Cosmic Keybindings for KDE Plasma 6

Faithful port of COSMIC desktop keyboard shortcuts to KDE Plasma 6.

Installation

Important

Ensure you have virtual desktops configured in System Settings → Window Management → Virtual Desktops (e.g., 9 desktops) before importing.

1. Download scheme/cosmic.kksrc
2. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts
3. Click Manage Schemes → Import Scheme...
4. Select the file and apply

Note

Do not copy scheme/cosmic.kksrc directly to ~/.config/kglobalshortcutsrc; KDE import schemes and the live shortcut config use different formats.

Tip

Customizing the Browser (Meta+B): By default, the web browser shortcut maps to Firefox (org.kde.firefox.desktop). If you prefer a different browser, simply go to System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts, search for your browser (e.g. Brave, Chrome, Chromium), and rebind its launch shortcut to Meta+B.

Upstream source

COSMIC default compositor shortcuts are tracked in cosmic-comp/data/keybindings.ron. Check that file before updating this KDE scheme. The broader COSMIC desktop repository is pop-os/cosmic-epoch.

Mapping

Window focus (vim-style)

Shortcut	Action
Meta+H / Meta+Left	Focus window left
Meta+J / Meta+Down	Focus window down
Meta+K / Meta+Up	Focus window up
Meta+L / Meta+Right	Focus window right

Move window in direction (COSMIC Move)

Shortcut	Action
Meta+Shift+H / Meta+Shift+Left	Move/pack window left
Meta+Shift+J / Meta+Shift+Down	Move/pack window down
Meta+Shift+K / Meta+Shift+Up	Move/pack window up
Meta+Shift+L / Meta+Shift+Right	Move/pack window right

Workspaces

Shortcut	Action
Meta+1 through Meta+9	Switch to workspace 1-9
Meta+Shift+1 through Meta+Shift+9	Move window to workspace 1-9
Meta+Ctrl+H / Meta+Ctrl+Left	Previous workspace
Meta+Ctrl+L / Meta+Ctrl+Right	Next workspace
Meta+Ctrl+J / Meta+Ctrl+Down	Next workspace
Meta+Ctrl+K / Meta+Ctrl+Up	Previous workspace
Meta+Ctrl+Shift+H/Left	Move window to previous workspace
Meta+Ctrl+Shift+L/Right	Move window to next workspace
Meta+Ctrl+Shift+J/Down	Move window to next workspace
Meta+Ctrl+Shift+K/Up	Move window to previous workspace

Displays

Shortcut	Action
Meta+Alt+H / Meta+Alt+Left	Switch to display left
Meta+Alt+J / Meta+Alt+Down	Switch to display below
Meta+Alt+K / Meta+Alt+Up	Switch to display above
Meta+Alt+L / Meta+Alt+Right	Switch to display right
Meta+Shift+Alt+H / Meta+Shift+Alt+Left	Move window to display left
Meta+Shift+Alt+J / Meta+Shift+Alt+Down	Move window to display below
Meta+Shift+Alt+K / Meta+Shift+Alt+Up	Move window to display above
Meta+Shift+Alt+L / Meta+Shift+Alt+Right	Move window to display right

Window operations

Shortcut	Action
Meta+Q	Close window
Meta+M	Maximize window
Meta+F11	Fullscreen window
Meta+R	Resize window
Meta+Alt+Escape	Kill window
Alt+Tab / Meta+Tab	Switch window
Alt+Shift+Tab / Meta+Shift+Tab	Switch window backward
Meta+= / Meta++ / Meta+.	Zoom in
Meta+- / Meta+,	Zoom out

System

Shortcut	Action
Meta+Escape	Lock screen
Meta+Shift+Escape	Log out
Meta+Space	Switch input source / keyboard layout
Meta+0	Switch to previous desktop (COSMIC LastWorkspace equivalent)
Meta+A	Application Launcher
Meta+W / Launch (A)	Toggle Overview
Meta+F	File manager (Dolphin)
Meta+T	Terminal (Konsole)
Meta+B	Web browser (Firefox by default)
Meta+Alt+S	Toggle screen reader
Meta (tap)	KRunner / COSMIC Launcher equivalent
Meta+/	KRunner / COSMIC Launcher equivalent
Print	Screenshot (KDE default)
Volume Up/Down/Mute	Audio volume controls
Microphone Mute	Toggle microphone mute
Media Play/Previous/Next	Media playback controls
Monitor Brightness Up/Down	Display brightness controls
Power Off	Power off action
Touchpad Toggle / Meta+Ctrl+Touchpad Toggle	Toggle touchpad

Krohnkite Tiling Integration

If you use the Krohnkite tiling script, the scheme configures the following keybindings to align with COSMIC defaults and prevent hotkey collisions:

Shortcut	Action	COSMIC / Krohnkite Equivalent
Meta+G	Toggle active window floating	Matches COSMIC Super+G (Toggle Window Floating)
Meta+O	Rotate layout orientation	Matches COSMIC Super+O (Toggle Orientation)
Meta+H/J/K/L	Tiling window focus	Standard direction focus
Meta+Shift+H/J/K/L	Tiling window movement	Move window in layout
Meta+I	Increase master area capacity	Standard layout grow
Meta+Y	Toggle float all (tiling layout on/off)	Matches COSMIC Super+Y (Toggle Tiling)
Meta+S	Toggle stacked layout	Matches COSMIC Super+S (Toggle Stacking)
Meta+\ / `Meta+	`	Cycle layouts

Krohnkite defaults that collide with Cosmic/KDE shortcuts (such as Meta+Ctrl+H/J/K/L resizing, or direct layout selectors like Meta+T/M/R) are disabled (none) to protect workspace navigation and application launchers.

Unmapped (no KDE equivalent)

These Cosmic shortcuts have no direct KDE equivalent and are omitted (unless using the Krohnkite integration or workspace mapping above):

• Super+x — Swap window in tiling tree
• Super+u / Super+i — Focus in/out of tiling tree
• Super+Shift+0 — Move window to last workspace
• Super+Shift+r — Resize window inward
• KDE Quick Tile actions — COSMIC does not bind quick tiling; Super+Arrow is focus navigation

License

MIT