How To Install KDE Plasma on Linux Mint 21

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install KDE Plasma on Linux Mint 21. Are you tired of the default user interface on your Linux Mint 21? Do you want to give your desktop a new and fresh look? Look no further than KDE Plasma, one of the most customizable and feature-packed desktop environments available for Linux.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of KDE Plasma on Linux Mint 21 (Vanessa).

Prerequisites

• A server running one of the following operating systems: Linux Mint 21 (Vanessa).
• It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
• SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
• An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for KDE Plasma.
• A non-root sudo user or access to the root user. We recommend acting as a non-root sudo user, however, as you can harm your system if you’re not careful when acting as the root.

Install KDE Plasma on Linux Mint 21

Step 1. Before running the tutorial below, it’s important to make sure your system is up to date by running the following apt commands in the terminal:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https wget ca-certificates gnupg2

Step 2. Installing KDE Plasma on Linux Mint 21.

By default, KDE Plasma is available on the Linux Mint 21 base repository. Now run the following command below to add the Kubuntu Backports repository to your system to your Linux Mint system:

sudo apt install kde-plasma-desktop

During the installation, you’ll be prompted to configure the display manager. KDE Plasma is recommended to run using the SDDM display manager. To proceed, press the TAB key to select <Ok> and hit the ENTER key.

After completing the installation, now reboot your machine:

reboot

Step 3. Accessing KDE Plasma Desktop Environment on Linux Mint.

On the login screen, click the Desktop Environment icon next to your username and select Plasma (X11), if you’re using LightDM. SDDM users need to select Plasma from the Session dropdown menu located at the top-left corner of the screen.

Step 4. Configure KDE Plasma.

Once you have switched to the KDE Plasma desktop environment, you can customize it to your liking. KDE Plasma offers a wide range of customization options, including themes, widgets, and desktop effects.

To access the system settings, click on the “Start” menu and select “System Settings.” From here, you can configure various settings like appearance, desktop behavior, and keyboard shortcuts.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed KDE Plasma. Thanks for using this tutorial for installing the latest version of KDE Plasma on the Linux Mint system. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official KDE website.