Hi all,
I'm running 5.6.2 on an up to date Gentoo machine. I updated KDE a few days ago and now the powershell, task bar???, won't autohide. All through KDE 4 and then a very rough and ready update from 4 -> 5, the powershell would autohide as expected. After the recent update of KDE, I think for 5.4 to 5.6, it's always visible.

I'm running a twinhead config with the powershell situated left screen, top. If I select the three short horizontal lines to do the config., I get the option for More Settings and then selecting that I get Visibility. This is set to Autohide. If I change this to Always visible, reboot, change it back to Autohide, reboot and log in again, still no autohide.

I've checked ~/.config/plasmashellrc and panelVisibility=1 is set for the appropriate panel. I've monitored this file as I change the Visibility options and it changes as I would expect with an index base of 0, I get 0 for Always Visible, 1 for Autohide, 2 for Windows can cover etc. In turn the plasmashell does not change, it's always visible.

It appears that plasmashell is not respecting the values written to plasmashellrc. Does anyone know as to whether this is the case. I'm guessing this could be related to this bug: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=330356

Any thoughts,
Andrew

Panel won't autohide ?

Quick tests:
- Does the panel hide if you use one screen ?
- Does the panel hide if you make a new user ?
More: General Troubleshooting - Examine if the problem is local - viewtopic.php?f=14&t=38828


A recent bug report: Bug 361566 - Panel auto-hide is completely broken - https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=361566

Searched for autohide, not auto-hide..... Your linked bug, 361566, sounds exactly like what I have. It's 01:38 in the morning and bed time. I'll check these tips tomorrow.


Thanks,
Andrew

IMHO the problem appeares outside of panel settings.

Please,
try to set checkbox 'Hide utility windows for inactive applications' there:
settings:/workspace/windowmanagement/ -> tab 'Advanced',

in my case (Fedora23 and hover pointer focus model, not 'click to focus'), this one was magically sufficient.
But I dont know about side effects, sorry...

BTW, is there anybody else who appologize totally wrong design model of panel autohiding in KDE, at least since KDE4?

Panel settings configuration must have both timeout parameters - for hide (implemented, default is 200 ms) and display (hardcoded to 0 ms).

Real needs are opposite - 0 ms to hide panel after moving cursor outside and 200-300 ms to wait after pointer is suspended on screen edge before panel will display back.

Hide Utility Windows is already set. I'm sorry but I can't understand the rest of what you are saying/asking/requesting.

Regards,
Andrew

I too had the same plasma autohide not working problem, The problem was evident right after I installed from fedora scientific live dvd.
I ran "dnf update" twice in two days and my system went from 4.5.5 to 4.5.7. I am happy to say plasma autohide is working for me now.

Same problem but not identical symptoms.

Dual screen setup! Plasma 5.8.6 (on debian stretch)
If I place the panel on the right of the right screen - all fine
If I place the panel on the left of the right screen - panel is stuck open no matter if auto hide or windows can cover but it flickers out of view shortly if I move the mouse over it. It's like the function is inverted (yes, the panel results in being vertically in the middle of my whole screen space - a bit unusual but it would match the way I use the screens perfectly and prevents getting in the way of scroll bars which are traditionally on the right)

I know - multiple screen management is a and I wonder if this is still reproducible on later plasma versions.

Plasma5.12
Something in
.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc
overrides setting to hide desktop panel setting in
.kde4/share/config/plasma-desktoprc

It prevents setting panelVisibility from the desktop itself: panel options >
settings > more settings > visibility

Immediately upon logging in and seeing the desktop, the panel will autohide,
but less than 1/2 second later it is always on top. And /home/jbennett/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc
gets rewritten about once a minute.

I'm using one screen only. Problem same regardless of edge to which panel is anchored.

Suggestion?

You use an outdated Plasma version, this has been fixed quite a while ago. Also, responding to an even more outdated post from 2 years ago is not the best way to get help, there have been far too many code changes in between.