Bug 511816

Summary:	Make "Always show all entries" better (make it have Windows-like behavior)
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	v.n.suadicani
Component:	System Tray widget	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	CONFIRMED ---
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	kdedev, materka
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.5.1
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	unspecified
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description v.n.suadicani 2025-11-08 11:35:00 UTC

SUMMARY
I don't like hiding tray icons in the "^" expander thingy. I want all the relevant tray icons to be visible.

However, the "Always show all entries" option doesn't work how I expect or how I want. It shows all icons all the time, even when irrelevant.

For instance, take the "Disks & Devices" tray icon. If I enable "Always show all entries", then the "Disk & Devices" icon will show up *all the time*, even when I have no removable device plugged in. I can go into the system tray settings and choose "Disabled" for "Disks & Devices", but then the icon *never* shows up, even when I have a removable device plugged in!

What I want is this:
1. No tray icons hidden away in the ^-expander.
2. Tray icons appear only when relevant, i.e. "Disks & Devices" is nowhere to be seen when no removable devices are plugged in, and appears when a removable device is plugged in.

This is in fact how the Windows tray works if you set the equivalent settings to never show the ^-expander thingy, and I'm a little surprised that KDE Plasma does not work the same way with its setting.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Enter the settings for a system tray.
2. Set "Disks & Devices" to "Shown when relevant" and enable "Always show all entries".
3. Observe that the icon appears even when no relevant device is plugged in.
4. Set "Disks & Devices" to "Disabled" and enable "Always show all entries".
5. Observe that the icon does not appear even when a relevant device is plugged in.

OBSERVED RESULT
See point 3 and 5 above.

EXPECTED RESULT
I would want some new combination of settings or something that enables the observation at point 3 to be that the icon only appears when relevant and is not hidden in the ^-expander.

Perhaps there could be a new setting like "Show hidden icons in an expandable menu" that I could disable.

Just to be clear, obviously this is not only about the "Disks & Devices" icon, but about all (ir)relevant tray icons.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Windows:
macOS:
(available in the Info Center app, or by running `kinfo` in a terminal window)
Linux/KDE Plasma:
KDE Plasma Version:
KDE Frameworks Version:
Qt Version:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Comment 1 TraceyC 2025-11-25 23:01:50 UTC

I'm changing this to "wishlist" since it's a feature request, not a bug

From what I understand, also being familiar with Windows and its system tray, you would like an option that might be worded
"Always show entries when relevant" where each icon is only shown in the system tray when relevant (such as when a device is plugged in)
and none are hidden behind the expander

For reference, in Windows 10:
- There is a ^ expander similar to Plasma
- There is a setting for the system tray "Select which icons appear on the taskbar". Each entry has an on/off toggle. 
- There is also "Always show all icons in the notification area". Turning that on makes all the icons behind the expander show up, and removes the expander. This does *not* include the "Safely remove media devices" icon
- There is a separate setting under this or "Turn system icons on or off" for clock, volume, network, power etc
- The  "Safely Remove Media" icon doesn't appear in either of those lists. It only appears "when relevant", when a media device like a disk is connected. So it appears to be a special case.