Bug 516278 - Indicate the currently active window in grouped task tooltips, in particular when auto-scrolled
Summary: Indicate the currently active window in grouped task tooltips, in particular ...
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Task Manager and Icons-Only Task Manager widgets (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.6.0
Platform: CachyOS Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on: 499716
Blocks:
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2026-02-19 06:17 UTC by Fernando Marcelino Muniz
Modified: 2026-03-23 17:40 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In: 6.7.0
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Exactly like this, but just the outline. (59.91 KB, image/png)
2026-02-19 06:22 UTC, Fernando Marcelino Muniz
Details

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Description Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2026-02-19 06:17:24 UTC
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
Open multiple windows of the same app, like opening multiple images.

OBSERVED RESULT
The lack of outline around the preview of the window currently in focus makes it look like a bug.

EXPECTED RESULT
There should be an outline around the preview of the window currently in focus, so the user can easily understand the feature.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: CachyOS Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.6.0
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.23.0
Qt Version: 6.10.2
Kernel Version: 6.19.2-2-cachyos (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 8 × 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11300H @ 3.10GHz
Memory: 9 GB of RAM (8.1 GB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Graphics Processor 2: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 82MG
System Version: IdeaPad Gaming 3 15IHU6
Comment 1 Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2026-02-19 06:22:10 UTC
Created attachment 189794 [details]
Exactly like this, but just the outline.
Comment 2 cwo 2026-02-19 09:36:45 UTC
I'm not convinced this is necessary or helpful - people will recognize that it has scrolled to the window they have open; it's in the foreground on screen at that time.
Comment 3 Akseli Lahtinen 2026-02-19 10:28:17 UTC
I don't really understand. There is an outline and a background? Why do we need another one around the preview itself?
Comment 4 cwo 2026-02-19 10:40:56 UTC
(In reply to Akseli Lahtinen from comment #3)
> I don't really understand. There is an outline and a background? Why do we
> need another one around the preview itself?

The idea is to show that this is the current window that has focus, so that if you have a grouped task tooltip with multiple windows (which, in case there are enough of them to not fit the screen, may open scrolled to one of them) it's clear which one is the currently active window, if there is one.

Now that I think about it, having the window title be in bold though may be appropriate - it would also help with thumbnails disabled to help orient yourself in the tooltip.
Comment 5 Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2026-02-19 10:55:02 UTC
It works perfectly when the window preview can be on the dead center, but by the end of the previews it will be a bit difficult to track if you have many windows that look similar, with 100% scaling in a 4k TV or a ultra-wide monitor.

It's not like they can simply be hovered over by the cursor and the window will fade in (or pop if the Animations are deactivated).
Comment 6 Akseli Lahtinen 2026-02-19 12:03:17 UTC
Oh I think I get it now. So when you have three previews, and one of them is in focus, we should indicate which one is in focus.

I think setting the text bold is good idea.
Comment 7 Fernando Marcelino Muniz 2026-02-19 12:07:06 UTC
What if the filename is 𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁😂😂😂.jpg
Comment 8 cwo 2026-02-19 12:54:32 UTC
Window titles (as displayed in the tooltip) are always plain text, so there's no danger of that.
Comment 9 Bug Janitor Service 2026-02-19 13:40:55 UTC
A possibly relevant merge request was started @ https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/merge_requests/3558
Comment 10 cwo 2026-03-17 22:37:48 UTC
Git commit 8890bac8dfd624f19a5966ab1b03dc2dc1bbb0bc by Christoph Wolk.
Committed on 17/03/2026 at 21:47.
Pushed by cwo into branch 'master'.

applets/taskmanager: highlight active window with bold text

In grouped tasks, it can be helpful to indicate the currently active
window (if one of the task's windows is the active window) to provide
the user with some contextual clues to help them orient themselves in
a potentially long list (helpful in particular with auto-scrolling to
the active window in case there are more tasks in the popup than can
be displayed). But this indication should be subtle, as it is
also often irrelevant and making it too visible could be distracting or
confusing.

This change marks the currently active window in grouped tasks in bold.
FIXED-IN: 6.7.0

M  +1    -0    applets/taskmanager/qml/ToolTipInstance.qml

https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/commit/8890bac8dfd624f19a5966ab1b03dc2dc1bbb0bc