Preferences

These are personal configuration preferences.

Install Arc and Papirus themes

Arc-KDE is arc-dark for Plasma 6.

Re-login required after installation

Installation requires re-login. KDE will not display themes correctly until logging off and logging back in.

# Choose arc-icon-theme for recommended features.
pacman -S ---needed papirus-icon-theme
# Uninstall with 'env uninstall=true sh'.
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PapirusDevelopmentTeam/arc-kde/master/install.sh | sh
# Correct potential permission problems with UMASK (see reference).
sudo find /usr/share/{plasma,aurorae,color-schemes,konsole,konversation,Kvantum,plasma,wallpapers,yakuake} -type d -exec chmod o+rx {} \;
sudo find /usr/share/{plasma,aurorae,color-schemes,konsole,konversation,Kvantum,plasma,wallpapers,yakuake} -type f -exec chmod o+r {} \;

Input & Output

⌘ ➔ System Settings ➔ Input & Output

Mouse & Touchpad

Mouse:
- Device: Select Mouse (each mouse must be configured)
- Pointer speed: 5
- Enable pointer acceleration: ✘
Touchpad:
- Disable while typing: ✔
- Pointer speed: 5
- Enable pointer acceleration: ✘
- Scroll by moving two fingers anywhere: ✔
- Scroll by natural scrolling direction: ✘
- Right-click by pressing anywhere with two fingers: ✔
- Tap to click: ✔
- Allow dragging after tapping: ✔
- Allow briefly lifting finger during tap-and-drag: ✔
- Two-finger tap right-click (three finger for middle): ✔

Keyboard

Keyboard:
- Key Bindings:
  - Configure keyboard options: ✔
    - Function keys use F13-F24 as usual function keys: ✔

Shortcuts

Audio Volume:
- Mute Microphone: F24, Microphone Mute, Meta+Microphone Mute
Plasma Workspace:
- Activate Application Launcher: Alt+F1, Meta
- Activate Application Launcher Widget: Meta+Space
Window Management:
- Make window fullscreen: Meta+Return
- Maximize Window: Meta+PgUp
- Minimize Window: Meta+PgDown
Krunner:
- Launch: Alt+Space, Search, Alt+F2

Sound

Disable any unused device and name devices for sanity. Headset should be enabled for all channels to allow for splitting recording and playback devices.

Sound

Rename Devices: Update to understandable names
Playback Devices:
- HDMI: off (any HDMI output is generally unused)
- Headset:
  - Profile: Game Output + Chat Output + Chat Input
Recording Devices: Mute all that are not used.
Notification Sounds: ✘
Configure Volume Controls:
- Volume change step: 5%
- Play audio feedback for change to audio volume: ✘
- OSD Popups for audio volume: ✔
- OSD Popups for microphone sensitivity: ✘
- OSD Popups for mute state: ✔
- OSD Popups for applications start using muted microphone: ✘
- OSD Popups for default output device: ✔

Display & Monitor

Display Configuration:
- Identify & arrange to taste
- Refresh rate: max
- Color profile: Built-in
- Color accuracy: Prefer color accuracy
- Control hardware brightness with DDC/CI: ✔
- Enable EDR (Extended Dynamic Range): ✔
Night Light: Always off
Screen Edges:
- Upper left: Lock Screen
- Upper Right: Present Windows - All Desktops
- Maximize windows dragged to top edge: ✔
- Tile windows dragged to left or right edge: ✔
- Trigger quarter tiling in: outer 25%
- Switch on desktop edge: Disabled
- Activation delay: 75ms
- Reactivation delay: 350ms
- Corner Barrier: ✔
- Edge Barrier: None

Accessibility

System Bell:
- Audible Bell: ✘
- Visual Bell: ✘
Modifier Keys:
- Sticky keys: ✘
Keyboard filters:
- Slow keys: ✘
- Bounce keys: ✘
Activation Shortcuts:
- Ring the system bell: ✘
Shake Pointer:
- Shake pointer to find it: ✘

Appearance & Style

Apply the base global theme to have a consistent starting point. Window menu is setup in Window Management.

⌘ ➔ System Settings ➔ Appearance & Style

Colors & Themes

Global Theme: Breeze Dark (Apply appearance, desktop, window layout)
Colors:
- Accent color: Accent color from color scheme
- Scheme: Arc Dark
Application Style: Breeze
Plasma Style: Arc Dark
Window Decorations:
- Decorations: Arc Dark
- Style: Theme default (Normal window borders)
- ⋮ ➔ Configure Titlebar Buttons (from left to right)
  - Keep above other windows: Left
  - Keep below other windows: Left
  - Context help: Right
  - Minimize: Right
  - Maximize: Right
  - Close: Rightmost
Icons: Papirus-Dark
Cursors: Breeze Dark
- Configure Launch Feedback
  - Cursor feedback: None
  - Task Manager feedback: ✔
  - Stop animations after: 5 seconds
System Sound: Ocean
- Enable Notification Sounds: ✘
Splash Screen: CachyOS Nord
Boot Splash Screen: cachyos-bootanimation

Wallpaper

Set for all screens: ✔
Add: /usr/share/wallpapers/Arc-Mountains/contents/images/8000x4500.png
Wallpaper: 8000x4500.png

Text & Fonts

Fonts
- Anti-Aliasing: ✔

Animations

Global animation speed: 80% (4 ticks left)
Window open/close: None
Window maximize: None
Window minimize: None
Window full screen: None
Peek at desktop: Window Aperture
Virtual desktop switching: Slide
Fading popups: ✔
Sliding popups: ✔
Login fade: ✔
Logout fade: ✔

Apps & Windows

⌘ ➔ System Settings ➔ Apps & Windows

Default Applications

Web browser: Firefox
Email client: Firefox
Image viewer: Gwenview
Music player: mpv media player
Video player: mpv media player
Text editor: Code - OSS
PDF Viewer: Firefox
File manager: Dolphin
Terminal Emulator: alacritty
Archive manager: Ark

Notifications

Do Not Disturb mode when screens are mirrored: ✔
Do Not Disturb mode during screen sharing: ✔
Do Not Disturb mode while a fullscreen application is focused: ✔
Critical Notifications show in Do Not Disturb mode: ✔
Low priority notifications show popup: ✘
Low priority notifications show in history: ✘
Popups location near notification icon: ✔
Popups hide after: 5 seconds
Popups show timeout indicator: ✘
Application progress show in notifications: ✔
Application progress keep popup open during progress: ✔
Notification badges show in task manager: ✔
System Notifications:
- All: ✘
- Notification:
  - Show a message in a pop-up: ✔
Application Notifications:
- All: ✘ (Re-enable to taste)
- Authentication System: defaults
- Bluetooth: defaults
- Device Notifier: defaults
- KDE Wallet: defaults
- Network Management: defaults
- Power Management: defaults (laptops)

Window Management

Window Behavior:
- Focus:
  - Window activation policy: Focus follows mouse
  - Delay focus by: 300ms
  - Focus stealing prevention: None
  - Raising window: Click raises active window
  - Multiscreen behavior: Separate screen focus
- Titlebar Actions:
  - Double-click: Maximize
  - Mouse wheel: Change opacity
  - Maximize window by double clicking its frame: ✔
  - Maximize button action (left click): Maximize
  - Maximize button action (Middle click): Vertically Maximize
  - Maximize button action (Right click): Horizontally Maximize
- Advanced:
  - Window placement: Centered
Task Switcher
- Show selected window: ✔
- Thumbnail Grid: ✔
Desktop Effects:
- Accessibility:
  - All: ✘
- Appearance:
  - All: ✘
  - Blur: ✔
  - Desaturate Unresponsive Applications: ✔
  - Highlight Screen Edges and hot Corners: ✔
- Focus:
  - All: ✘
  - Dialog Parent: ✔
  - Dim Screen for Administrator Mode: ✔
- Window Management:
  - All: ✘
  - Overview: ✔
- Peek at Desktop Animation: Window Aperture
Virtual Desktops:
- Virtual Desktop Switching Animation: Slide
- Delete all extra desktops.

Workspace

⌘ ➔ System Settings ➔ Workspace

General Behavior

Allow Plasma to show panel and widget tooltips: ✔
Allow Plasma to show OSD popups for status changes: ✔
Clicking in scrollbar track: Scrolls to the clicked location
Prefer smooth scrolling: ✔
Clicking files or folders: Selects them
Middle-click: Pastes selected text
When dragging file or folders: Always ask what to do
Touch Mode: Automatically enable as needed

Search

File Search:
- Data to index: Nothing (disable indexing entirely)
Plasma Search:
- All: ✘
- Applications: ✔
- System Settings: ✔
- Calculator: ✔
- Date and Time: ✔
- Dictionary: ✔
- Help Runner: ✔
- Special Characters: ✔
- Spell Checker: ✔
- Terminate Applications: ✔
- Unit Converter: ✔
Configure KRunner:
- Position on screen: Center
- Activate when pressing any key on the desktop: ✘
- History: Disabled

Security & Privacy

⌘ ➔ System Settings ➔ Security & Privacy

Note

Apply plasma settings after setting background and any other theme UI settings. This will apply the current UI settings to the login screen; this should match the lockscreen.

Login Screen

Automatically log in: ✘
Default user: {USER}
Default session: Last logged-in session
Configure Appearance:
- Show clock: Always
- Add: /usr/share/wallpapers/Arc-Mountains/contents/images/8000x4500.png

Screen Locking

Lock screen automatically: 5 minutes
Lock after waking from sleep: ✔
Delay before password required: Require password immediately
Keyboard shortcut: Meta+L
Appearance:
- Show clock: Always
- Media controls: ✘
- Add: /usr/share/wallpapers/Arc-Mountains/contents/images/8000x4500.png
Images: 8000x4500.png

KDE Wallet

Enable the KDE Wallet Subsystem: ✔
Close wallet when last application stops using it: ✔
Close wallet when screensaver starts: ✔
Close wallet when unused for: 10 minutes
Use KDE Wallet for the Secret Service interface: ✔

Recent Files

Keep history: For 1 month
Remember opened documents: Only for specific applications
Exclude applications not on the list: ✔ (remove all applications)

User Feedback

Plasma: Disabled

System

⌘ ➔ System Settings ➔ System

Power Management

USB devices tend not to re-appear after suspending sessions. This applies mainly to Desktops. Laptops should leave power management enabled.

Power Management

Suspend session when inactive: Do nothing
When power button pressed: Show logout screen
Switch to power profile: Leave unchanged
When inactive run after: 5 minutes

Autostart

Delete all.

Session

Ask for confirmation on shutdown, restart, and logout: ✔
On login launch apps that were open: Start with an empty session

Taskbar

Digital Clock

Clock ➔ RMB ➔ Configure Digital Clock

Show date: ✔ Always below
Show seconds: Only in tooltip
Show time zone: Only when different from local time zone
Display timezone as: Code
Time display: 24 hour
Date format: ISO date
Text display: Automatic

System Tray

Target below up arrow for menu or near the bottom edge under icons.

System Tray ➔ RMB ➔ Configure System Tray

General:
- Scale with Panel height: ✔
Entries:
- All: Disabled
- Audio Volume: Show when relevant
- Bluetooth: Show when relevant
- Disks & Devices: Show when relevant
- Networks: Show when relevant
- Power & Battery: Always show
- Clipboard: Show when relevant
  - Clipboard history: ✘
  - History size: 1
  - Keep the selection and clipboard the same: ✘
  - Text selection: only when explicitly copied
  - Non-text selection: never save in history
- Media Player: Show when relevant
- Notifications: Show when relevant (for file copy progress)
- Always show all entries: ✔ (enable after setting above entries)

Taskbar

Taskbar ➔ RMB ➔ Show Panel Configuration

Style: Disable floating
Panel Height: 32
Peek at Desktop: Remove

⌘ ➔ RMB ➔ Configure Application Launcher

Icon: {PREFERENCE}
General sort applications alphabetically: ✔
Highlight newly installed applications: ✔

Packages

pacman -S --needed alacritty git git-lfs vim tmux meld ncdu htop
pacman -S --needed signal-desktop steam mumble
# MPV with remove API (hotkey control)
pacman -S --needed mpv mpv-mpris

Install Chrome.

Install VSCodium.

Fonts

# For user only fonts: ~/.local/share/fonts
# System wide fonts: /usr/local/share/fonts
mkdir -p /usr/local/share/fonts/{otf,ttf}/{FONT}
find /usr/local/share/fonts -type d -exec chmod 0555 {} \;
find /usr/local/share/fonts -type f -exec chmod 0444 {} \;
fc-cache

Preferences

Install Arc and Papirus themes

Input & Output

Mouse & Touchpad

Keyboard

Sound

Display & Monitor

Accessibility

Appearance & Style

Apps & Windows

Default Applications

Notifications

Window Management

Workspace

General Behavior

Search

Security & Privacy

Login Screen

Screen Locking

KDE Wallet

Recent Files

User Feedback

System

Power Management

Autostart

Session

Taskbar

Digital Clock

System Tray

Taskbar

Packages

Fonts

Reference12

Reference¹²