Getting started
How to customize plasma with widgets, themes and icons
Last updated
How to customize plasma with widgets, themes and icons
Last updated
The KDE wiki has a that haven't been ported to https://develop.kde.org yet.
Plasma is very modular, made up of themable widgets that can be added, removed, re-arranged, and customized. Pre-installed widgets and themes are stored at /usr/share/plasma/, while third-party widgets and themes are stored in the user's home directory at ~/.local/share/plasma/.
Formerly called a "Look and Feel", it bundles a , an , a (and its , a , a , a lock screen theme, or any combination thereof.
System/Default: /usr/share/plasma/look-and-feel/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/plasma/look-and-feel/ ()
Also called a Desktop Theme or a Plasma Theme, it controls the visual styling of panels, widgets, OSD popups, the lock screen, and the logout screen. Plasma Styles can also include their own color scheme that overrides the systemwide color scheme for Plasma UI elements.
System/Default: /usr/share/plasma/desktoptheme/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/plasma/desktoptheme/ ()
A list of colors in plain INI format that define the colors to be used for UI elements that follow the systemwide color scheme. These typically consist of KDE/Qt apps, GTK apps themed with the Breeze GTK theme, and Plasma UI elements when using a Plasma style that respects the systemwide color scheme.
Usually set in the colors file in a Plasma Style.
System/Default: /usr/share/color-schemes/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/color-schemes/ ()
When a color scheme is applied, its values are copied to ~/.config/kdeglobals and will automatically sync colors to the Breeze GTK Theme in ~/.config/gtk-3.0/colors.css
A [Plasma Script]({{< ref "scripting" >}}) written in JavaScript that defines a specific panel layout, accessed when right-clicking the desktop and selecting "Add Panel".
User Installed: ~/.local/share/plasma/layout-templates/
A visual representation of the windows you can switch to with Alt+Tab, written in QML.
Also known as a Plasmoid, it is an interactive and self-contained piece of functionality. A Widget is essentially a small app that can be embedded within the current Plasma layout, either on the desktop or a panel. Widgets are written in QML.
System/Default: /usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/
A plugin written in QML that draws the desktop wallpaper. It can be chosen and configured in the wallpaper settings window using the "Wallpaper Type" combobox.
User Installed: ~/.local/share/plasma/wallpapers/
System/Default: /usr/share/aurorae/themes/ (usually empty)
Aurorae can also load QML-based themes.
Also known as a Desktop Effect, it applies visual changes to any area of the screen. KWin effects can be purely visual (e.g. an animation during window events, like "minimize") or they can be interactive with their own rich UI (e.g. the "Overview" effect).
[Tutorial]({{< ref kwin >}})
[KWin Scripting API]({{< ref "kwin/api" >}})
Testing: sddm-greeter --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/breeze
The animated screen you see after you log into Plasma in most KDE distros. It is written in QML and can use images like PNGs, SVGs or GIFs.
A collection of icon files in different sizes that follows the .
System/Default: /usr/share/icons/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/icons/ ()
System/Default: /usr/share/plasma/layout-templates/ ()
System/Default: /usr/share/kwin/tabbox/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/kwin/tabbox/ ()
Can also be bundled in a Global Theme .
User Installed: ~/.local/share/plasma/plasmoids/ ()
System/Default: /usr/share/plasma/wallpapers/ ()
Handles the theme and button style of the window titlebar. A window decoration can be created by editing SVG files (Aurorae) or by writing a C++ plugin ().
User Installed: ~/.local/share/aurorae/themes/ ()
The default is a C++ plugin implementing the .
Aurorae is a theming engine which allows to create window decorations based on SVGs.
System/Default: /usr/share/kwin/effects/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/kwin/effects/ ()
A script written in JavaScript or QML that manages windows, allowing to for example.
System/Default: /usr/share/kwin/scripts/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/kwin/scripts/ ()
The theme used for the screen you see before you log into Plasma in most KDE distros. Despite the visual similarity of their Breeze themes, is not the lock screen. Lock screen themes are included within Plasma Styles.
System/Default: /usr/share/sddm/themes/ () ()
System/Default: /usr/share/plasma/lookandfeel/<theme_name>/contents/splash/ ()
User Installed: ~/.local/share/plasma/look-and-feel/<theme_name>/contents/splash/ ()