Bug 348047 - On X11, applications implementing real session restore support are started on first Activity instead of where they were left
Summary: On X11, applications implementing real session restore support are started on...
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Session Management (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 5.27.5
Platform: Ubuntu Linux
: NOR major
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords: X11-only
: 450075 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2015-05-21 09:02 UTC by Ancoron
Modified: 2025-10-22 20:23 UTC (History)
11 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


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Description Ancoron 2015-05-21 09:02:10 UTC
I have several Activities which use different instances of the same application for different purposes.

Applications include:
* Firefox
* Kate
* Dolphin

As plasma 5 forced me into using Activities instead of virtual desktops to have different backgrounds and desktop widgets, I expect it to also respect which application instance had been started on which Activity.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Login
2. start Dolphin in first Activitiy
3. start another Dolphin in second Activity
4. Logout
5. Login

Actual Results:  
Two instances of Dolphin are started in the first Activity

Expected Results:  
One instance of Dolphin is started in the first Activity, the other in the second Activity

With KDE SC 4 and virtual desktops, this was working just fine and application instances where started in the virtual desktop where they where left at logout time.
Comment 1 Daniel Schmidt 2018-07-01 08:19:34 UTC
I have the same issue on Manjaro 17.1.10 / Plasma 5.12.5. 

In fact, most of the time, when I login/logout all applications are restored to the first activity (except those where the activity was stopped before logout and those where I force an activity with window manager rules).
Comment 2 Geert Janssens 2020-06-26 09:19:20 UTC
I'm seeing the same with Dolphin and it has been like that for a long time. Perhaps the other mentioned applications behave the same, but I never keep those open so I haven't tested.

I'm currently on Fedora 31, with Kde Plasma 5.17.1, Frameworks 5.68.0, Qt 5.13.2. I'm not sure these version numbers matter per se. It's bee like this for a very long time.
Comment 3 Geert Janssens 2021-11-20 10:34:52 UTC
I forgot I had left a comment on this bug. Since then things have worsened. A while ago I upgraded to Fedora 34 and since then all applications restore to  the first workspace. This is becoming highly annoying. It's a serious chore to relocate 10+ windows each time the PC is rebooted (ie daily).
Hoping a newer plasma would fix it, I upgraded to Fedora 35 yesterday but it's still failing to properly restore my session.
Comment 4 Geert Janssens 2021-11-20 10:37:39 UTC
For additional info
Fedora 35 uses plasma-workspace-5.23.3-1.fc35.x86_64
Fedora 34 uses plasma-workspace-5.22.5-2.fc34.x86_64
Comment 5 Geert Janssens 2022-05-05 20:12:29 UTC
Bug 442380 describes a similar issue, but this time across virtual desktops rather than activities. I suspect this to be the same bug, but I'll leave it to someone more experienced to make a final decision on this.
Comment 6 Geert Janssens 2022-05-05 20:15:57 UTC
Furhtermore bug 351402 has a duplicate bug 437551 which mentions both symptoms have started appearing together. It really looks like it would be useful to bring all those bugs together under one.
Comment 7 Geert Janssens 2022-05-05 20:19:17 UTC
I am aware this feature is not implemented yet under Wayland, so for completeness I'll add I'm seeing this under X11. I don't know about the original author though.
Comment 8 Oded Arbel 2022-11-16 11:37:52 UTC
(In reply to Geert Janssens from comment #7)
> I am aware this feature is not implemented yet under Wayland, so for
> completeness I'll add I'm seeing this under X11. I don't know about the
> original author though.

I have this experience on both X11 and Wayland.

Regarding session restore to correct desktop, in X11 it mostly worked well for me (one Firefox window, of multiple that restore, consistently opens on the first desktop instead of where it came from, but otherwise it is fine); in Wayland the behavior changes virtually every time session restore runs (I'm running on Neon unstable, so I get more kwin-wayland updates than how many times I log out), but currently desktops are remembered perfectly.
Comment 9 Nate Graham 2023-05-17 17:17:09 UTC
*** Bug 450075 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 10 TraceyC 2025-01-10 20:55:18 UTC
*** Bug 498490 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 11 Nate Graham 2025-05-06 15:12:19 UTC
*** Bug 503790 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 12 Lehmeier 2025-05-06 16:59:10 UTC
It's just sad, KDE 5 and 6 can't do what KDE 4 could do - and that for 10 years. 
It will be interesting to see if this will work out.
Comment 13 Geert Janssens 2025-08-09 09:33:26 UTC
An update: I'm currently using Fedora 41, plasma-workspace-6.4.3-1.fc41.x86_64, still X11.

I no longer have this issue. Windows are restored to their proper activities again and this has been so for a while. I unfortunately don't know when exactly it got fixed, but the good news is it is fixed (for me).

I can't test on Wayland as my hardware combination still causes several issues under Wayland.

I won't close the report as I'm not the original reporter.
Comment 14 Lehmeier 2025-08-09 12:38:25 UTC
Hello!
I still have this problem even though I have installed the latest version. 
When will session restoration for activities work again?
It's sad that such an important feature isn't working.
My system is: 

Operating System: EndeavourOS 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
Qt Version: 6.9.1
Kernel Version: 6.15.9-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 24 × AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12-Core Processor
Memory: 128 GiB of RAM (124.9 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Graphics Processor 2: AMD Radeon Graphics
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Name: X670 AORUS ELITE AX
Comment 15 Geert Janssens 2025-08-09 13:23:19 UTC
(In reply to Lehmeier from comment #14)
> Hello!
> I still have this problem even though I have installed the latest version. 
> When will session restoration for activities work again?
> It's sad that such an important feature isn't working.
> My system is: 
> 
> Operating System: EndeavourOS 
> KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.4
> KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
> Qt Version: 6.9.1
> Kernel Version: 6.15.9-arch1-1 (64-bit)
> Graphics Platform: Wayland
> Processors: 24 × AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12-Core Processor
> Memory: 128 GiB of RAM (124.9 GiB usable)
> Graphics Processor 1: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
> Graphics Processor 2: AMD Radeon Graphics
> Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
> Product Name: X670 AORUS ELITE AX

You're on Wayland. I'm on X11. While both have (had?) the same problem, they need different solutions. For me on X11 it's solved (likely thanks to the fix for bug 415150). According to https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Wayland_Known_Significant_Issues the work for Wayland is tracked on bug 15329.
Comment 16 Lehmeier 2025-08-09 14:25:39 UTC
I don't care what error message it's managed under. The main thing is that it works again soon.
Incidentally, my bug report (503790) was marked as a duplicate of this one.
Comment 17 TraceyC 2025-08-11 16:28:41 UTC
(In reply to Lehmeier from comment #16)
> I don't care what error message it's managed under. The main thing is that
> it works again soon.
> Incidentally, my bug report (503790) was marked as a duplicate of this one.

Apologies for the confusion. As Geert mentioned, bug 15329 is for the work in Wayland. Please follow that report to see progress that will be applicable to your system. I've changed the parent on your bug to reflect this.
Comment 18 Nate Graham 2025-10-22 20:22:46 UTC
Firefox is Bug 336990.

For Kate and Dolphin which do implement X11 session restoration, it's a bug in the session restore implementation.

I'd rate it fairly unlikely that this will ever get fixed though, given that the Plasma X11 session is on its last legs.