Meta/super/windows key used to open KDE Plasma's application launcher by default, but it doesn't work right now and cannot be binded, as you can see here in this 14s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKQYj9dOKPk . Alt+F1 is set by default and the maximum I got was Meta+Space. Is there a way to bind Meta key to activate applauncher?

That still works here, what did you change, what is your Plasma version?

Thank you for your reply.

inxi says it is 5.21.3

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$ inxi -Fxxxz
System:    Kernel: 5.10.23-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.0 Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.21.3 tk: Qt 5.15.2
           wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux

I think I didn't chage anything. It used to work, but after a few updates in the past days it stopped to work. I can't precise when it began to not work with meta. I can't put only meta, but meta+spacebar, meta+return, meta+etc

Tried with a new user? I have a different distro, but also Plasma 5.21.3 and the Meta key still works fine alone to open the Application Launcher, as well as Alt+F1.

Is there a config file where these keymappings are stored? I may try to change it and see what happens.

No, this machine have only one user. Didn't tried new users.

You could make a new user without any changes to any settings, just to make sure this is not a distribution or Plasma problem, but one in the user space. That is usually the recommended way of solving things...
Keymapping is in different locations, ~/.config/kglobalshortcutsrc is for Global Shortcuts and ~/.config/khotkeysrc is for Custom Shortcuts. Many KDE applications have their own shortcuts, those are stored in their respective configuration files.

FWIW: please check you didn't modify this inadvertently when configuring the keyboard layout: System Settings -> Hardware -> Input Devices -> Keyboard -> Advanced -> Configure keyboard options: Alt/Win key behavior: there should be nothing checked there to make sure not to modify the default Plasma settings.

created new user and logged in to that account and Windows key opens KDE Plasma's application launcher. Go to my account and stopped working after an update some time ago. Not sure where to set it back up.
Help?

How many entries do show up when you search "Alt+F1" in System Settings -> Workspace -> Shortcuts?
There should only be one "Activate Application Launcher Widget" with a Custom Shortcut set to that. If there are others, you need to remove those from the above mentioned configuration file.

Hi there,

This problem's been nagging at me for a month, I've exhaustively searched and attempted all canned solutions that seemed relevant, and none worked.
Not being able to access the launcher via the keyboard is quite a productivity hindrance, especially if you consider yourself a keyboard commando and don't like to muck about with that pesky mouse

I'm using:
- Kubuntu 20.04
- KDE Plasma 5.18.5
- KDE Frameworks, 5.68.0.
- I have a laptop screen and 3 external screens.

Backstory:
This issue started popping up for me when I created multiple default panels, one for each screen. I did this via "Right click on panel -> Add Panel -> Default Panel" and then I dragged the panel to the relevant screen and location. At this stage the Meta key did open the launcher, but the thing I noticed was that the launcher was not opening up on my main screen. In an attempt to rectify this, I tried the trick of right-clicking on my main screen's application launcher widget -> Configure Application Launcher-> Keyboard Shortcuts, and bind it to Alt+F1. This would actually disable the original launcher and no launcher was working. I somehow managed to get the launcher on the non-main screen working again. After many iterations of unplugging all the monitors (as I'm on a laptop), and removing and creating panels, the Meta key does nothing.

However! When I create a new user, (which has only one application launcher shown), and log in as the user, that user's Meta key works!
I compared the ~/.config/kglobalshortcutsrc files between the new user and mine and noticed the following lines were in my user and not in the other. I played around with these settings (deleted all, moved the Alt+F1 around etc), and couldn't affect anything, and anyhow they would revert to the below after logging in.

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activate widget 130=Alt+F1,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 132=none,none,Activate Task Manager Widget
activate widget 172=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 174=none,none,Activate Task Manager Widget
activate widget 214=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 222=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 242=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 273=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 293=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 3=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 313=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 337=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget
activate widget 44=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget


Now, I know bugger all about KDE, but that seems like one heck of a lot of application launcher widgets !

What now?
I reckon something has gone amiss with the configuration settings, probably through the rejigging of panels I've been doing on account of the pains I get with multiple screens. I'd like to completely reset my desktop settings for the current user, so it's settings are identical to the new user. Is this a good idea, and how do I do it?

Thank you

Hi
I added shortcuts meta+f1 for onzemenu. Then i go to ~/.config/kglobalshortcutsrc and Delete '+F1'. From here i was able to use the meta button to open application menu.
I do it with manjaro.

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[plasmashell]
_k_friendly_name=Plasma
activate task manager entry 1=Meta+1,Meta+1,Activate Task Manager Entry 1
activate task manager entry 10=,Meta+0,Activate Task Manager Entry 10
activate task manager entry 2=Meta+2,Meta+2,Activate Task Manager Entry 2
activate task manager entry 3=Meta+3,Meta+3,Activate Task Manager Entry 3
activate task manager entry 4=Meta+4,Meta+4,Activate Task Manager Entry 4
activate task manager entry 5=Meta+5,Meta+5,Activate Task Manager Entry 5
activate task manager entry 6=Meta+6,Meta+6,Activate Task Manager Entry 6
activate task manager entry 7=Meta+7,Meta+7,Activate Task Manager Entry 7
activate task manager entry 8=Meta+8,Meta+8,Activate Task Manager Entry 8
activate task manager entry 9=Meta+9,Meta+9,Activate Task Manager Entry 9
activate widget 56=Meta,none,Activate OnzeMenu Widget
clear-history=none,none,Clear Clipboard History


I've had the same issue on Manjaro after fresh install. Another problem was that the GUI utility does not allow configuration of shortcut with just the Meta key.

The solution for me was to manually edit ~/.config/kglobalshortcutsrc and change the bellow line:

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activate widget 280=,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget

to:

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activate widget 280=Meta,none,Activate Application Launcher Widget

@yaua great! thank you easy peasy

Just an FYI for anyone else who encounters this problem: on some keyboards, it's possible to completely disable the super (meta) key. On my keyboard, I must have pressed and held the right-hand-side Fn key while hitting the super key. On my keyboard, this completely disabled the meta key. FN + Super enabled it again.

So make sure your super (meta) key is enabled first