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A list of KDE components that will make your user experience even better

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KDE is modular, and in DIY distributions like Arch Linux, numerous packages are required to achieve the full experience offered by OOT distributions (Kubuntu, KDE Neon, etc.). However, even those don’t include all KDE components. This list is useful for DIY distribution users but also for anyone interested in KDE software.

This page covers nearly every component and package required to achieve various functionalities in KDE and its applications. It also includes AUR packages, scripts, effects, and community-created applications designed to further enhance the KDE Plasma experience.

Update: Wiki is now available. Please familiarize yourself with it here

To Do

  • install scripts for core components (like thumbnail plugins)
  • open an issue and tell me

One more thing

The package names listed here are for Arch-based distributions. If your distribution uses different package names for the same applications, you’ll have to find the equivalents yourself. This page will not list packages that are included in the plasma package group or in the plasma-desktop meta package.

Over time, this repository will include scripts and instructions for various tasks (install scripts, how-to guides and more) — consider it an all-in-one resource.

Formatting

Each package will have a link leading to its source code.

An indented bullet list under a package shows optional dependencies. Installing them is not mandatory, but recommended for a complete KDE Plasma experience.

Contributing / Support

  • If you’d like to contribute, feel free to submit a PR with your application
  • If you want to support me, just become a follower on GitHub. If you want to support me financially, open an issue

Contents

The simple way

To avoid installing the packages found here selectively and manually, you can use the group of packages that Arch Linux provides. To get the entire list of package groups for KDE, you can enter this command:

curl -s https://archlinux.org/groups/ | grep -oP 'kde-[^/"]+|kf[5,6]|kdevelop' | sed 's/<$//' | jq -R . | sed 's/\"//g' | uniq

and select the package groups you want.

Or, if you are crazy and want literally every component:

sudo pacman -S --needed $(curl -s https://archlinux.org/groups/ | grep -oP 'kde-[^/"]+|kf[5,6]|kdevelop' | sed 's/<$//' | jq -R . | sed 's/\"//g' | uniq)

image

Core components

A list of KDE components that work invisibly to the user, but do important work, extending the functionality of DE.

  • svgpart - allows some KDE applications to render .svg without third-party apps
  • markdownpart - allows some KDE applications to render .md without third-party apps
  • baloo-widgets - extra metadata in Dolphin's Information Panel (requires Baloo indexing)
  • kde-inotify-survey - diagnostic tool to check inotify limits, a kernel feature for monitoring filesystem events
  • kdenetwork-filesharing - provides easy file sharing over the network. Note: still in development
  • kio-extras - additional components to increase the functionality of KIO
  • kio-fuse - allows you to mount remote directories
  • kio-gdrive - allows you to connect to cloud storage
  • kio-admin - allows you manage files as administrator
  • xwaylandvideobridge - utility to stream Wayland windows to X apps
  • iio-sensor-proxy - automatic screen rotation
  • libappindicator-gtk3 - tray icon support for GTK3 apps (deprecated, use libayatana-appindicator)
  • maliit-keyboard - on-screen keyboard. Not available on desktops even if installed
  • power-profiles-daemon - enables the power management in Plasma. Please read the note below
  • tuned & tuned-ppd - enables the power management in Plasma. Please read the note below
  • orca - screen reader
  • cryfs & encfs & gocryptfs - filesystems for Plasma Vault
  • ufw - firewall daemon. Please read the note below
  • firewalld - firewall daemon. Please read the note below
  • fwupd - provides ability to update PC firmware from Discover
  • quota-tools - applet for Disk Quota. You don't really need this
  • ripgrep{-all} - Dolphin's search backend blog when baloo is off
  • hunspell & hunspell-$LANG - spell cheking and dictionaries
  • krfb - remote desktop support
  • symmy-git - encrypt and decrypt local files from Dolphin's context menu
  • kdeconnect - seamlessly integrates your phone and devices with Plasma
    • sshfs - Allows to browse phone's filesystem
    • qt6-tools - Runcommand plugin settings
    • krfb - Use remote device as virtual monitor
  • kcm-grub2-git - configure and manage the GRUB bootloader in Plasma. Note: packagekit-qt6 is required!
  • kcron - configure and schedule cron tasks
  • kwalletmanager - kwallet KCM module
  • kup - manage backups in System Settings
    • bup - git packfile support
    • rsync - you know what is this
  • ffmpegthumbs - video thumbnails across KDE apps
  • kdegraphics-thumbnailers - a collection of plugins for generating file thumbnails
  • kimageformats - a KDE library adding support for various image formats, enabling viewing and processing in KDE apps. More info here
  • icoutils - thumbnails for Windows executables in KDE apps. Note: not all *.exe support thumbnail preview
  • qt{5,6}-imageformats - supports formats like .png, .jpeg, .gif and more in Qt apps
  • dolphin-plugins - provides a variety of useful plugins for Dolphin, including ISO mounting
  • pulseaudio-qt - Qt bindings for libpulse. You might want to install this

Warning

Do not install both ufw and firewalld!


When choosing a power management utility, consider the differences between tuned and power-profiles-daemon (ppd).

  • power-profiles-daemon is a simple tool that works via D-Bus and relies on the pstate driver, making it incompatible with some systems.
  • tuned is a more flexible and powerful tool, even used on servers. With tuned-ppd, it can emulate ppd's D-Bus API.

If ppd doesn’t allow performance adjustments in KDE, try tuned (optionally tuned-ppd) and enable the service.

If you don’t need power management in KDE, you don’t have to install either.

sudo pacman -S tuned tuned-ppd
sudo systemctl enable --now tuned tuned-ppd

KDE PIM

Note: All of the packages listed below are supported by the KDE team.

KDE PIM (Personal Information Manager) helps manage personal data like contacts, phone numbers, addresses, emails, and more. If you haven't missed it, you probably don't need it.

To install the entire set of required programs at once, use the kde-pim package group, or the kde-pim-meta meta package.

For detailed further instructions, please refer to ArchWiki.

Administration

  • filelight - disk usage visualizer
  • isoimagewriter - disk image writer. Also try Ventoy
  • kdiskfree - view disk usage
  • kfind - simple but fast file searching
    • mlocate - search using mlocate index
  • kgpg - frontend for GPG keys management
  • kjournald - view and manage journalctl logs
  • ksystemlog - view and manage kernel, Xorg, and other system logs
  • krusader - twin-pannel file manager
    • keditbookmarks - bookmarks management
    • kde-cli-tools - file associations & root mode
    • kdiff3 - file contents comparison
    • krename - advanced file rename
    • konsolepart - terminal support
    • ktexteditor - file editing support
  • partitionmanager - "GParted by KDE"
    • Opt deps: the same as opt deps for GParted (pacman -Qi gparted)
  • sweeper - cache cleaner
  • systemdgenie - control systemd services from GUI frontend
  • yakuake - drop-down terminal

Multimedia

  • amarok - music player
  • audiotube - YouTube music player
  • kaffeine - media player
  • dragon - media player
  • elisa - music player, supports radio streaming
  • haruna - mpv on steroids
    • yt-dlp - YouTube streaming support
  • juk - music player
  • kid3 - audio tag editor
  • kget - universal download manager
    • libktorrent - torrent support
  • ktorrent - torrent client
    • kplotting - statistics plugin for KTorrent
  • plasmatube - YouTube frontend
  • vvave - music player

Office

  • arianna - simple ebook reader
  • calligra - all-in-one office suite
    • libetonyek - Apple Keynote import filter
    • libvisio - Microsoft Visio import filter
    • libwpg - Corel WordPerfect Graphics image importer
    • libwps - Microsoft Works file importer
    • poppler - PDF to SVG filter
    • pstoedit - EPS to SVG filter
    • qt6-webengine - Braindump web shape
  • francis - pomodoro timer
  • ghostwriter - markdown editor / note-taking app
  • gwenview - fast image viewer with editing features
    • kamera - import images from cameras
    • kimageformats - mentioned above
    • qt6-imageformats - mentioned above
  • kalk - calculator
  • kcalc - calculator
  • kcolorchooser - simple color picker
  • karp - PDF editor. Note: still in development
  • kdenlive - powerful video editor
    • bigsh0t - VR360 effects
    • dvgrab - firewire capture
    • kimageformats - mentioned above
    • mediainfo - technical clip information
    • noise-suppression-for-voice - self-explanatory
    • opencv - motion tracking
    • opentimelineio - timeline import & export
    • python-openai-whisper & python-srt_equalizer - OpenAI's stt model
    • python-vosk - VOSK stt model
    • recordmydesktop - screen capture
  • kile - LaTex editor
  • klevernotes - note-taking app
  • kolourpaint - simple paint app, similar to "Paint" in Windows
  • kphotoalbum - photo management tool (tags, collections, and more)
  • okular - PDF reader on steroids
    • ebook-tools - mobi and epub support
    • kdegraphics-mobipocket - mobi support
    • unarchiver or unrar - Comic Book support
  • subtitlecomposer - subtitle editor

Programming

  • kommit - git GUI frontend
  • kate - advanced text editor
    • clang - C & C++ LSP support
    • git - git-blame support
    • python-lsp-server - self-explanatory
    • qt6-declarative - RBQL plugin
    • qtkeychain-qt6 - SQL plugin
    • rust - rust LSP support
    • texlab - LaTeX support
  • kdevelop - IDE
    • apr, apr-util, subversion - SVN support
    • gdb - GNU debugger
    • heaptrack - memory profiler
    • cppcheck - code analyzer
    • meson - meson integration
    • purpose - patch review plugin
    • qt6-doc - QT documentation integration
  • kompare - diff / patch frontend
  • okteta - HEX editor

Misc

  • alpaka — GUI frontend for Ollama. Note: still in development
  • kcharselect — unicode character picker
  • kclock — simple clock app for KDE Plasma / Plasma Mobile
  • kmousetool — mouse auto clicker
  • kweather — weather app for KDE Plasma / Plasma Mobile
  • nota — simple text editor for KDE Plasma / Plasma Mobile
  • kdialogzenity and yad alternative
  • khelpcenter — offline (F1 shortcut by default) documentation for KDE apps
  • optiimage — image compressor

Third party applications

Plasma components

Administration

Office

  • qtpass - multi-platform GUI for pass, the standard unix password manager
  • qownnotes - plain-text file markdown note-taking with Nextcloud / ownCloud integration
  • keepassxc - cross-platform password manager

Other