Issues with screen locking have plagued KDE for 20+ years.  And it still seems like we're missing something in the way this critical feature is implemented.

If you go to "Screen Locking" under the "Security & Privacy" section of System Settings, you will see a checkbox that allows you to "Lock screen automatically:" "After waking from sleep".

That should not be an option.  The option should be "Before sleeping" or suspending or however you want to word it.

According to Martin Flöser in bug 388384: "The screen is supposed to be locked before going to suspend. In fact the lock screen ensures that suspending gets delayed till the screen is locked."

So why, nearly 7 years later, do we still have that as the option?  Why in 2024 on a fresh install of Manjaro do I still often see my revealed desktop and open applications for a second when the computer wakes up, before the lock screen appears?