The KDE Plasma 6.6 desktop environment is taking shape, and although there are still a few months to go before the final stable release—scheduled for February 17, 2026—the devs have published on the KDE Blog what changes to expect from this version. After covering some of them last week, we now have a new batch to look at.
A notable one is a new option that lets users exclude specific windows from screen recordings. This can be accessed from the titlebar menu, the Task Manager menu, or through window rules, thus giving people who record or stream their desktops more granular control.
On the visual adjustments side, Plasma 6.6 brings back a darker, more vibrant blur similar to what users saw in Plasma 6.4. For those who prefer a different look, the blur saturation level is now configurable, allowing users to fine-tune the effect.
Additional interface refinements include more predictable window cycling for grouped Task Manager icons, with full-screen windows no longer forced to the top every time. The portal remote control dialog has also been polished to read more naturally and present information more clearly.
Kickoff, Plasma’s main application launcher, sees several usability changes that reduce unintended interactions. When the launcher opens and the pointer happens to rest over an item in Favorites, it will no longer auto-select it. Kickoff also makes a stronger effort to keep the first search result selected until the user actively moves through the list.
Discover gains clearer, more user-friendly wording when suggesting applications that can open a given file type, improving its behavior during file association lookups.
On the bug-fix front, developers addressed an XWayland issue affecting some games that prevented text entry in certain pop-up fields. Clearing KRunner’s search history now takes effect immediately instead of requiring a restart. Plus, layout issues on very narrow screens with high scale factors have been resolved, with login, lock, and logout buttons now wrapping correctly instead of being cut off.
Lastly, regarding performance, Plasma 6.6 includes improvements to animation smoothness on displays with refresh rates above 60 Hz. Changes to KWin’s compositing pipeline reduce unnecessary work and help the desktop feel more responsive.
System Settings also gains a safeguard: when an entire category of shortcuts is deleted, all shortcuts are immediately grayed out, and a warning gives users a chance to undo the action before it becomes permanent.
For more information, refer to Nate Graham’s “This Week in Plasma” post on the KDE Blog.
