Bug 512611

Summary:	Ctrl + Alt + F4 kills the system, please add warning message for confirmation
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	Fernando Marcelino Muniz <fernandommuniz>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Severity:	major	CC:	kde, oliver.schramm97
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	6.5.3
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	Arch Linux
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2025-11-25 21:53:16 UTC

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
Wrongly think that Ctrl+Alt+F4 is the shortkey that kills apps.

OBSERVED RESULT
Your system dies without warning, and in my case it broke important apps, forcing me to reinstall the system.

EXPECTED RESULT
A warning saying something like "This shortkey command will kill your session instantaneously, do you want to proceed?"

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.20.0
Qt Version: 6.10.0
Kernel Version: 6.17.8-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 8 × 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11300H @ 3.10GHz
Memory: 9 GB of RAM (8.1 GB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: Mesa Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Graphics Processor 2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 82MG
System Version: IdeaPad Gaming 3 15IHU6

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If there are other similar shortkeys, please add warnings for them too.

Comment 1 Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2025-11-25 22:45:23 UTC

Ctrl + Alt + F12 also kills the system.

Comment 2 Oliver Schramm 2025-11-26 03:09:58 UTC

Hey,

I’m sorry to hear that you had issues. However, the key combination did most certainly not kill your system, but instead switched you to a text console. To switch back to desktop, you can try Ctrl+Alt+F1, Ctrl+Alt+F2 or Ctrl+Alt+F7. One of them will work and bring you back to Plasma as if nothing has happened.

Comment 3 Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2025-11-26 03:11:36 UTC

(In reply to Oliver Schramm from comment #2)
> Hey,
> 
> I’m sorry to hear that you had issues. However, the key combination did most
> certainly not kill your system, but instead switched you to a text console.
> To switch back to desktop, you can try Ctrl+Alt+F1, Ctrl+Alt+F2 or
> Ctrl+Alt+F7. One of them will work and bring you back to Plasma as if
> nothing has happened.

But why there can't be warnings?

Comment 4 Oliver Schramm 2025-11-26 03:39:52 UTC

(In reply to Fernando M. Muniz from comment #3)
> (In reply to Oliver Schramm from comment #2)
> > Hey,
> > 
> > I’m sorry to hear that you had issues. However, the key combination did most
> > certainly not kill your system, but instead switched you to a text console.
> > To switch back to desktop, you can try Ctrl+Alt+F1, Ctrl+Alt+F2 or
> > Ctrl+Alt+F7. One of them will work and bring you back to Plasma as if
> > nothing has happened.
> 
> But why there can't be warnings?

It's a good point but even if a warning could be added, adding a warning would defeat the purpose. A reason to switch to the text console nowadays is if the desktop has crashed somehow or is otherwise unresponsive. Then you could switch to the text console to restart it or kill an offending process. If the desktop first has to show a warning or similar, it could worsen a possible problem. It's sort of like an emergency hatch.

Comment 5 Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2025-11-26 03:44:09 UTC

Is there a was of adding a text telling users how to go back to a normal session?

Comment 6 Oliver Schramm 2025-11-26 12:34:25 UTC

(In reply to Fernando M. Muniz from comment #5)
> Is there a was of adding a text telling users how to go back to a normal
> session?

Sure, the contents of /etc/issue are displayed at the top of the screen. So, editing this file could give users a warning. But showing a default warning there would have to be done by the distribution, not by KDE.