Bug 504366

Summary: Clipboard doesn't save text copied with wheel-click/pressing the touchpad equivalent
Product: [Plasma] plasmashell Reporter: Fernando M. Muniz <fernandommuniz>
Component: Clipboard widget & pop-upAssignee: Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED NOT A BUG    
Severity: normal CC: nate, qydwhotmail
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 6.3.5   
Target Milestone: 1.0   
Platform: Arch Linux   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: Video of the issue.
Another one. But this time I copy the text so they are shown in the clipboard.
Issue on Plasma 6.3.5
Transfering between two apps.

Description Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-16 22:54:04 UTC
Created attachment 181404 [details]
Video of the issue.

I found out that copying text from Firefox (flatpak) and Kate (AUR)'s address bar by pressing the mouse wheel, or the touchpad equivalent, won't be added to the clipboard.
Comment 1 Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-17 00:22:58 UTC
Created attachment 181405 [details]
Another one. But this time I copy the text so they are shown in the clipboard.
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2025-05-19 15:23:43 UTC
Can you please write precise steps to reproduce?
Comment 3 Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-19 15:33:29 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #2)
> Can you please write precise steps to reproduce?

1- Open any app that allows typing and copying text.
2- Write anything.
3- Ctrl+A the text, then click with the mouse wheel (or the touchpad equivalent) over the selected text.

Result:
The clipboard doesn't save texts copied with mouse wheel clicks.
Comment 4 Nate Graham 2025-05-19 21:02:07 UTC
Text doesn't get copied with mouse wheel clicks. Is this something you're expecting to work, or trying to make work?
Comment 5 Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-19 21:23:13 UTC
Created attachment 181541 [details]
Issue on Plasma 6.3.5

With this touchpad configuration I can press the touchpad with my three fingers to copy and paste text, but none of it is saved by the clipboard.
Comment 6 Nate Graham 2025-05-19 21:29:14 UTC
With *what* touchpad configuration? Please mention the specific settings you enabled to make it possible to copy with a middle-click.

Or are you talking about text that's in the invisible middle-click buffer, but *not* actually copied to the clipboard?
Comment 7 Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-19 21:41:19 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #6)
> With *what* touchpad configuration? Please mention the specific settings you
> enabled to make it possible to copy with a middle-click.
> 
> Or are you talking about text that's in the invisible middle-click buffer,
> but *not* actually copied to the clipboard?

My touchpad settings shown at the first second of the attached video.

You mean the middle-click copy/paste function? Yes, that text is not being recorded by the clipboard.
Comment 8 Nate Graham 2025-05-19 21:45:56 UTC
In this case, there is no copying going on; simply selecting the text is enough to put it in the invisible middle-click buffer. And it's intentional that the invisible middle-click buffer is not shown in the clipboard's history such that you would be able to paste it with Ctrl+V. By default, they are separate, intentionally.

If you'd like to change that so the two are synchronized, you'll need to use the "Text Selection: Always save in history" setting in the clipboard widget's config window.
Comment 9 Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-19 21:51:59 UTC
Created attachment 181546 [details]
Transfering between two apps.

I'm not simply selecting. It's a explicit copy.
Comment 10 Nate Graham 2025-05-19 21:55:21 UTC
Then middle-click isn't involved, in which case I'm confused by why you mentioned it.

Please open a new bug report that clearly indicates what you're doing. Screen recordings of the issue should probably indicate what keyboard keys you're pushing and mouse clicks you're producing. Unfortunately I don't know how to do that, but I've seen some recordings with these in them, and they're very helpful for troubleshooting input-related issues.
Comment 11 Fernando M. Muniz 2025-05-19 22:29:34 UTC
Ok, I just selected a text and it automatically stored the text invisibly. Weird and unsecure default, but you're correct.
Comment 12 Nate Graham 2025-05-19 22:33:53 UTC
Yes, this is a rather unintuitive yet standard feature of all FOSS desktop environments. It originated as an X11 feature I believe, and it's been preserved since then.