• Filelight - Disk statistics
• Plasma System Monitor

Conclusion #

I am a big fan of KDE at the moment. It does everything I need it to, and more. I’m sure it won’t be my last Linux distro—I like to experiment and explore—but at the moment it is my favorite.

If you haven’t tried KDE in a while, you might want to give it a shot. It has a ton to offer, and I think a bright future.

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