SUMMARY Changing primary screen in "Display Configuration" causes the new primary screen to get the previous primary screen's wallpaper and vice versa. Occurs either when connecting a new display and designating it as the primary screen or when unplugging the primary screen. STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Connect a second monitor. 2. Change the wallpaper on the second monitor. 3. Enter System Settings: Display Configuration, choose the new display, and click the "Primary" radio button, and "Apply". OBSERVED RESULT Wallpapers of the two displays switch. EXPECTED RESULT Wallpapers stay as they are when changing primary screen. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Windows: macOS: Linux/KDE Plasma: Fedora Linux 40, Kernel 6.8.0-0.rc6 (available in About System) KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.0 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.0.0 Qt Version: 6.6.2 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION I don't believe this is new to Plasma 6. My other laptop is running 5.27.8 and exhibits the same behavior.
Can reproduce. Operating System: KDE neon Testing Edition KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.0 KDE Frameworks Version: 6.0.0 Qt Version: 6.6.2 Kernel Version: 6.5.0-21-generic (64-bit) Graphics Platform: Wayland Processors: 12 × Intel® Core™ i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz Memory: 15.4 GiB of RAM Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 Series
This isn't a bug, it's the intended behavior. Swapping primary screens swaps their desktops, which includes their wallpapers. This is explained in the tooltip in the KCM that you can access by clicking or hovering over the little circled "i" button by the Primary screen radio button.
Ok... what's the use case for having the wallpaper change? Or to turn that around, how can I configure my laptop so that I don't have to change my wallpaper every time I plug in my external monitor? I don't feel like it's especially niche to have a laptop that's sometimes does not have the built-in screen as the primary. On the flip side I'm struggling to figure out why anyone would *ever* want a screen's wallpaper to change unless he changed it directly. But if for some reason it makes sense for that to be the default, I would like the laptop use case to be addressed.
(In reply to Douglas Beach from comment #3) > Ok... what's the use case for having the wallpaper change? It's simply a side effect of having the underlying desktop move over to the new primary screen. The desktop has icons, a panel, a wallpaper, etc. So the wallpaper simply comes along for the ride. > Or to turn that > around, how can I configure my laptop so that I don't have to change my > wallpaper every time I plug in my external monitor? Use the same wallpaper on both the laptop screen and the external screen. >I don't feel like it's > especially niche to have a laptop that's sometimes does not have the > built-in screen as the primary. Not niche at all; I and many others do it too. The current UX of moving the entire desktop (wallpaper included) to the new primary screen is something many people asked for, and is much much simpler and more comprehensible than what we had before. Overall it's been well-received since we introduced it a year and a half ago in Plasma 5.27 (or was it 5.26? I forget. But as you observed, this isn't new to 6.0). > On the flip side I'm struggling to figure > out why anyone would *ever* want a screen's wallpaper to change unless he > changed it directly. I'm afraid so far you're the first person I'm aware of to complain about the wallpaper specifically. So far no one else has called this specific thing out as a problem, independent of everything else that gets moved over when you switch which screen is primary. So while I'm sympathetic to the fact that this isn't what you expected, I think it would be a good idea to see if you can learn to accept it.
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #4) > (In reply to Douglas Beach from comment #3) > > Or to turn that > > around, how can I configure my laptop so that I don't have to change my > > wallpaper every time I plug in my external monitor? > Use the same wallpaper on both the laptop screen and the external screen. Lol, obviously that would work. But my laptop's screen is 2256x1504 (3x2) and the external monitor is 3440x1440 (21x9), so it's not really possible for the same image to look good on both.