SUMMARY This problem was already reported for Ubuntu by Sergio Callegari on 2015-11-01 on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/plasma-desktop/+bug/1512103 It was confirmed there, but I did not find matching bug report here and it is still not fixed in my Debian Buster (first observed in Stretch after some update). This problem seems to exist across distributions. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Configure a panel to autohide. I am using two autohide panels in my case. 2. When the panel is hidden, do something (open new window, or just change active window) OBSERVED RESULT The hidden panel appears and remains on top of all windows until I move mouse cursor over and out. EXPECTED RESULT The panel shall remain hidden unless I touch the screen edge with mouse cursor. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Linux/KDE Plasma: 4.19.0-6-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 4.19.67-2+deb10u1 (2019-09-20) x86_64 GNU/Linux (available in About System) KDE Plasma Version: don't know how to find, debian package: libplasma3: 4:4.14.38-3 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.54.0 Qt Version: 5.11.3 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION I am using two monitors, having two auto hide panels on first monitor (on top and bottom). Even if I create a new panel, there is same problem with it. I am not sure if I have the product and component right, did not find the panel there and I don't understand internal KDE structure. More information can be found on ubuntu's report (link above).
You can find your Plasma version by using the Info Center app or running `plasmashell --version` in a terminal window.
The plasmashell version is 5.14.5, as you have already figured out. Thank you also for correcting all the other fields.
I was able to find the option which causes this unwanted behavior on my setup. It is in kwin configuration file kwinrc: [Windows] HideUtilityWindowsForInactive=false When set to false, all hidden panels appear whenever I switch active window and the panels remain visible until I manualy hide them with mouse. When set to true, the panels are OK. I think this behavior shall be fixed. I don't know what the option is for and how it got into my configuration, but IMHO it should not affect the panels this way. Maybe the Product shall be changed to kwin, but it affects panel, so I am not sure with that. My kwin is 5.14.5
Thanks for narrowing down the issue to the exact setting that causes it. That's super helpful. Moving to KWin for now to get the KWin developers' opinion on the matter.
> Moving to KWin for now to get the KWin developers' opinion on the matter. "Hiding is triggered from Plasma side" https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=402912#c1 There's your KWin developer opinion. Something tells me that it hasn't changed the last 20 months. It is possible to work-around this bug by setting HideUtilityWindowsForInactive=true as noted in January 2019, but that means playlist windows disappear which is a slight problem if you want to drag files from Dolphin to a playlist. And that's why I don't use KDE Plasma: the choices are a) mostly working panel autohide OR the ability to drag and drop to several applications I use regularly. The real punch-line is that the list of panel auto-hide related bugs I listed at: https://linuxreviews.org/KDE_Plasma#Broken_Panel_Auto-Hiding_.28and_other_problems.29 in July 2019 are still open, every single one.. and lots of new ones have been reported in the meantime.
I encounter this bug (panel doesn't hide when it should) in lastest KDE Neon.
*** Bug 379508 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***