Desktop session is a great feature that KDE has. However, I can only restore the KDE applications, such as Dolphin, System Settings, Kate, etc. The applications I use mostly in my life never get saved to the session, for example, Google Chrome, Intellij IDEA(and all the other Jetbrains IDEs), MySQL Workbench, Typora. None of these apps is saved to the session.

Facts about my system:
OS: Manjaro Linux x86_64
Host: MS-7850 1.0
Kernel: 5.8.18-1-MANJARO
DE: Plasma 5.20.2

I tried 3 scenarios, and none of them works.
1. Open Chrome and Intellij IDEA, and then reboot.
Result: they are not restored sucessfully.
2. Open Chrome and Intellij IDEA, and then logout and log back in.
Result: they are not restored sucessfully.
3. With Chrome and Intellij IDEA open, try to save the session from command line:

Code: Select all

DISPLAY=:0.0 qdbus org.kde.ksmserver /KSMServer org.kde.KSMServerInterface.saveCurrentSession

And then, check the saved file:

Code: Select all

cat .config/ksmserverrc

Result:

Code: Select all

[$Version]
update_info=ksmserver_update_loginMode_value.upd:ksmserver_update_loginMode_value_default_enum

[LegacySession: saved at previous logout]
count=0

[LegacySession: saved by user]
count=0

[Session: saved at previous logout]
clientId1=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160542359600000011570003
clientId2=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640006
clientId3=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640007
clientId4=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640008
clientId5=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539367400000011610018
clientId6=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160542359700000011570005
clientId7=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160542359800000011570008
clientId8=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539509200000011570010
count=8
discardCommand2[$e]=rm,$HOME/.config/session/yakuake_1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640006_1605395132_922584
program1=/usr/bin/latte-dock
program2=/usr/bin/yakuake
program3=/usr/bin/msm_kde_notifier
program4=/usr/bin/pamac-tray-plasma
program5=/usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal-kde
program6=pulseaudio
program7=/usr/bin/flameshot
program8=/usr/lib/baloorunner
restartCommand1=/usr/bin/latte-dock,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160542359600000011570003_1605395132_920919
restartCommand2=/usr/bin/yakuake,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640006_1605395132_922584
restartCommand3=/usr/bin/msm_kde_notifier,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640007_1605395132_922597
restartCommand4=/usr/bin/pamac-tray-plasma,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640008_1605395132_920922
restartCommand5=/usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal-kde,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539367400000011610018_1605395132_920928
restartCommand6=
restartCommand7=/usr/bin/flameshot,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160542359800000011570008_1605395132_920999
restartCommand8=/usr/lib/baloorunner,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539509200000011570010_1605395132_921083
restartStyleHint1=0
restartStyleHint2=0
restartStyleHint3=0
restartStyleHint4=0
restartStyleHint5=0
restartStyleHint6=0
restartStyleHint7=0
restartStyleHint8=0
userId1=gavintao
userId2=gavintao
userId3=gavintao
userId4=gavintao
userId5=gavintao
userId6=gavintao
userId7=gavintao
userId8=gavintao

[Session: saved by user]
clientId1=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539515000000034750004
clientId2=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640006
clientId3=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640007
clientId4=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640008
clientId5=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539367400000011610018
clientId6=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539515000000034750005
clientId7=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539509200000011570010
clientId8=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539515300000034750006
clientId9=1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539521600000034750010
count=9
discardCommand2[$e]=rm,$HOME/.config/session/yakuake_1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640006_1605396340_320228
discardCommand9[$e]=rm,$HOME/.config/session/systemsettings_1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539521600000034750010_1605396340_322556
program1=/usr/bin/latte-dock
program2=/usr/bin/yakuake
program3=/usr/bin/msm_kde_notifier
program4=/usr/bin/pamac-tray-plasma
program5=/usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal-kde
program6=pulseaudio
program7=/usr/lib/baloorunner
program8=/usr/bin/flameshot
program9=/usr/bin/systemsettings5
restartCommand1=/usr/bin/latte-dock,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539515000000034750004_1605396340_320220
restartCommand2=/usr/bin/yakuake,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640006_1605396340_320228
restartCommand3=/usr/bin/msm_kde_notifier,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640007_1605396340_322930
restartCommand4=/usr/bin/pamac-tray-plasma,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160541736000000011640008_1605396340_320238
restartCommand5=/usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal-kde,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539367400000011610018_1605396340_320319
restartCommand6=
restartCommand7=/usr/lib/baloorunner,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539509200000011570010_1605396340_320299
restartCommand8=/usr/bin/flameshot,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539515300000034750006_1605396340_322452
restartCommand9=/usr/bin/systemsettings5,-session,1016d1ad1ab1bb000160539521600000034750010_1605396340_322556
restartStyleHint1=0
restartStyleHint2=0
restartStyleHint3=0
restartStyleHint4=0
restartStyleHint5=0
restartStyleHint6=0
restartStyleHint7=0
restartStyleHint8=0
restartStyleHint9=0
userId1=gavintao
userId2=gavintao
userId3=gavintao
userId4=gavintao
userId5=gavintao
userId6=gavintao
userId7=gavintao
userId8=gavintao
userId9=gavintao

[SubSession: 5f3420fd-a933-406f-8393-f40c09c1a80a]
count=0

[SubSession: f4e888d3-9fa2-4559-9944-342bde60ba92]
count=0


As you can see, there's no line related to Google Chrome and Intellij IDEA.

Thank you for reading this post. I appreciate it if you could share anything related to this issue.

Simply put: the applications you complain about have no Plasma integration (unlike others like e.g. Firefox) and therefore will not autostart.

You can add those to Autostart on login in the System Settings

Thank you Mamarok!