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#1 2026-10-07 12:02:48

eduardtibet
Member
Registered: 2025-03-04
Posts: 3
LinuxFirefox 140.0

Hidden logic behind saved sessions and Autosaving sessions

Hi!

I tried to search the forum for a related answer, but seems there are non such information was posted on that forum before. (at least, I couldn't find it).

I try to understand the logic behind Automatically save sessions on logout checkbox and Current session tab, Save session button.

Let me dig into details a little bit. Initial setup: xfce 4.18 + Debian 12.

Imagine I have a Terminal window (xfce4-terminal) with 3 tabs opened there.  Every tab has it's own directory opened. Let's say:

Tab 1:

user@desktop:/var/log $

Tab 2:

user@desktop:/mnt/db $

Tab 3:

user@desktop:~ $

Under Session and startup window >  Current session tab the terminal process has If running value in Restart Style column and no Saved sessions tab

I want to restart the desktop and have Automatically save sessions on logout checkbox on (Session and startup window, general tab). The Terminal window is still open while pressing restart button.

The fresh session has no Terminal at all and if opens, it has default layout (1 Tab, home directory as a default directory within a single tab).

If I repeat actions (open tabs, change directories) to get the previous state:

Tab 1:

user@desktop:/var/log $

Tab 2:

user@desktop:/mnt/db $

Tab 3:

user@desktop:~ $

AND after that I press the Save session button under Current session tab, the restart process saves all tabs, directories, etc.

And time after time, this saved session will be the primary layout and rolled back to its state even if I change tabs directories through time/sessions, let's say into:

Tab 1:

user@desktop:/var/log/firebird $

Tab 2:

user@desktop:/mnt/db/cache $

Tab 3:

user@desktop:~ $

After restarting it will be in a state of the saved session:

Tab 1:

user@desktop:/var/log $

Tab 2:

user@desktop:/mnt/db $

Tab 3:

user@desktop:~ $

And, frankly speaking I can't understand (probably, I missed something) why Automatically save sessions on logout doesn't save sessions AS IS at the time of restarting and the only way to save a Terminal state is by pressing Save session button under Current session tab. In my mind seems Automatically save sessions on logout  checkbox either doesn't work or it's working logic I can't understand or miss something.

Could anyone explain me behavior and logic of saved session especially related to xfce4-terminal.

Thank you!

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#2 2026-10-07 13:39:19

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 12,720
LinuxFirefox 157.0

Re: Hidden logic behind saved sessions and Autosaving sessions

eduardtibet wrote:

Imagine I have a Terminal window (xfce4-terminal) with 3 tabs opened there.  Every tab has it's own directory opened. Let's say:

Tab 1:

user@desktop:/var/log $

Tab 2:

user@desktop:/mnt/db $

Tab 3:

user@desktop:~ $

Under Session and startup window >  Current session tab the terminal process has If running value in Restart Style column and no Saved sessions tab

I want to restart the desktop and have Automatically save sessions on logout checkbox on (Session and startup window, general tab). The Terminal window is still open while pressing restart button.

The fresh session has no Terminal at all and if opens, it has default layout (1 Tab, home directory as a default directory within a single tab).

I just tested this on 4.20 and xfce4-session 4.20.4, and it works properly.

Initial setup: xfce 4.18 + Debian 12.

There were some session-saving changes made in the 4.19 development branch to fix session-saving bugs that landed in 4.20. It appears that the scenario you are experiencing has been fixed.


Mark solved threads as [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find solutions.
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#3 2026-10-07 18:14:48

eduardtibet
Member
Registered: 2025-03-04
Posts: 3
LinuxFirefox 140.0

Re: Hidden logic behind saved sessions and Autosaving sessions

Will check it for 4.20 later. Until that, probably it worth to set the topic prefix as [SOLVED] but really I have no clue how to do it by myself - Could topic starter edit the topic title block?

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#4 2026-10-07 21:30:42

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 12,720
LinuxFirefox 157.0

Re: Hidden logic behind saved sessions and Autosaving sessions

eduardtibet wrote:

Will check it for 4.20 later. Until that, probably it worth to set the topic prefix as [SOLVED] but really I have no clue how to do it by myself - Could topic starter edit the topic title block?

Go to your first post in this thread and click on the "Edit" link, then edit the edit the Subject line and prepend "{SOLVED}" to the subject line. Then Submit to save.


Mark solved threads as [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find solutions.
--- How To Ask For Help | FAQ | Developer Wiki  |  Community | Contribute ---

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