KDE Workaround: ALT+F3 for Azure Desktops via Your Linux Browser

I am back on Linux. That is a story unto itself, as I said goodbye to Linux three years ago. In short I now have a Nobara install on my new PC, dual booting with Windows 11, and am trying to use Linux as my primary OS on this computer.

(This article and its images were all done in my Nobara build, so hopefully that is a start.)

I have here a very niche technical issue, but thought it may be helpful to post and summarize in case others have discovered the same situation in Linux and specifically if you are using a KDE Plasma windowing environment (I assume this is not present in Gnome but I currently have no way to test on Gnome).

Problem

I need to log into an Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), essentially a remote Windows PC, from Linux. I am able to use my favorite web browser in Linux and go to Microsoft’s AVD client URL. This works well enough to get a remote session of my AVD remote Windows PC.

However, sending key commands to the remote Windows PC session contained within a web browser can be problematic. For example, the Windows (Super) key is captured by your primary desktop and never reaches the remote PC within the browser. The same is true for CTRL+ALT+DEL to lock the remote workstation.

Microsoft has shortcut key combinations to get around this problem, which impacts local Windows and Linux environments alike. For CTRL+ALT+DEL, the AVD shortcut to “bypass” your desktop is CTRL+ALT+END. For sending the Windows/Super key to the remote Windows PC, Microsoft’s predefined key combination is ALT+F3.

On a Windows 11 desktop logged into to a remote AVD Windows PC, ALT+F3 is fine. After all, it is the full Microsoft stack. But in a Linux KDE environment, the ALT+F3 key combo is reserved to bring up the window operations menu, which can be vital in special circumstances, like if a window does not have its menu bar showing.

There is no way to edit Microsoft’s predefined AVD shortcuts.

In summary, on a KDE desktop, you cannot use the Windows/Super key on your remote Windows PC session within a web browser, since ALT+F3 is intercepted by KDE to bring up a window popup menu.

Solution

Since the Microsoft shortcuts here cannot be changed, the only solution is to remove the ALT+F3 behavior from KDE itself. And it is quite simple.

In your Linux KDE environment open System Settings. Then go to Shortcuts -> Window Management, and in that long list find Window Operations Menu. Uncheck the ALT+F3 checkbox. You probably should assign an alternative key combo for this shortcut (by clicking +Add..). I found ALT+F5 works fine. Finally, remember to click Apply.

You should now be able to use the ALT+F3 shortcut to mimic the Windows key on your remote AVD Windows PC within your Linux KDE and web browser of choice.

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AI credit: I used Generative AI to help me with this article’s title. Also, the new stock Linux featured image was made by Copilot at my direction.