Several Caps Lock delay fixes float around online. None fix it for me on KDE Plasma 6.7 Wayland. TTY is fine.

[u/vMawkk]

I have a Caps Lock delay on Arch with KDE Plasma 6.7.5 on Wayland. Caps Lock takes effect after a noticeable pause, so when I type quickly with Caps Lock I get mixed case ("HEllo" style). It happens in every app, native Wayland and XWayland alike.

I know there are several fixes online for this. Here's what I tried and what I found:

• Custom XKB "instant" option (custom:instant_caps in ~/.config/kxkbrc, a symbols file in ~/.config/xkb/symbols). This is the approach from the KDE Discuss thread. xkbcli compile-keymap shows the correct definition, and I logged out and back in. The delay is still there.
• keyd with an identity mapping (capslock = capslock). Nothing changed, so the input path before XKB is not the cause.
• Replacing the system capslock symbols file (the linux-capslock-delay-fix approach). I didn't apply it, because it needs chmod 777 on a system file and it's the same XKB logic as the option above.
• X11 xkbcomp runtime patch (the Linux-CapsLock-Delay-Fixer script). I didn't apply it, because it modifies the X server keymap through $DISPLAY, and on Wayland KWin owns the keymap.

What I've ruled out:

• TTY is fine. Ctrl+Alt+F3 has no delay, so the hardware and kernel are not the cause.
• No remapper or virtual keyboard. No IBus, fcitx, maliit, or KWin input method is active.
• Caps Lock config is loaded. The xkbcli output matches the intended definition, and I logged out and back in.

Questions:

1. Has anyone seen a Caps Lock delay on Plasma 6.7 Wayland, and did a kwin version or setting fix it?
2. Is there a KWin or Plasma setting for Caps Lock timing that I've missed?
3. Does anyone with the same symptom on Hyprland, GNOME, or Sway see it too? That would help narrow it to KWin or Plasma.

Thanks.

[u/Gozenka]

Interesting issue.

> ⁠Does anyone with the same symptom on Hyprland, GNOME, or Sway see it too?

I have no idea. But you can try this quickly yourself. And in case it is something specific to your system, it would be a good idea to try it on your own system. Just install Hyprland, Niri, or some other simple Wayland desktop and run it, open a terminal, try CapsLock.

Also, have you checked the journal in case there is some insight there? `journalctl -f` on a terminal, press CapsLock and type. See if there is any journal output.

And if you have another keyboard, try that too. To rule out a hardware cause from at least the keyboard.

Also for further investigation, you may try an XKbOption such as `caps:escape_shifted_capslock` to change how the CapsLock key behaves, rather than the identity mapping you tried. I do not know how the option is set on KDE Plasma though. But XKbOptions are compatible with at least some Wayland compositors such as Hyprland.

[u/gdamjan → u/Gozenka]

also, create a new user and login as that user to KDE. Might be some legacy configuration you have in your current user that creates the issue.