Vipin PG 
After upgrading to Kubuntu 26.04, Evince may open KDE’s Qt print dialog instead of the GTK print dialog you used before. GNOME Papers can show the same behavior.
You can restore the GTK print dialog by changing which XDG Desktop Portal backend handles printing. KDE can remain the default backend for the rest of Plasma.
The change applies to your user account and does not require replacing KDE components or changing Evince itself.
Step 1: Check for the GTK portal backend
Open Konsole and run:
apt policy xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
If the package is installed, the output will show an installed version.
If it is not installed, run:
sudo apt install xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
This package provides the GTK backend that can handle print requests from applications using XDG Desktop Portal.
Step 2: Check for an existing portal configuration
Before creating a new configuration file, check whether one already exists:
cat ~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf
If you get a “No such file or directory” message, continue to the next step.
If the file already exists, keep its existing settings. You only need to add the Print portal entry shown below.
Step 3: Create the configuration directory
Run:
mkdir -p ~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal
The -p option prevents an error if the directory already exists.
Step 4: Set the GTK backend for printing
Open the configuration file:
nano ~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf
Add:
[preferred]
default=kde
org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Print=gtk
If the file already contains a [preferred] section, add the Print line to that section instead of creating a second one.
The two settings do different jobs.
default=kde
keeps KDE as the normal portal backend for the Plasma session.
org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Print=gtk
tells XDG Desktop Portal to use the GTK backend only for printing.
This keeps KDE integration in place while changing the print dialog used by applications that send print requests through the portal.
In Nano, press Ctrl+O, then Enter to save the file. Press Ctrl+X to exit.
Step 5: Restart XDG Desktop Portal
Run:
systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal.service
Close Evince completely if it is already open, then start it again.
Open a PDF and choose:
File > Print
Evince should now open the GTK print dialog instead of KDE’s Qt print dialog.
If the old dialog still appears, log out of Plasma and sign back in before testing again.
Why a GTK app can show a KDE print dialog
Evince does not always create the visible print dialog by itself.
GTK applications can send printing requests through XDG Desktop Portal. The portal then chooses a backend according to the desktop environment and portal configuration.
On KDE Plasma, the KDE portal backend normally handles these requests. Its print implementation uses Qt’s print dialog, which is why a GTK application can end up displaying a KDE-style print window.
The configuration used above changes only the Print portal to the GTK backend.
The path then becomes:
Evince or another GTK app
|
v
XDG Desktop Portal
|
v
GTK Print backend
|
v
GTK print dialog
Other portal functions can continue using KDE.
Why this appeared after upgrading to Kubuntu 26.04
Evince changed significantly between the Ubuntu 25.10 and 26.04 releases.
Ubuntu 25.10 shipped Evince 48, which used GTK 3. Evince 49, included with Ubuntu 26.04, was ported to GTK 4.
The upgrade also brought newer versions of GTK, XDG Desktop Portal, Plasma, and the related portal backends.
These changes affect how printing is routed on the desktop. On a Plasma session, a print request handled by the KDE portal backend results in the Qt print dialog.
GNOME Papers can show similar behavior, so changing the Print portal backend is more useful than trying to change an Evince-only setting.
The restored dialog may look like the older GTK interface
Evince on Kubuntu 26.04 uses GTK 4, but the restored print dialog may look similar to the older GTK 3 print window.
That is expected.
The dialog is supplied by xdg-desktop-portal-gtk, which runs separately from Evince. The application and the portal dialog do not need to use the same GTK version.
Changing the Print portal does not downgrade Evince or replace its GTK 4 interface.
Use a KDE-only configuration if you run several desktops
The file used in the main steps:
~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf
is a user-level portal configuration.
If you regularly log into more than one desktop environment with the same user account, you can use a KDE-specific file instead:
~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/kde-portals.conf
Add the same configuration:
[preferred]
default=kde
org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Print=gtk
This keeps the preference tied to KDE sessions.
For a normal Kubuntu installation where Plasma is the only desktop you use, the standard portals.conf file is simpler.
How to undo the change
Open the configuration file again:
nano ~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf
Remove:
org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Print=gtk
Keep any other settings that were already in the file.
If you created the file only for this change and no longer need anything in it, you can remove the file:
rm ~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf
Restart the portal service:
systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal.service
Then close and reopen Evince.
If the GTK print dialog still does not appear
Check that the GTK portal backend is installed:
dpkg -l xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
Check the configuration:
cat ~/.config/xdg-desktop-portal/portals.conf
For the setup in this guide, it should contain:
[preferred]
default=kde
org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Print=gtk
Check the main portal service:
systemctl --user status xdg-desktop-portal.service
If the service is running and the configuration is correct, log out of Plasma and sign back in.
The change only affects applications that use the XDG Print portal. A program with its own print implementation may continue to show a different dialog.
Before making further portal changes, I recommend keeping a copy of any existing portals.conf file so you can restore your previous settings easily.
