# AppMenu applet has focus issues in 26.04

**URL:** <https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561>\
**Category:** Budgie Desktop\
**Created:** [April 26, 2026, 8:32am UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561 "2026-04-26T08:32:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jarnos](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/jarnos/32/5734_2.png) [@jarnos](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/jarnos)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 8:32am UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/1 "2026-04-26T08:32:10Z")

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Hello, I just got my first experiences of using Budgie desktop by trying Ubuntu Budgie 26.04 in live session. I am coming from Xfce and I have used its handy Whisker Menu panel applet ([like this](https://docs.xfce.org/panel-plugins/xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin/start)). When I open the menu by keyboard or by mouse, I expect that I can start typing the application name in it and then press enter to launch the app. And I expect to be able to select different app by down / up arrow key when there is such a list shown. However, in Budgie keyboard focus may be left in some other window at least when I have typed something there like in terminal app, for example. And even if I could start typing in the right field, down arrow takes focus to some power thing. Why would I want to e.g. shutdown if I just have started typing some application name? I just want to launch a desired app. Usually it works that I first press down arrow and then right arrow and then I can use down and up arrows to choose an app, though.

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**Author:** ![fossfreedom](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/fossfreedom/32/1405_2.png) [@fossfreedom](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/fossfreedom)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/2 "2026-04-26T12:23:20Z")

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Remember, if the default menu isn’t your thing, there is the default upstream menu you can use instead

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**Author:** ![jarnos](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/jarnos/32/5734_2.png) [@jarnos](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/jarnos)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/3 "2026-04-26T16:38:28Z")

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I think the default menu can be improved so it is more usable. Can you tell more about the default upstream menu?

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**Author:** ![fossfreedom](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/fossfreedom/32/1405_2.png) [@fossfreedom](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/fossfreedom)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/4 "2026-04-26T16:39:56Z")

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For all applets open budgie desktop settings - panel. You can add and remove applets. Click the add button and look for the builtin menu applet.

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**Author:** ![fossfreedom](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/fossfreedom/32/1405_2.png) [@fossfreedom](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/fossfreedom)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/5 "2026-04-26T16:42:21Z")

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> [@jarnos](#):
>
> think the default menu can be improved so it is more usable.

Fair enough. We encourage everyone to help and improve. Feel free to look over the applet source and open a pull request

> **[GitHub - UbuntuBudgie/applications-menu: A budgie desktop applications menu](https://github.com/ubuntubudgie/applications-menu)**
>
> A budgie desktop applications menu

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**Author:** ![jarnos](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/jarnos/32/5734_2.png) [@jarnos](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/jarnos)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 7:43am UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/6 "2026-04-27T07:43:06Z")

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I installed the builtin menu applet. Why did you tell me to use that? It has the same focus issue. Is the issue in those applets or deeper in the window manager used by Ubuntu Budgie?

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**Author:** ![fossfreedom](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/fossfreedom/32/1405_2.png) [@fossfreedom](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/u/fossfreedom)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2026, 7:52am UTC](https://discourse.ubuntubudgie.org/t/appmenu-applet-has-focus-issues-in-26-04/8561/7 "2026-04-27T07:52:23Z")

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The focus issue is a wayland issue - possibly wlroots based that could be resolved by the next wlroots - labwc combo at the end of may. We’ll have to test with that so see the latest situation.

> <https://github.com/BuddiesOfBudgie/budgie-desktop/issues/842#issuecomment-4035103391>
>
> \### Description
> 
> In version 10.10.1 it's not possible anymore to hit \<Super\_L\> a…nd start typing the name of the program to start. The input focus is simply not moved to the Menu.
> 
> Lets say I have a text editor open and hit Super\_L .. the menu gets shown in the foreground, but the input-focus is still on my text editor. Now if I start typing a program name, all keyboard events are still sent to the text editor.
> 
> If I use the mouse to open the menu, the input-focus is correctly moved to the search-field and the cursor is blinking. But if I now type an app-name (e.g. "About") and select the item with the up-/down-keys, I can't hit the return-key to open the selected app.
> 
> \### Budgie version
> 
> budgie-desktop 10.10.1 (git-32c414900061ea501b2866f934dbd6893e99d0e6)
> 
> \### Operating System
> 
> Arch Linux 6.18.7-arch1-1
> 
> \### Steps to reproduce the issue
> 
> 1. Logon/Start a user session
> 2. Hit Super\_L key
> 3. the Menu appears
> 4. the search field at the top isn't focused
> 5. type \_something\_ ... all keyboard input is still sent to the previous active window
> 6. Now even if I click at the search field (after opened with the keyboard) and type "About" and use the cursor-down to select the entry, I still can't start the program with the return-key
> 
> The following animation shows:
> \- first, how the menu acts if activated via mouse
> \- second, how the menu acts if activated via keyboard (here I'm unable to type something until it's activated by mouse)
> 
> !\[Image\](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c33c5b98-4e76-4878-97cb-db378368be67)
> 
> \### Actual result
> 
> \- If the menu is activated by keyboard, I can't directly start typing a search term .. window doesn't have input focus.
> \- An app selected via keyboard can't be opened via "enter/return" key
> 
> \### Expected result
> 
> If the menu is activated by keyboard or mouse, I should be able start typing a search term .. 
> If the menu is opened via keyboard and I click into the search-field, it should be possible to select an application-entry and hit enter to open it.
> 
> \### Additional information
> 
> (I wasn't sure if I should've opened two issues: one for "missing focus", one for "unable to use return-key" ... give me a hint if I should do so. The enter-key-issue was just noticed while writing this down.)