This screenshot tutorial demonstrates the steps to install KDE Plasma desktop environment on Ubuntu Linux.
In the world of Linux desktop environments, the ones that dominate are GNOME and KDE. There are several other desktop environments but these two are the leaders.
Ubuntu used to have Unity desktop in its default edition but it switched to GNOME desktop since version 17.10 release.
Ubuntu offers several desktop flavors and the KDE version is called Kubuntu. With Kubuntu you get the KDE desktop baked with Ubuntu, out of the box.
It’s possible that you installed the default Ubuntu with GNOME desktop. If you want to use KDE, you don’t necessarily need to remove the present Ubuntu and install Kubuntu from scratch. You can install KDE desktop in your current Ubuntu system and switch between the available desktop environments.
KDE vs KDE Plasma
You may come across two terms: KDE and KDE Plasma. This may confuse you because most of the time, both refers to the same thing: a desktop environment. So, what’s the deal here? Let me explain it to you.
Historically, KDE was the desktop environment when it was created more than twenty years ago. In fact, KDE is the short form for K Desktop Environment. But eventually KDE grow to be more than just a desktop environment. It has a huge list of applications developed under the KDE project like Kdenlive video editor.
Since they were not essentially a desktop environment anymore, a few years ago, they segregated the desktop environment. Plasma is the desktop environment and KDE is the umbrella project responsible for the development of Plasma desktop and a bunch of other applications.
It is still common practice to refer KDE as the desktop environment but now you know that it’s actually Plasma.
Install KDE desktop environment on Ubuntu
Before you start, let me tell you that there are different versions of KDE available, according to the need. We will see what are they and how to install them:
KDE Full
This is the complete KDE pack. It comes with the complete package and core KDE plasma desktop. If you want all of KDE goodness (and its dependencies), this is what you would install. Since it is the complete pack (around 1 GB), it will take some time in downloading and installing. You can install it using the following command:
sudo apt install kde-fullKDE Standard
The standard KDE includes Plasma desktop with standard set of KDE apps such as Kate (default text editor), Konqueror (default web browser), Kget (Download Manager), KMail (email client), Dolphin (File Manager) etc. The whole package is around 273 MB in size. You can install it using the following command:
sudo apt install kde-standardKDE Plasma Desktop
This is just the minimal package of KDE with just the Plasma desktop and a minimal set of KDE applications such as browse, file manager, text editor etc. No apps are installed by default. You can install them later at any time. Ideal in the case when you just want to give it a try. The download size is around 175 MB.
sudo apt install kde-plasma-desktopKDE Plasma Netbook [Discontinued]
No prizes for guessing that this is for netbooks. This light version was best suited with low end systems and netbooks are just that. It is not available anymore.
sudo apt install kde-plasma-netbookThere is also a package named kubuntu-desktop. It includes all the packages included in Kubuntu. You may install it as well but it may (or may not) lead to conflicts with your existing GNOME desktop.
KDE Plasma desktop installation procedure
Whichever package you chose to install KDE Plasma desktop, the procedure should be similar to the steps mentioned here.
You’ll be prompted to configure SDDM, i.e. Simple Desktop Display Manager, which is the Display Manager used by the KDE Desktop. Select ‘sddm’ from the list and press Enter.
Once this is done, the remaining packages will be configured. After that, you can reboot. After the reboot, you will be greeted by the SDDM Lockscreen.
You can also select between KDE and GNOME using the “Desktop Session” option in the lower left corner.
The default GNOME Desktop will be available in the “Ubuntu” session. If you want to use the Wayland Display Server, you can select the appropriate option for that.
After logging in, you will be at the KDE Desktop Home. From here you can start using apps, and customizing it to your liking.
I, for one, love the traditional desktop experience as well as the customization provided by KDE. I hope this guide was helpful to you in installing KDE on Ubuntu.
How do you like your desktop to be? Simple or as customizable as possible? Let us know in the comments below, as well as drop any questions you may have.
Hi and good day, I hope to get your reply as soon as possible, I want to switch to the kde plasma desktop environment, as I heard it’s more lightweight, as I own a bit older pc, I want to know if after installing it, would I be able to remove the gnome desktop environment I was previously on?
You may but I would not recommend doing it specially if you do not like troubleshooting. This is because there may be some overlapping packages between the two DEs and if you remove one of the DE, the package may get removed as well. I had a bad experience with network manager once. I fixed it but not everyone would like to do the troubleshooting.
Also, if you are using KDE, GNOME won’t impact the resource usage.
How can I “undo” the procedure. My computer became very slow (it is an old one) and it is about to burn. I want to uninstall plasma and go back to the old gnome.
Here’s how I did this.
First, change back to gdm3 for the lock page:
sudo dpkg-configure gdm3
and select gdm3. Next, I followed everything here:
https://trendoceans.com/how-to-remove-the-kde-plasma-environment-in-ubuntu/ (you can skip the section about ssdm and gdm3, that I just fixed above)
Finally, to fix the icons and stuff for Ubuntu, go into gnome tweaks (sudo apt install gnome-tweaks if you don’t have it), and under appearance change the icon theme to “Yaru”
That did it for me, let me know if something doesn’t work right. Do note that on the ssdm login screen where you select the user, you can select to use GNOME instead (basically, just click “Ubuntu” in the dropdown), which might be more comfortable while you make these changes.
Hi, Just having a question . i was installing this on my ubuntu machine . so after i entered the command “sudo apt install kde-standard” . but it doesn’t configure the login screen in my ubuntu . please help
The login screen remains the same as the default because the display manager in use is still gdm.
try this command:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3
If you have more than one display manager installed, it will show the options to choose from. The one for kde is called sddm.