Bug 518302

Summary: Using bare meta key to trigger "overview"
Product: [Plasma] kwin Reporter: Maxwell Rosen <mrquell>
Component: generalAssignee: KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED FIXED    
Severity: normal CC: akselmo, madLyfe, nate
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 6.6.3   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Kubuntu   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/kxmlgui/-/commit/1f507749b6b4eb3e2f2ecd0465a1dfb5ca3636f5 Version Fixed/Implemented In: Frameworks 6.28
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: Recording of the issue

Description Maxwell Rosen 2026-03-29 18:21:29 UTC 
I'm new to Plasma KDE, coming from GNOME. I really liked that the super/meta key triggers an overview, with all my applications. In kubuntu, you can set keyboard shortcuts for this through

window management > desktop effects > overview

However, when I try to remap this shortcut to the bare meta key, it is not recognized as a valid keyboard shortcut. 

I found this alternative. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1391793/kde-5-24-overview-launch-key
However, perhaps this post is old and not relevant for  6.63, I get the following error.

(base) ➜  ~ kwriteconfig5 --file kwinrc --group ModifierOnlyShortcuts --key Meta "org.kde.kglobalaccel,/component/kwin,,invokeShortcut,Overview"
(base) ➜  ~ qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure
qdbus: could not find a Qt installation of ''

It seems like the meta key is detected as '' empty, which it struggles to re-bind to. I'm on the Kubuntu 26.04 beta.
Comment 1 Akseli Lahtinen 2026-03-30 07:50:51 UTC 
Can't repro, it works on KDE linux. Can you share more information of you system? Go to "info center" and copy the details there.

Operating System: KDE Linux 2026-03-29
KDE Plasma Version: 6.6.80
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.25.0
Qt Version: 6.11.0
Kernel Version: 6.19.9-zen1-1-zen (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor
Memory: 16 GiB of RAM (15.5 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 6600
Comment 2 Maxwell Rosen 2026-03-30 15:07:18 UTC 
Created attachment 191138 [details]
Recording of the issue

A video of trying to set the meta key to the "overview" engage
Comment 3 Maxwell Rosen 2026-03-30 15:08:03 UTC 
Here are my system details

Operating System: Kubuntu 26.04
KDE Plasma Version: 6.6.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.24.0
Qt Version: 6.10.2
Kernel Version: 7.0.0-10-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × AMD Ryzen 5 7640U w/ Radeon 760M Graphics
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30.7 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon 760M Graphics
Manufacturer: Framework
Product Name: Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040Series)
System Version: A5
Comment 4 Bug Janitor Service 2026-06-08 13:08:12 UTC 
A possibly relevant merge request was started @ https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/kxmlgui/-/merge_requests/318
Comment 5 Vlad Zahorodnii 2026-06-08 13:12:33 UTC 
JIC you can assign `Meta` key to the overview in the Shortcuts settings.
Comment 6 kinghat 2026-06-08 13:40:12 UTC 
i am able to assign meta key in shortcuts without issue:

Operating System: Fedora Linux 44
KDE Plasma Version: 6.6.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.26.0
Qt Version: 6.11.1
Kernel Version: 7.0.11-200.fc44.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1365U
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30.7 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Product Name: Latitude 7440
Comment 7 Vlad Zahorodnii 2026-06-09 09:17:16 UTC 
Git commit 1f507749b6b4eb3e2f2ecd0465a1dfb5ca3636f5 by Vlad Zahorodnii.
Committed on 09/06/2026 at 09:13.
Pushed by vladz into branch 'master'.

Support modifier-only shortcuts in KShortcutsEditor

This allows binding the Meta key to the Overview in Plasma.

While, technically, it changes the behavior of the KShortcutsEditor, we
also want to be able to assign modifier-only shortcuts to pretty much
all actions, similar to what the shortcuts kcm allows the user to do, to
minimize inconsistencies.

M  +1    -1    src/kshortcutseditor.cpp
M  +7    -1    src/kshortcutseditordelegate.cpp

https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/kxmlgui/-/commit/1f507749b6b4eb3e2f2ecd0465a1dfb5ca3636f5
Comment 8 Maxwell Rosen 2026-06-11 21:21:58 UTC 
Hello,

I was able to bind the meta key to the overview option. This issue is resolved.