If you minimize a window, then press alt-tab, the window doesn't reappear because it disappears from the alt-tab stack.

I understand how this could be desired behavior... but I was wondering if there's a setting somewhere to turn it off?

Hi,

I can't reproduce your issue. With the Breeze task switcher, all windows (minimized or not) appear in the left panel. Could you please give your task switcher configuration and your plasma version ?

bbo wrote:I can't reproduce your issue. With the Breeze task switcher, all windows (minimized or not) appear in the left panel. Could you please give your task switcher configuration and your plasma version ?

Sorry for the slow reply (and happy new years!).

I'm using Breeze / Plasma 5.5.5.

It looks like I was confused, the windows aren't disappearing from the stack when minimized, what's happening is that they get pushed to a "second stack" below the rest of the non-minimized windows (minimized windows are listed last in the alt-tab stack).

It looks like the current behavior is kind of a mix between the two options in the settings, where the sort order is set to either "Recently used" or "Stacking order".

I can fully understand why some users might like it the way it is, but it would be great to have an option to turn the second stack off and have minimized windows preserve their position in the alt-tab stack. Something like the screenshot below.

EXPECTED BEHAVIOR:
Minimizing a window and then pressing alt-tab should restore the window

OBSERVED BEHAVIOR:
Minimizing a window and then pressing alt-tab brings back some other window



(I'll file a bug)

Update: I've verified that Windows doesn't use a second stack (minimizing a window and then pressing alt-tab restores the window). I seem to recall that older versions of KDE would do this also.

an7ar3s wrote:EXPECTED BEHAVIOR:
Minimizing a window and then pressing alt-tab should restore the window

OBSERVED BEHAVIOR:
Minimizing a window and then pressing alt-tab brings back some other window

(I'll file a bug)

Did you file a bug? I'd subscribe to it.
The default behavior is driving me nuts: it is so natural to see the window that was just minimized reappear on pressing alt-tab. It should at least be available as an option.
This question was discussed in the past: viewtopic.php?t=99625 viewtopic.php?t=101211 but with zero outcome. I believe it deserves a second attempt. And I would not call it a "windows-like" or whatever behavior: I don't care how it is in windows (which I personally haven't used since the NT4), I just would very much like to see it available in KDE. And it does feel like this behavior has changed recently in KDE, because it suddenly began to feel uncomfortable to me who's been a long time KDE user surviving both KDE3->KDE4 and KDE4->KDE5 disasters, though I might be wrong on this.

Thanks for the support shapirus!

I've verified that the expected behavior (minimizing a window and then pressing alt-tab restores the window) occurs not just on windows but many other linux environments as well, eg:

unity
xcfe
cinnamon

What I will do is, I will create a full patch then submit it as a bug, that way it should be a shoe-in. The number of posts on this forum about this issue confirms my belief (including blindvic who posted a $100 bounty!).

So far the following members on this forum have expressed support for this

blindvic
an7ar3s
scummos
seishin
emoxam
philzen
shapirus
luebking

The argument that this is windows-centric doesn't really hold. We should be welcoming to people who are coming over from windows/unity/xcfe/cinnamon. It seems unkind to break a muscle-memory habit people have built up over years . Particularly when that workflow does actually make sense, at least to myself and many others on this forum.

In conclusion, this is a major, major issue for many people, coming from different backgrounds (not just windows). Exposing this option in KDE will make KDE a leader in terms of lettings people choose the workflow that works for them.

Signed up just to say yes, please do this!

Please. Give us an option to select this behaviour. I beg you.

Hello guys, I just reopened the bug:
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=297445

I think that interested users should propose a reasonable solution. There would be great if any programmers affected by this bug could try to propose a new patch that includes the current task switcher behavior and the new behavior as an option in the System Settings -> Window Behavior -> Task Switcher.

I think that a new checkbox with something like "[ ] Sort minimized windows regularly" would be ok to everyone.

I just saw @an7ar3s suggestion to the option "[ ] Ignore minimized window status", which I completely agree.

Hi all, ran out of time writing the patch but here's a guide for anyone who wants to take up the reigns. Looks do-able:

1. Install the dependencies required to build kwin/plasma:
https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_an ... pendencies

2. Set up the KDE build environment:
https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved/development

3. Patch the file "kwin/focuschain.cpp" so that the function makeFirstInChain() looks like the following*:

Code: Select all

void FocusChain::makeFirstInChain(Client *client, QList< Client * >& chain)
{
    chain.removeAll(client);
    bool ignore_minimized_window_status = (read from settings);
    if (!ignore_minimized_window_status && client->isMinimized()) { // add it before the first minimized ...
        for (int i = chain.count()-1; i >= 0; --i) {
            if (chain.at(i)->isMinimized()) {
                chain.insert(i+1, client);
                return;
            }
        }
        chain.prepend(client); // ... or at end of chain
    } else {
        chain.append(client);
    }
}


4. Figure out how to patch the settings dialog to look like the proposed screenshot posted earlier.

IRC channels on freenode:
#kwin
#kde-devel

Mailing list:
kwin@kde.org

NOTE: Ubuntu 18 or above is required. Otherwise you'll get stuck in versioning hell.

I may resume this when I have time.

* Credit goes to Mathias Seidler: https://github.com/hwms/kde-workspace/c ... 9a38b3a35f

Hey, did this feature get implemented? I too would like to throw my hat for this alternative behavior. It's 3 years later and I am still being annoyed by this behavior.

athousandwords wrote:Hey, did this feature get implemented? I too would like to throw my hat for this alternative behavior. It's 3 years later and I am still being annoyed by this behavior.

it is actually fixed, at least on my desktop with 5.20.5.

(i would like to have it configurable however.)