Bug 511321

Summary:	Wishlist: Allow advanced mouse button remapping to include keyboard modifiers and other mouse clicks
Product:	[Plasma] kwin	Reporter:	Rob Kam <robkam>
Component:	input	Assignee:	KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status:	REPORTED ---
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	duha.bugs, kdebugs.20.orzelf
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.4.5
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	KDE Linux
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Rob Kam 2025-10-29 13:46:29 UTC

SUMMARY
Wishlist: Allow advanced mouse button remapping to include keyboard modifiers and other mouse clicks

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
Navigate to System Settings > Mouse.
Under the "Advanced" tab, click "Configure Extra Buttons".
Click "Add Binding" and press a side mouse button (e.g., the 'Back' button).
When prompted to "Enter the new key combination", attempt to set it to Ctrl + Left Click by holding the Ctrl key and clicking the left mouse button.

OBSERVED RESULT
The input dialog only captures keyboard presses (like the Ctrl key). It does not register the mouse click, making it impossible to create a binding that includes a mouse button, such as Ctrl + Left Click or Shift + Left Click. The user can only map mouse buttons to keyboard keys (e.g., mapping the 'Back' button to the Page_Down key).

EXPECTED RESULT
The input dialog should recognize and capture both keyboard presses and mouse clicks, allowing for complex bindings. The user should be able to create mappings such as:
Mouse Back Button → Ctrl + Left Click
Mouse Forward Button → Shift + Left Click
Scroll Wheel Click → Page_Down key
This would allow for powerful, customized workflows directly within the Plasma environment.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Kubuntu 25.10
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
Qt Version: 6.9.2
Kernel Version: 6.17.0-5-generic (64-bit)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This functionality is highly desirable for power users who want to streamline their workflows. For example, mapping a side button to Ctrl + Click is extremely useful for selecting and deselecting multiple individual items in file managers and other list-based applications. Similarly, mapping another button to Shift + Click is the standard, ergonomic way to select a complete range of items between the initial click and the new one.
Currently, achieving this requires third-party applications like input-remapper. Integrating this functionality natively into Plasma (likely handled by KWin for input processing) would be a major user experience improvement and would align Plasma with the advanced customization capabilities found in other environments or via external tools. This feature would make the built-in mouse configuration much more powerful and useful.
Mouse: SteelSeries Rival 310

Comment 1 Thomas Capricelli 2025-10-29 16:45:15 UTC

Here are my use cases for what it's worth:
I use one of the extra button to 'move' windows around. That is, i click with this button anywhere in a window and i can drag it. It's the same as using "alt+left button" in most window manager. But i only need this button, not 'alt'. I DONT use the left button, so it's different from mapping 'alt' on the extra button.
I use another one to 'resize' windows, same as 'alt+right button' in most WM : you click with this extra button in some windows corner, and you can resize.
Those are very useful because you dont need to be as precise when aiming the window title bar or one of the few-pixel-wide corners.
I've never used kwin because of this feature missing :)