How do I install the KDE Plasma display manager theme on XFCE4?

jack2 · 28 April 2026 13:28

Hello everyone.

Could you please tell me how to install the KDE Plasma display manager theme on XFCE4?
With all due respect to lightdm, the display manager theme looks awful to me from a design perspective, especially when the display resolution is high and the login and password window is so small – it’s completely out of proportion))

I understand that I need to install SDDM and run it, but what do I need to do next?

If, after installing SDDM, I don’t see the configuration file

/etc/sddm.conf

do I need to create it? Will that work?

If, for example, I downloaded the sddm-breath-theme from the repository Branch compare for Manjaro and set it in the configuration file:

$ sudo nano /etc/sddm.conf

[Theme]
Current=sddm-breath-theme

Will that work?

I want to have this theme at XFCE when I log in.

Teo · 28 April 2026 13:47

I am not sure if it is a good idea. Although in theory ssdm is a separate component and not part of kde, i strongly suspect its developers have not really had xfce in mind when testing it. Maybe somebody will tell for sure.

Besides, the situation there will change in the next year, because xfce is going wayland, which means either they will have their own solution or lightdm will have to be updated.

If it is just about the size, it can even be changed in the gui settings.
Some settings not in the gui can be changed in /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf
Like the mouse cursor theme. Or the position of the bar. There is another config file for the tap to click if that bothers you. The wallpaper situation is a bit stupid too because of permissions it cannot automatically take your desktop picture unless it is in a system folder (that is why i just left it black…a password prompt on black screen is ok i think, otherwise 2 differen wallpapers look stupid, and the second one is loaded AFTER desktop loading which looks especially weird).

Here is some inspiration from my lightdm greeter conf (note for example the fontsize of 16), before you decide to change the whole greeter.

[greeter]
theme-name = Matcha-dark-sea
icon-theme-name = Papirus-Maia
cursor-theme-name = breeze-cursors
font-name = Sans 16
clock-format = %H:%M %A, %d.%m.%y
indicators = ~host;~spacer;~clock;~spacer;~language;~layout;~session;~a11y;~power
hide-user-image = true
panel-position = top
user-background = false

jofi · 28 April 2026 17:40

This doesn’t look right. First SDDM isn’t “the KDE Plasma diplay manager”. This would be the new Plasma Login. SDDM can be used with any desktop environment. It’s a QML application but this doesn’t make it Plasma (which also uses QML). Notice that SDDM runs as systemd service. How to configure and use is described in detail in the Arch Wiki.

linux-aarhus · 29 April 2026 06:17

It is fairly simple to use sddm instead of lightdm on Xfce desktop.

sddm is a desktop agnostic display manager whereas plasma-login-manager has been tailored specifically for the Plasma desktop - much like gdm has been for Gnome desktop.

Install the package sddm and the sddm-breath-theme theme.

sudo pacman -Syu sddm sddm-breath-theme

The use of /etc/sddm.conf is deprecated and you should create a drop-in configuration as /etc/sddm.conf.d/my-theme.conf

[Autologin]
Relogin=false
Session=
User=

[General]
HaltCommand=/usr/bin/systemctl poweroff
RebootCommand=/usr/bin/systemctl reboot

[Theme]
Current=breath

[Users]
MaximumUid=60513
MinimumUid=1000

Then set sddm as the greeter

sudo systemctl enable sddm --force

Then restart user-space

systemctl soft-reboot

nikgnomic · 29 April 2026 11:56

Manjaro default theme for lightdm-gtk-greeter can be reconfigured or replaced

Or a different lightdm greeter can be installed - LightDM - Greeter - ArchWiki

LightDM can also be used without a greeter if automatic login is configured

Plasma / LightDM Greeter by KDE · GitLab

jack2 · 29 April 2026 13:35

Hello @linux-aarhus

Thank you very much for your detailed reply. I’ll definitely try out everything you’ve suggested and get back to you.

Hello @nikgnomic

Thank you very much for your reply.
I saw this package in the AUR AUR (en) - lightdm-kde-greeter, but when I tried to build it, I realised it would take up over 200MB. I didn’t want to clutter up my system with unnecessary packages, unlike, for example, lightdm-slick-greeter, which is only 4.89 MiB, and that put me off ))

I can use the command:

makepkg -sri

I’ll try to put it together, compare the two methods and provide feedback

Mod edit: Merged consecutive posts.

nikgnomic · 29 April 2026 14:22

For lightdm-slick-greeter ArchWiki suggests building lightdm-settings^AUR GUI configuration tool
Slick Greeter - LightDM - ArchWiki

jack2 · 30 April 2026 19:08

@nikgnomic Hi.

Thanks for your reply.

I’ve already tried everything) When a user installs a theme, for example lightdm-slick-greeter, the login and password window on a high-resolution screen becomes so narrow that it’s simply impossible to see it ))

@linux-aarhus method of installing SDDM is the best option, as installing the lightdm-kde-greeter theme turns XFCE4 into KDE Plasma with all the packages))

Now I need to find some interesting and stylish themes; these ones seemed more or less nice to me..

I forgot to mention that there’s a great programme that isn’t in the repository; it’s called sddm-conf – it’s a GUI for SDDM.
It’s a really handy, brilliant programme.

Mod edit: Merged consecutive posts.

nikgnomic · 1 May 2026 10:01

web-greeter^AUR has a good selection of pre-configured themes

Themes are created using HTML, CSS and JavaScript that can be modified to increase size of login and password windows

system · 4 May 2026 10:02

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