How do I restore my KDE desktop to default?
To reset you user's KDE modifications to defaults open a terminal and type
mv ~/.kde4 ~/.kde4.old
Log off and log back in and all the KDE settings will be recreated fresh.
That will move the folder where KDE keeps his settings in to another folder with .old in the end of the name. When you log in KDE will create a new .kde4 folder and all the settings used will be the default.
If you want to restore the previous settings you need to have a backup in your home folder inside the .kde4.old folder.
The above answer didn't work for me.
I had fiddled with the panels and the solution provided here worked for me. For quick reference, I'm giving the steps below.
- Log out of your kde desktop
- Open a console session by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1
- Give your username and password
- Run
rm -rf .kde/share/config/plasma-*- now you can log out of the console session by logout command or pressing Ctrl+D
- Now go back to your default graphical session by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7
- now log in and you will see your fresh new default panels
Update for KDE 5
For some versions of KDE, first console session (Ctrl+Alt+F1) is used for UI, not the seventh.
Use second console (Ctrl+Alt+F2) in step 2
Use the first console (Ctrl+Alt+F1) in step 6.
On KDE Plasma Version 5.9.4 (for Kubuntu 17:04):
EITHER
rm ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc
OR (in order to preserve the old configuration file just in case):
mv ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc-old
Then log out of KDE and log back in.