SUMMARY File selection order not preserved when launching Meld from Dolphin STEPS TO REPRODUCE Open Dolphin and navigate to a folder containing two files you want to compare. Select the two files by clicking them in a specific order (e.g., click new.txt first, then old.txt). Right-click and choose a custom action or service menu entry that launches Meld with the selected files. Example of a /usr/share/kio/servicemenus/meld.desktop file used to launch Meld: [Desktop Entry] Actions=meld Type=Service MimeType=inode/directory;application/octet-stream; X-KDE-RequiredNumberOfUrls=2 [Desktop Action meld] Name=Compare Files with meld Icon=org.gnome.Meld Exec=meld %F OBSERVED RESULT Meld opens with the same file always appearing in the right panel, regardless of the order in which the files were selected in Dolphin. EXPECTED RESULT Meld should receive the files in the order they were selected in Dolphin, so the first-clicked file appears in the left panel and the second-clicked file in the right panel. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Windows: N/A macOS: N/A Linux/KDE Plasma: Ubuntu 25.04 with KDE Plasma 6.3.4 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This issue affects workflows where file comparison order matters (e.g., comparing a newer file against an older version). Dolphin appears to pass selected files to external applications in alphabetical or internal order, not by selection sequence. This limits the usefulness of tools like Meld when launched via Dolphin.
Thanks for the bug report. I'm sorry we weren't able to get to this yet. There have been many fixes and improvements since this was reported, and this issue may have been fixed. Can you please re-test on your system with Plasma 6.5.5 / Dolphin 25.08.3 or later and let us know if you can still reproduce the problem? If you can, please set this report back to REPORTED. Thanks!
(In reply to TraceyC from comment #1) > Thanks for the bug report. I'm sorry we weren't able to get to this yet. > There have been many fixes and improvements since this was reported, and > this issue may have been fixed. > > Can you please re-test on your system with Plasma 6.5.5 / Dolphin 25.08.3 or > later and let us know if you can still reproduce the problem? If you can, > please set this report back to REPORTED. Thanks! Thank you for your feedback. I’m currently running Ubuntu 25.10 with the “KDE standard” package installed, so the latest versions I can test are Plasma 6.4.5 and Dolphin 25.08.1. I’ve checked again, and the issue is still present. It’s worth noting that the same problem also appears - and is more easily reproducible - when selecting two files and using Right‑click → Share → Copy to clipboard. The order in which the files were selected is not preserved; the pasted clipboard content always follows the same fixed order. Thanks and best regards.