How to Install KDE Plasma Desktop on Fedora 35

The name KDE comes from “K Desktop Environment”. For those not familiar with KDE Desktop, it is a free, open-source desktop environment. It provides Linux users on various distributions an alternative graphical interface to customize their desktop environment and applications for everyday use enhancement.

In Fedora’s case, this is Gnome. Besides the graphical enhancements and changes, it is also a lightweight, fast, smooth environment with superior performance compared to native shipped desktops with some Linux Distributions. However, with Fedora 35 having the latest Gnome 41, the choice will come down to personal preference overall.

At the end of the tutorial, you will have learned how to install KDE Desktop Environment on your Fedora 35 system.

Prerequisites

• Recommended OS: Fedora Linux 35
• User account: A user account with sudo or root access.

Update Operating System

Update your Fedora operating system to make sure all existing packages are up to date:

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh -y

The tutorial will be using the sudo command and assuming you have sudo status.

To verify sudo status on your account:

sudo whoami

Example output showing sudo status:

[joshua@fedora ~]$ sudo whoami
root

To set up an existing or new sudo account, visit our tutorial on Adding a User to Sudoers on Fedora.

To use the root account, use the following command with the root password to log in.

su

Install KDE Plasma Desktop

The installation of KDE is relatively easy, and the first step is to open your terminal and use the following command:

sudo dnf groupinstall "KDE Plasma Workspaces"

Example:

Type “Y”, then press the “ENTER KEY” to proceed with the installation.

Overall, the download size is just under 400MB, and the additional space needed afterward the installation is around 1.3GB which is standard for any other desktop environment.

The installation will handle everything. All you need to do is for the completion. Once completed, restart your system.

sudo reboot

First Look & Verifying KDE Plasma Desktop

Once you have restarted your Fedora System, you will come to the login screen, which looks similar to before. However, by default, the installation has not changed to the desktop environment to Plasma. Optionally, you can choose X11 or Wayland. Given the advancements on Wayland support, it’s more recommended, but if you encounter issues, switch back to X11.

To bring up the desktop environment options, click the “cog symbol button” in the bottom right-hand corner.

Example:

Next, change from the default GNOME to either Plasma Wayland (Recommended) or Plasma X11.

Example:

Once logged in, you will notice quite a few UI changes. The taskbar is now similar to a more windows type of taskbar, along with more integrations in the top right-hand corner of services where the time display is. For users navigating from Windows environments, this will feel much friendlier.

Example:

To confirm the installation, you can find your “System Information” to confirm the details of the KDE and Fedora 35 operating system. Another handy package to install is Neofetch. To install this package, use the following command in your terminal.

sudo dnf install neofetch -y

Once installed, run the following command in your terminal.

neofetch

Example output:

As the above output has shown, you have successfully installed KDE Plasma 5.22 on Fedora 35.

How to Update KDE Plasma Desktop

For future updates for KDE Plasma desktop and Fedora 35 packages, run the standard dnf command.

sudo dnf update

When updates are available, it is the same process to upgrade.

sudo dnf upgrade

How to Remove (Uninstall) KDE Plasma Desktop

Removing desktop environments can be messy. The best advice is always to keep the alternative desktop environments and switch between them, back your data up and do a fresh, clean install of the original operating system (Fedora 35). Compared to other distributions, Fedora is a little bit better, but still, do not let this fool you.

To remove all traces of KDE, use the following command.

sudo dnf groupremove -y "KDE"

Once done, restart your desktop environment by using the following terminal command.

sudo reboot

When you return to your login screen, GNOME default will be selected just before the KDE installation. Login and everything should be returned to normal, however, do not be shocked if issues arise. During the tutorial on a fresh installation of Fedora 35, removing KDE seemed to restore everything to normal without any side effects.

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have successfully learned how to install KDE Plasma Desktop Environment. Overall, KDE is a great community project for those wanting a more stable and Ideal for those who want the most out of their desktops, laptops, and netbooks and prefer a traditional desktop metaphor.

For more information on using KDE Plasma, visit the official documentation guide.