Bug 509595 - Shortcut Ctrl+Esc reused for File->Close
Summary: Shortcut Ctrl+Esc reused for File->Close
Status: RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.3.6
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-09-17 12:08 UTC by Alexander Potashev
Modified: 2025-09-29 23:18 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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


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Description Alexander Potashev 2025-09-17 12:08:16 UTC
SUMMARY
Shortcut Ctrl+Esc reused for File->Close (same as Ctrl+W). I accidentally closed many tabs by pressing Ctrl+Esc. I expected Ctrl+Esc to do what it did for years (since KDE 4 or even longer?): open process list. I think KDE Plasma shouldn't reuse previously non-descructive shortcuts for destructive actions.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. 
2. 
3. 

OBSERVED RESULT


EXPECTED RESULT


SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Debian GNU/Linux rodete 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.3.6
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.13.0
Qt Version: 6.8.2
Kernel Version: 6.12.32-1rodete1-amd64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 14 × Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 165U
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62.3 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel® Graphics


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 Bug Janitor Service 2025-09-17 12:33:38 UTC
Thank you for the bug report!

However Plasma 6.3.6 no longer receives updates or maintenance from KDE; active versions are 6.4 or newer. Please upgrade to an active version as soon as your distribution makes it available to you. Plasma is a fast-moving project, and bugs in one version are often fixed in the next one.

If you need help with Plasma 6.3.6, please contact your distribution, who bears the responsibility of providing help for older releases that are no longer receiving updates from KDE.

If you can reproduce the issue after upgrading to an active version, feel free to re-open this bug report.
Comment 2 Alexander Potashev 2025-09-28 17:19:42 UTC
Still one of the default shortcuts in Plasma 6.4.1.
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-09-29 23:18:36 UTC
I can definitely sympathize with your frustration that the shortcut now does something different. What appears to have happened is that Ctrl+Esc to open the process list was secretly shadowing Ctrl+Esc to close the active file, which is specified here: https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/kconfig/-/blob/master/src/gui/kstandardshortcut.cpp?ref_type=heads#L74

In Plasma 6, we've made a concerted effort to always require the use of the Meta/Super/Windows key for global shortcuts, and for that reason, the new shortcut is Meta+Escape. So by changing it, it allowed the original, intended use of Ctrl+Esc to start working again.

That's exactly the problem that happens when you don't use the Meta key for global shortcuts! So we fixed that bug, and this is the unexpected side effect of it.

So it's unfortunate, but expected at this point in time. Often there's some friction when you correct something that was wrong for years to be right.