Bug 515445 - PlasmaShell adds an opened app in 2nd icons-only task manager despite it already being pinned in the 1st, and can't remove apps from 2nd task manager
Summary: PlasmaShell adds an opened app in 2nd icons-only task manager despite it alre...
Status: RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Task Manager and Icons-Only Task Manager widgets (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: master
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2026-02-03 08:17 UTC by paul.d.larson
Modified: 2026-02-03 12:45 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

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Version Fixed/Implemented In:
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Description paul.d.larson 2026-02-03 08:17:54 UTC
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SUMMARY

I have created two icons-only task managers and have one on the bottom left and one on the bottom right. I love the 'Activate Task Manager Entry [#]' shortcuts in the Plasma Workspace section of the 'System Services' area of the Shortcuts category in the Settings app, but it is limited to ten shortcuts. And even by the time one hits ten, one can't easily tell what number one of the higher ones is. This could be helped if one could put shortcut-initiated or permanent numbers by the apps in the icons-only task manager, but there is still a limit of ten. To get around this, one can set shortcuts for specific apps, though that has the downside of needing to remember the shortcut rather than just looking down at the order number of the app in the icons-only task manager. However, my idea was to have a 2nd icons-only task manager on the other side of the screen and have icons pinned in that task manager that are not pinned in the first one, and have the shortcuts for those apps be in number order. If the left side task manager has the shortcuts Ctrl + [1, 2, ... 9, 0] for its apps, the right side could have shortcuts Ctrl + Shift + [1, 2, ... 9, 0] for the right side task manager's apps. This could even be repeated for a third and fourth task manager on the top, resulting in up to forty (or eighty, if one also put two task managers each on the right and left) spaces for apps that could be launched just by visual reference. However, if I had an app in the right side task manager and not in the left side task manager, its icon would then appear in the left side task manager, resulting in the same icon for the same app window in both task managers.

Further, if one creates the 2nd task manager, KDE automatically populates apps into it, and there is no way to remove them that I have found. If I click on the Discover app or Settings app or Konsole app that are in the 2nd task manager, it shows 'Pin to the Task manager' and won't let me get rid of them.



For this to work, KDE needs to 
!) not auto-populate a new icons-only task manager with app icons, or let me get ride of them if it does auto-populate the icons-only task manager with app icons if it does auto-populate it on creaetion.
2) Check to see if an app is already pinned or open in a different icons-only task manager and don't cause the app icon to appear in a different icons-only task manager if it is already showing in the 1st icons-only task manager.
3) Let me drag an app icon from one task manager to another (or bring up a context menu with a list of icons-only task managers and choose to transfer the icon from its current task manager to a different one), or when choosing to pin an app, let me choose which task manager to pin the app icon to if there is more than one icons-only task manager on the screen.
4) have the shortcuts 'Activate Task Manager Entry' shortcuts be expandable depending on the number of icons-only task managers on the screen, or have a set of ten 'Activate Task Manager' shortcut groups for at least four (preferably eight) icons-only task managers so that someone can 
5) implement functionality to have small numbers appear in the lower left / lower right / upper left / upper right (user's choice) next to the first ten app icons in a task manager so that the user can look and instantly know what number-based keyboard shortcut to use to instantly get to a specific one of as many as 80 different apps, if one were to put two icons-only task managers on each side of the screen (10 apps per icons-only task manager x 2 per side x 4 sides = 80 apps).


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Pin ten apps to the icons-only task manager and move it to the left side.
2. Create a 2nd icons-only task manager and put it on the right. (This would result in a lot of apps showing up automatically despite one not wanting that). 
3. Pin an app in the 2nd icons-only task manager and then open that app in the 2nd icons-only task manager using an application launcher widget from that panel. 
4. The icon for that app would show in both task managers.

OBSERVED RESULT
The app icon opened in both task managers even though it was already pinned to the 2nd task manager and opened from an application launcher that shared the same panel with the 2nd task manager.

EXPECTED RESULT
The app icon pinned to the 2nd task manager would not show up in the 1st task manager panel when the app icon pinned to the 2nd task manager was clicked.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Windows: 
macOS: 
(available in the Info Center app, or by running `kinfo` in a terminal window)
Linux/KDE Plasma:  Kubuntu, Ubuntu 25.10
KDE Plasma Version: plasmashell 6.4.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 
Qt Version: 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Comment 1 Harald Sitter 2026-02-03 12:45:42 UTC
Tasks get shown as per the behavior rules in the task manager settings. We offer no behavior that would allow what you want nor would we implement it.