Bug 508595 - Left Menu Width is too small in Settings Page on 50% Resolution Scale
Summary: Left Menu Width is too small in Settings Page on 50% Resolution Scale
Status: RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Alias: None
Product: systemsettings
Classification: Applications
Component: Quick Settings (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.4.4
Platform: CachyOS Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-08-22 11:57 UTC by Shaun Roselt
Modified: 2025-08-26 20:37 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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


Attachments
Settings left menu width too small (196.05 KB, image/png)
2025-08-22 11:57 UTC, Shaun Roselt
Details

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Description Shaun Roselt 2025-08-22 11:57:06 UTC
Created attachment 184342 [details]
Settings left menu width too small

SUMMARY

When setting my scaling to 50% and font to something bigger, then the left menu in settings have a width that is way too small. This isn't a new issue, it's been an issue for 2 years now.

I've attached a screenshot to show it.



STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1.  Plug in a 1080p 27" Monitor
2.  Set Scale to 50%
3.  Set Font Size to 23pt

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: CachyOS Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.17.0
Qt Version: 6.9.1
Kernel Version: 6.16.2-2-cachyos (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS w/ Radeon 780M Graphics
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62.1 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU
Graphics Processor 2: AMD Radeon 780M Graphics
Comment 1 TraceyC 2025-08-25 22:28:23 UTC
I'm able to reproduce this in git-master on a laptop with a 1080p screen
and on Fedora 42 with Plasma 6.4.4 in a VM with a 1080p display

Note: In the screenshot, System Settings is maximized

1. Set the display to 50% scaling
2. Set the General font to different sizes

Observed:
At 10, 12, 14, 16 point sizes, the System Setting side bar looks fine

Note: When applying 16 point size or greater, the System Settings page has a warning at this stage "Very large fonts may produce odd looking results. Instead of using a very large font size, consider adjusting the global screen scale"

So, while I do see the same thing with the system font set to 23pt, this is, unfortunately expected. It's a limitation of the window manager code. You might look into other ways of getting the look you want on your desktop with a smaller font, larger screen resolution, and adjusting other UI elements.
Comment 2 Shaun Roselt 2025-08-26 05:36:52 UTC
(In reply to TraceyC from comment #1)
> I'm able to reproduce this in git-master on a laptop with a 1080p screen
> and on Fedora 42 with Plasma 6.4.4 in a VM with a 1080p display
> 
> Note: In the screenshot, System Settings is maximized
> 
> 1. Set the display to 50% scaling
> 2. Set the General font to different sizes
> 
> Observed:
> At 10, 12, 14, 16 point sizes, the System Setting side bar looks fine
> 
> Note: When applying 16 point size or greater, the System Settings page has a
> warning at this stage "Very large fonts may produce odd looking results.
> Instead of using a very large font size, consider adjusting the global
> screen scale"
> 
> So, while I do see the same thing with the system font set to 23pt, this is,
> unfortunately expected. It's a limitation of the window manager code. You
> might look into other ways of getting the look you want on your desktop with
> a smaller font, larger screen resolution, and adjusting other UI elements.

This feels like an easy fix though, is it not?

Just increase the width of the left menu when the text doesn't fit in. Increase it until the text fits in.

Or even allow the user to adjust the width of the left menu would work also.

In my opinion, blaming the font size as being too big is wrong. The problem is with the app not working well with big fonts.
Comment 3 TraceyC 2025-08-26 17:17:26 UTC
Since this is new functionality, I'll pass this along as a feature request so the developers can weigh in. Keep in mind that it is officially unsupported, and changing the underlying code may not be as easy as it might appear. It may be possible to at least let the user adjust the width of the left menu pane.
Comment 4 Shaun Roselt 2025-08-26 17:19:19 UTC
(In reply to TraceyC from comment #3)
> Since this is new functionality, I'll pass this along as a feature request
> so the developers can weigh in. Keep in mind that it is officially
> unsupported, and changing the underlying code may not be as easy as it might
> appear. It may be possible to at least let the user adjust the width of the
> left menu pane.

Thanks Tracey. I appreciate it. This has been an issue for a long time. Basically ever since I switched to Wayland about 1-2 years ago on KDE. It would be really nice if a solution could be found for it 🙏🏻
Comment 5 Nate Graham 2025-08-26 20:13:06 UTC
Yeah I'm afraid this kind of setup isn't supported. The expected and supported way to scale things on the screen is to use the scaling settings on the Display & Monitor page to *increase* the scale. Decreasing it and raising the font size will result in tons of other visual glitches too. The system isn't designed around this mode of scaling the system delivering adequate results, and changing that would be a few years of work.
Comment 6 Shaun Roselt 2025-08-26 20:34:03 UTC
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #5)
> Yeah I'm afraid this kind of setup isn't supported. The expected and
> supported way to scale things on the screen is to use the scaling settings
> on the Display & Monitor page to *increase* the scale. Decreasing it and
> raising the font size will result in tons of other visual glitches too. The
> system isn't designed around this mode of scaling the system delivering
> adequate results, and changing that would be a few years of work.

I'm happy with few updates over the years and waiting a few years for it to be perfect 😅😁
Comment 7 Nate Graham 2025-08-26 20:37:14 UTC
I'm afraid it won't ever be, because font-based scaling is fundamentally incompatible with multi-screen setups. That's is one of the reasons why it isn't a supported method of generally scaling everything anymore.