How to stop background processes like csd, qrect, evolution etc.,

Linux and Unix-Like
1

Hi I Rupesh from India and I have brought a new system with AMD Ryzen zen3 5500GT and Asus prime b450 motherboard. I have installed and using Arch Linux from the past 2 years and I have some questions related to background processes.

Actually I have installed Arch Linux from arch Linux live image and installed all desktop environments like gnome kde plasma cinnamon mate xfce and lxde etc., from Pacman repository.

I found 100s of packages related to window managers and desktop environments from AUR Arch User Repository.

I love Linux, X Window System and its window managers and desktop environments and so I have installed 90 percent of them successfully through yay.

At present my system is working fine except it is running slow which I don't bother.

But some background processes are running I think which are not necessary and I want to disable them so that my system works fine and faster.

When I start cinnamon and mate desktop environments I am able to see upto 10 processes related to csd and so I want to disable them.

From the past 2 years when I boot into Linux Operating System and start any desktop environment I am always seeing that 10 processes are running related to evolution and which I don't use and I want to disable them.

When I start kde plasma desktop environment and press alt tab to switch to other window I am able to see a window called "QRECT @desktop" and another window called "plasma desktop".

Suppose I start a text editor like Kate and open terminal emulator instead of two windows I am able to see upto four windows always they are

  1. Kate text editor
  2. konsole terminal emulator
  3. QRECT @Desktop
  4. plasma desktop

Previously I have seen only two windows called Kate text editor and konsole terminal emulator.

This happens only in kde plasma desktop environment.

I issued the following command to disable them through systemctl command as follows but no use.

$> sudo systemctl disable csd evolution

Can you please try to suggest how to disable csd Qrect evolution etc.,.

Regards,
Rupesh.

2

Since you did not get a reply after 24 hours, here is a reply from ChatGPT 4o. Make sure you check any command or edit suggested by this chatty bot!

ChatGPT 4o Replies:

Hi Rupesh, and welcome! You’ve clearly explored Arch deeply—very cool setup with all the desktop environments (DEs) and window managers installed. That said, it’s also the reason for some of your performance and background process issues. Let’s break it down and give you clean ways to disable unnecessary background services without breaking your DEs.

:stop_sign: First: What systemctl can’t do

Not everything like csd, evolution, or KDE services are systemd-managed services. So systemctl disable csd or systemctl disable evolution does nothing because those are user session services or just background binaries started by DE session initialization scripts.

:white_check_mark: PART 1: Disable Evolution-related processes

Why it's running:

  • evolution-data-server is a backend service for mail/calendar/contacts.
  • It's auto-started by DEs like GNOME, Cinnamon, and MATE even if you never use Evolution.

Fix (works for all DEs):

  1. Disable via autostart files:

    mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/org.gnome.Evolution-alarm-notify.desktop ~/.config/autostart/
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/org.gnome.Evolution-calendar.desktop ~/.config/autostart/
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/org.gnome.Evolution-addressbook.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

  2. Edit each .desktop file and add this line at the bottom:

    Hidden=true

This disables those evolution services for your user session.

:white_check_mark: PART 2: Disable CSD (Client Side Decorations) processes

csd stands for "Cinnamon Settings Daemon" or "MATE Settings Daemon", depending on DE.

You should not completely disable csd or mate-settings-daemon, as they handle keyboard layouts, themes, display settings, etc. But if you want to experiment:

Cinnamon:

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/org.cinnamon.SettingsDaemon.*.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

Then edit the .desktop files and add Hidden=true.

MATE:

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cp /etc/xdg/autostart/mate-settings-daemon.desktop ~/.config/autostart/

Same: add Hidden=true.

Warning: Disabling these may break system theming, power management, keyboard shortcuts, etc. Instead of disabling all, disable the specific plugin daemons (like xrandr, media-keys, a11y) via the .desktop files.

:white_check_mark: PART 3: KDE “QRect @Desktop” and “plasma-desktop” showing in Alt-Tab

This is a KWin compositor bug or visual behavior—you can fix it.

Solution:

  1. Go to KDE System Settings → Window Management → Task Switcher.
  2. Select the layout you use (Thumbnail Grid, etc.)
  3. Click on Filter Windows by → Uncheck “Show desktop”.
  4. Apply.

If that doesn’t help:

Try this command:

kwriteconfig5 --file kwinrc --group TabBox --key ShowDesktop false
qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin reconfigure

That should remove the desktop and QRect windows from Alt-Tab switcher.

:white_check_mark: OPTIONAL: Diagnose Autostart Backgrounds

To see what else is being autostarted:

ls /etc/xdg/autostart/
ls ~/.config/autostart/

Then selectively disable unnecessary apps by editing the .desktop files and adding:

Hidden=true

:white_check_mark: Bonus Tip: Use htop or ps to identify resource hogs

Install and run:

htop

Press F6 and sort by CPU% or MEM% to find what background processes are chewing up resources.

:white_check_mark: Cleanup tip:

You’ve installed almost every DE—they all bring their own autostart stuff. Consider removing the ones you don’t actually use with:

sudo pacman -Rns gnome cinnamon mate xfce4 lxde

Only keep one or two DEs you love most. It will significantly reduce clutter and background processes.

Let me know which DE you want to optimize specifically (e.g., Cinnamon, KDE), and I’ll tailor suggestions even further.

3

Thanks for your suggestions.

I have pasted the my questions into chatgpt and I have seen similar replies but I expected any different reply from you.

One small request is

Is there any single book or PDF which describes how desktop environments and window managers work and about XDG etc.,.

You have some knowledge on how desktop environments and window managers work.

I want to know in detail how those work including configuration.

My requirement is I want to know what happens after entering username and password and selecting an entry in display manager.

I have basic knowledge on x window system and it's components but I want to know more deeply.

Upto now I learnt how the grub starts and after that how kernel loads, after that how init like systemd starts but I want to know

How X Window System starts
Where configuration files are stored
How technologies like XDG, OpenGL, VAAPI, vulkan etc works with windowing system and kernel.

4

Not me, @rupeshforu3 from India — I only use Linux from the command line (no GUI), and for graphical environments, I stick to macOS (along with its terminal).

Someone else will have to jump in here — I don’t use Linux with desktop environments or window managers. I'm strictly macOS-GUI and CLI-only on both macOS and Linux.