How to set all desktops to folder view

[pwabrahams]

How can I set all my desktops at once to "Folder View"? And is there a way to change the default view from "Default Desktop" to "Folder View"? I've already set "Virtual Desktops" to "different widgets for each desktop" since I want different backgrounds on different desktops.

[SteveRiley]

I noticed the following when experimenting with a single desktop. The relevant files appear to be ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktoprc and ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktop-appletsrc. In the following, the files with the .old extension represent "Default Desktop" mode; the files without an extension represent "Folder View" mode.

steve@t520:~/.kde/share/config$ [B]diff --suppress-common-lines --side-by-side plasma-desktop-appletsrc.old plasma-desktop-appletsrc[/B]
[Containments][24]                                            | [Containments][25]
plugin=desktop                                                | plugin=folderview
[Containments][24][ToolBox]                                   | [Containments][25][ToolBox]
[Containments][24][Wallpaper][image]                          | [Containments][25][Wallpaper][image]

steve@t520:~/.kde/share/config$ [B]diff --suppress-common-lines --side-by-side plasma-desktoprc.old plasma-desktoprc[/B]
24=3                                                          | 25=3

The numbers in the square brackets increased by one each time I made a change. Perhaps useful to begin your own investigations.

[james147]

Wonder if this would work:

kquitapp plasma-desktop
cp ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktop-appletsrc ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktop-appletsrc.backup
sed -i 's/plugin=desktop/plugin=folderview/'  ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktop-appletsrc
plasma-desktop

You should be able to revert back with

kquitapp plasma-desktop
cp ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktop-appletsrc.backup ~/.kde/share/config/plasma-desktop-appletsrc
plasma-desktop

The numbers in the square brackets increased by one each time I made a change. Perhaps useful to begin your own investigations.

Don't think the number is important as long as they match and do not conflict with other containments (the increment is probably the result of the live change).