Xfce Forum

elj40

Member

Registered: 2026-03-22

Posts: 4

[SOLVED] Desktop icons slow to appear

Every time I restart my computer, my desktop loads and I am able to run programs, but my desktop icons do not appear.
If I open thunar they appear immediately as thunar opens, otherwise it takes about 30 seconds for them to load.

I have tried:
- Slow startup [solved] https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=5174 where I deleted `~/.cache/sessions` and unchecked the box on next reboot
- running

/usr/bin/xfdesktop

on startup using "Session and Startup" manager

Xfce version: 4.18
Distro: Debian 13
I still get the situation as described above

With journalctl I noticed that desktop (not icons) and ability to use stuff like terminal is possible at 23:55:31,
but desktop icons only appear at 23:55:54
journalctl logs:

Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Activating via systemd: service n>
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Starting dconf.service - User preferences database...
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Successfully activated service 'c>
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Started dconf.service - User preferences database.
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Activating via systemd: service n>
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Starting gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem>
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Activating via systemd: service n>
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Starting obex.service - Bluetooth OBEX service...
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian obexd[1542]: OBEX daemon 5.66
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Successfully activated service 'o>
Mar 22 23:55:30 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Started obex.service - Bluetooth OBEX service.
Mar 22 23:55:31 eli-debian pkexec[1674]: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by>
Mar 22 23:55:31 eli-debian pkexec[1685]: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian gvfs-udisks2-vo[1456]: monitor says it's not supported
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Successfully activated service 'o>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Started gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem >
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian gvfs-udisks2-vo[1456]: monitor says it's not supported
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian tumblerd[1403]: remote volume monitor with dbus name org.gtk.vfs.UDisks2VolumeMo>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Activating via systemd: service n>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Starting gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian gvfs-udisks2-vo[1456]: monitor says it's not supported
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Successfully activated service 'o>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Started gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem >
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Activating via systemd: service n>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Starting gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem ser>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Successfully activated service 'o>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Started gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem serv>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian dbus-daemon[1113]: [session uid=1000 pid=1113] Activating via systemd: service n>
Mar 22 23:55:54 eli-debian systemd[1088]: Starting gvfs-afc-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem ser

ChatGPT has suggest messing with services but I dont trust that thing

Last edited by elj40 (2026-03-23 22:40:45)

eriefisher

Wanderer

From: ON, Canada

Registered: 2008-10-25

Posts: 962

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop icons slow to appear

If your actually running Debian 13 then your Xfce4 version should be 4.20. Can you double check?

---

But it's all right, when you're all in pain and you feel the rain come down
It's alright, when you find your way, then you see it disappear
It's alright....
Chris Cornell

elj40

Member

Registered: 2026-03-22

Posts: 4

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop icons slow to appear

Distro:

$ cat /etc/os-release 
PRETTY_NAME="Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)"
NAME="Debian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="13"
VERSION="13 (trixie)"
VERSION_CODENAME=trixie
DEBIAN_VERSION_FULL=13.4
ID=debian

xfce4 version:

$ xfce4-about --version
xfce4-about 4.18.2 (Xfce 4.18)

Copyright (c) 2008-2023
	The Xfce development team. All rights reserved.

Please report bugs to <https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/libxfce4ui/-/issues>.

eriefisher

Wanderer

From: ON, Canada

Registered: 2008-10-25

Posts: 962

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop icons slow to appear

I'm not sure what happened or how you got to where you are but Trixie should definitely have Xfce4 4.20.

https://packages.debian.org/trixie/xfce/

---

But it's all right, when you're all in pain and you feel the rain come down
It's alright, when you find your way, then you see it disappear
It's alright....
Chris Cornell

elj40

Member

Registered: 2026-03-22

Posts: 4

Re: [SOLVED] Desktop icons slow to appear

I did indeed just need to update to the latest version and it all got sorted.

I had added trixie to my /etc/apt/sources.list, but only to get a few packages.
Later I tried sudo apt update, but did not upgrade, or partially upgraded some things since I did not want to upgrade hundreds of packages at that time.
Not sure if that messed up some dependencies of if that is how I ended up on Debian 13 with xfce 4.18

Would have closed this sooner but after full update I needed to install firmware to connect to my network card again :\

Thanks