Open Windows Not Showing

[JeffRedd]

I can’t figure out why MOST of my open windows are Not showing up as icons on bottom toolbar (Task Manager) when I have them minimized.

Application Launcher, Discover, FSearch, Konsole, Dolphin File Manager, Google Chrome, System Settings and Screenshot do not show up on the toolbar like they used to when I have them minimized and they are ALL on the toolbar/task manager. However LibreOffice Writer does show up on the toolbar. Now LibreOffice Writer is NO longer able to been seen on the bottom toolbar (task manager).

I can pull some of them up using the “Minimize all Windows” button on far right bottom of toolbar/task manager, however when multiple windows are used you can only see one of the windows of that particular application even if you have many opened windows. The way you can even see that is with the Minimize all Windows” button on the bottom of toolbar.

It’s making Lubuntu very hard to use because any program I have opened and then try to minimize just seems to go away and sometimes it feels like the whole program was shut down. Even this post is getting tough to do.

I’m thinking about trying out a program called “boot-repair-disk files” A rescue disk that includes the Boot Repair tool by yannubuntu. I got this information from the Ubuntu Community. I think I’m going to post this before I try the disk repair program in case something goes wrong and there is an easier fix.

I’m not sure what’s going on but I’ve been Googling it and trying to fix it for couple of days now and I can’t seem to make any headway or find any answers. I’m about to pull all the hair out of my head. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[claydoh]

boot-repair won't touch anything related to the desktop at all, so won't change the behaviors you are seeing.
This sounds more like a configuration issue or bug, or maybe a corrupted config file, even.
Screenshot of the panel area?

It’s making Lubuntu very hard to use because

LxQT is not the same as Plasma, so there may be less experience with this desktop, so seeking out help from a more LxQT/Lubuntu specific venue may be helpful to access more user knowledge in this area.
I don't think I have used LxQT desktop enough since they were called LXDE years ago to be able to give any useful info, myself.

If this were Plasma, I would suggest looking at which type of task manager you are using, as well as the type of icon.
Icons 'pinned' to the task manager widget do not create any extra icons or entries there at asll.
icons, or rather launcher icons added to the panel (as opposed to the task manager widget) DO create task manager entries.

You can see the difference in ther Edit mode on the panel (right click menu)

Here is the default icons-only task manager, for example:

Note that there are pinned icons there, which are part of it. These do not create entries in the task manager, since they are already present on it.

Now, I added Audacity to my panel. Note that this is not part of the task manager at all


Note it shows an entry in the task manager widget.

So, this depends on how you add an icon, or where you drop it if dragging from the menu.

Right-clicking allows you to select if you want it on the panel (standalone launcher widget), or to pin it to the task manager:


Dragging and dropping can be tricky,m as it may not be clear where it is going. My task manager shrinks out of the way when I drag an icon from the menu to a spot not on it. But mine is short, and probably exaggerates this a bit more due to the lack of space.


Having said that, I don't know if this is your issue, assuming you are using Plasma desktop. there is no way I can think of that these would be able to be "moved" on their own, considering that you can't put a widget(launcher widget icon) onto another widget (the task manager) in this case, based on how the configuration files are laid out and the info on the contents is stored.

If this is LxQT, then idk.

[JeffRedd]

Oops, I meant to say Kubuntu not Lubuntu, which I also have and I don’t have this problem.

I have the task manager that came with Kubuntu and it’s part of the operating system. There is no way of changing the task manager that I know.

The icons I’m using are Oxylite PNG icons that were installed from within system settings and then downloaded. They seemed to work all right. I tried all the rest, including the default one, which was Breeze but nothing changed.

I have added “Icons Only Task Manager” when I wanted the default setup yesterday because all the other icons went away. Icons like Bluetooth, Clipboard Contents, Volume and Networks which is normally on the right side of the taskbar or Panel as they call it. I had to create a new Toolbar or Task Manager or Panel (as Kubuntu sometimes calls it).

My computer is getting slow and not responding on shutdown and some of the other applications like LibreOffice Writer are also acting funny, by that I mean they are not responding or responding very slowly or not at all.

I have to say that I have removed a lot of fonts and installed and uninstalled many different programs on this computer as I was getting accustomed to this version of Linux.

I hate to do this but I may have to reinstall the operating system. That won’t take too long but what is difficult is installing all the programs that I want (and had before) and some of them are not easy to install.

I have Kubuntu installed in another computer and I just finished installing everything about 4 days ago and it is set up just like this computer is. I can easily see the which programs I have running because the fonts glow at the bottom of the font on the bottom of the bottom toolbar/panel on the other computer.

I tried to attach a picture of my desktop but when I did it said I was not allowed to send AVIF files.

[JeffRedd]

You can't see from this persepective but I have about 25 windows open and no way to retrieve them.

[oshunluvr]

Not a very good description. WHAT 25 open windows? Chrome?

It appears you may be using "Icons Only Task Manager". By design it "stacks" windows from a single app and you have to hover for 2 seconds over the app icon to see the windows, like this:
Here is My Vivaldi browser using a single window;



Here's is the same browser with three windows open:



If I do not hover over the icon, it only displays the icon and no indication there are multiple windows open.

You can use the regular task manager widget instead and see all open windows, but IMO if you regularly have 25 windows open, it may not be useful, lol.

[claydoh]

There is no way of changing the task manager that I know.

Right-click on it, and see :

You can't see from this persepective but I have about 25 windows open and no way to retrieve them.

Are you sure you have a task manager widget on your panel? I don't think you do. So you won't see the menu above.

Going to a stock Kubuntu panel, right-click on a blank portion of the panel somewhere and enter Edit Mode:



In edit mode (as seen above), you can hover over individual items and see which widgets they are. I will wager you don't have a task manager widget on your panel.
As you can also see, you can find configuration and Alternatives options for each widget from here as well.


if you think the panel is too messed up and you want to start from scratch, just delete the thing (use the "Enter Edit mode and find the option), and then add a new default one from a right-click on the desktop:

[JeffRedd]

Not a very good description. WHAT 25 open windows? Chrome?

I said about 25 windows because I was trying to see if anything would show up on my taskbar but it didn't. I have more updates but I think my computer is feeling better now.

[claydoh]

I said about 25 windows

alt-tab (and peek at "task switcher" options in System Settings for some fun stuff

[JeffRedd]

Yes I do have a task manager widget on my panel. I tried the following Widgets, “Task Manager-Switch Between Tasks”, Icon-Only Task Manager-Switch between running applications and finally Activities-Shows the activities manager. Finally I went back to “Task Manager-Switch Between Tasks”

Icons like Bluetooth, Clipboard Contents, Volume and Networks which is normally on the right side of the taskbar or panel disappered yesterday so I created a new one yesterday.

After finally going back to “Task Manager-Switch Between Tasks” I think it finally did the trick but right in the middle of all of this I had a major update that included a new Kernel. Could this have something to do with a bad Kernel? My computer was doing some strange things and was slow on shutting down. It seems that after I updated the new kernels and removed the other ones (it was done automatically) that my problems with taskbar/task manager went away. Now I can clearly see them better than I have been able to in a while. Claydoh, thanks for your help and suggestions.

Was it something that I did? Was it a bad Kernel? Not sure but sometimes computers have a mind of their own. Kubuntu isn’t made by Microsoft is it? <Hehehe>

It’s never a good idea to have anything called a “Widgets” on a Computer, Car, Truck, Ship, Aircraft or anything else for that matter. It’s doomed from the start, kind of like a hex or spell. Like having a women on a ship, used to sink’um all the time.

[JeffRedd]

New taskbar/Task Manager

[JeffRedd]

Everything is showing now.

[JeffRedd]

alt-tab (and peek at "task switcher" options in System Settings for some fun stuff

Thanks, I'm looking at that now.

[claydoh]

Icons like Bluetooth, Clipboard Contents, Volume and Networks which is normally on the right side of the taskbar or panel

That is a system tray, not part of the task manager at all.

You may need to check your task manager settings to make sure that things like grouping are appropriate for your usage, and which windows are shown (if you use Virtual Desktops or Activities)
if you want the classic rectangular bars for application windows, the "classic" Task Manager might be worthwhile, and is even more configurable.

I also wonder if the specific theme you are using doesn't mark multiple windows, as shown in oshunluvr's screenshots, maybe? No idea on that. My older theme still shows the green "+", and I *think* this was the same in previous Plasma versions, but I am in no way certain.

Was it a bad Kernel?

Nope, not relevant here.

It’s never a good idea to have anything called a “Widgets” on a Computer

Well, they have been called widgets for quite a long time, back to the KDE 4 days. They *tried* to use the term "plasmoid", which of course was awful and never caught on, lol.
I am sure the term 'widget' is itself quite older than KDE 4. MS use the term for Win10 and 11

[oshunluvr]

Also, if you right-click on Task Manager and select "Show Alternatives" you'll see "Windows List" as well as Task Manager and Icons-Only Task Manager

[JeffRedd]

Also, if you right-click on Task Manager and select "Show Alternatives" you'll see "Windows List" as well as Task Manager and Icons-Only Task Manager

Interesting OshunLuvr, I just tried that out now. I'll keep that suggestion for future reference

[JeffRedd]

You may need to check your task manager settings to make sure that things like grouping are appropriate for your usage, and which windows are shown

I have checked them out (just now). I right clicked on taskbar/task manager, Configure Task Manager, Behavior, Group. The choices are group By program name or Do not group. I choose do not group. Thanks for the suggestion.