Update: They have now fixed it.
In January 2017 it will be 4 years since a bug report was opened about Steam not closing to the tray on Linux. On Windows it works perfectly, but on Linux it has been left to gather dust like so many other issues.
Essentially, the way Steam is setup is that both the Minimize and Close buttons do the same thing: minimize the application. The close button should close it to the tray/indicator but it just minimizes it instead.
The issue is due to bugs that Valve discovered where the Steam application indicator didn’t work correctly, but indicators have worked really well for a long time now. I use plenty of applications that have them like itch, telegram, discord, dropbox and the list goes on. Steam does have a fully working indicator too, so there’s really no reason for Valve to continue to force the close button to minimize.
Why am I highlighting this now? It’s not really talked about anymore and some of you probably don’t even know you can force the expected behaviour by running Steam like so:
You can also edit shortcuts and so on to do it by default too.
Hopefully that little tidbit will help some of you out who also get annoyed by Steam’s behaviour.
A minor issue I admit, but still annoying.
Hopefully next year, this and many other lingering issues will be fixed. This is typical Valve style though, slow to react to change especially when it comes to Linux. That whole “Valve Time” thing really stinks sometimes.
I love Steam and what Valve have done for us, I just want a little more attention to the real niggling issues like this. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
In January 2017 it will be 4 years since a bug report was opened about Steam not closing to the tray on Linux. On Windows it works perfectly, but on Linux it has been left to gather dust like so many other issues.
Essentially, the way Steam is setup is that both the Minimize and Close buttons do the same thing: minimize the application. The close button should close it to the tray/indicator but it just minimizes it instead.
The issue is due to bugs that Valve discovered where the Steam application indicator didn’t work correctly, but indicators have worked really well for a long time now. I use plenty of applications that have them like itch, telegram, discord, dropbox and the list goes on. Steam does have a fully working indicator too, so there’s really no reason for Valve to continue to force the close button to minimize.
Why am I highlighting this now? It’s not really talked about anymore and some of you probably don’t even know you can force the expected behaviour by running Steam like so:
STEAM_FRAME_FORCE_CLOSE=1 steamYou can also edit shortcuts and so on to do it by default too.
Hopefully that little tidbit will help some of you out who also get annoyed by Steam’s behaviour.
A minor issue I admit, but still annoying.
Hopefully next year, this and many other lingering issues will be fixed. This is typical Valve style though, slow to react to change especially when it comes to Linux. That whole “Valve Time” thing really stinks sometimes.
I love Steam and what Valve have done for us, I just want a little more attention to the real niggling issues like this. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Im confuzled; is the issue here that if you minimise steam you still get the window listed in the panel; but to get it to close that and show in the tray you need to press the close option?
I hadnt even classed this as a bug to be honest; in fact Skype for Linux Alpha has the same functionality, minimise does just that and leaves a "window" listed on thepanel, but with the relevant option selected pressing close will leae just the tray inicator.
I hadnt even classed this as a bug to be honest; in fact Skype for Linux Alpha has the same functionality, minimise does just that and leaves a "window" listed on thepanel, but with the relevant option selected pressing close will leae just the tray inicator.
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Quoting: ajgpIm confuzled; is the issue here that if you minimise steam you still get the window listed in the panel; but to get it to close that and show in the tray you need to press the close option?No, minimize does minimize it, but the close button also minimizes it, when it should close it to the tray/indicator.
I hadnt even classed this as a bug to be honest; in fact Skype for Linux Alpha has the same functionality, minimise does just that and leaves a "window" listed on thepanel, but with the relevant option selected pressing close will leae just the tray inicator.
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catskinsox Nov 30, 2016
I was just about to post how mine closes to the tray just fine on Mint 18. And it always has. But I decided to check the desktop file, and it appears Mint might have done that for me, as that command you mentioned is already on the Exec entry.
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Quoting: liamdaweNo, minimize does minimize it, but the close button also minimizes it, when it should close it to the tray/indicator.
You know what I have never noticed that; will have to check later to see if I am insane and not noticed it, then again perhaps I close steam from the menu instead of the window icons. I really should pay more attention, this is why Im not in QA!
EDIT:
Quoting: catskinsoxI was just about to post how mine closes to the tray just fine on Mint 18. And it always has. But I decided to check the desktop file, and it appears Mint might have done that for me, as that command you mentioned is already on the Exec entry.
Then again I have Mint 18 as well, so perhaps Im not as dense as I thought! Still going to check tonight now just to be sure...
Last edited by Cmdr_Iras on 30 November 2016 at 10:29 am UTC
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catskinsox Nov 30, 2016
But while we're on the subject of Steam issues, can we please have working full screen videos within the steam client? Unless someone has a solution I don't know about. I've definitely googled it, but couldn't find anything useful.
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what do you mean by editing shortcuts? .desktop files, scripts?
anyway i never even thought its a problem, cause i never check my window list as i use workspaces. i thought its behaving like it should :)
anyway i never even thought its a problem, cause i never check my window list as i use workspaces. i thought its behaving like it should :)
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Some applications behave this way. Mumble for example (but you have to choose).
Normally I don't want to close Mumble, Steam and some other applications once they have started. So hitting the tray icon happens mostly unintentional. It's always annoying when such applications then simply quit.
Normally I don't want to close Mumble, Steam and some other applications once they have started. So hitting the tray icon happens mostly unintentional. It's always annoying when such applications then simply quit.
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OLucasZanella Nov 30, 2016
Err... I actually thought you couldn't close the app unless by exiting...
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Ezekiel000 Nov 30, 2016
I think this is not the default behaviour because there are a couple of bug with it.
It will cause Steam to freeze if you suspend the computer while it is minimised to the
tray and it cause the shutdown sequence to hang for ages while steam closes. There
isn't a work around for the first problem but the second you just need to remember to
close steam before you shutdown the computer. Thinking about it this second bug may not
happen to everyone but it happens on Debian with MATE DE.
It will cause Steam to freeze if you suspend the computer while it is minimised to the
tray and it cause the shutdown sequence to hang for ages while steam closes. There
isn't a work around for the first problem but the second you just need to remember to
close steam before you shutdown the computer. Thinking about it this second bug may not
happen to everyone but it happens on Debian with MATE DE.
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Stupendous Man Nov 30, 2016
It actually works like it's supposed to on my Gentoo Plasma-5 install. I've just double-checked it, neither the steam.desktop nor the steam.sh include the STEAM_FRAME_FORCE_CLOSE=1 argument. Unless it's hidden somewhere else? The launcher I use just invoke the steam.sh script with no arguments.
When I minimise Steam it minimises to the taskbar, and when I click the cross it "closes" to the system tray icon. Isn't this how it's supposed to work?
When I minimise Steam it minimises to the taskbar, and when I click the cross it "closes" to the system tray icon. Isn't this how it's supposed to work?
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Some distros seem to have applied a fix themselves.
A few times I've needed to track down the steam file (I've seen it in /usr/games/ but others have mentioned /usr/bin/) and add the force_close line near the top:
export STEAM_FRAME_FORCE_CLOSE=1
Then it doesn't matter about launchers or shortcuts. Though I suppose an update could overwrite it.
A few times I've needed to track down the steam file (I've seen it in /usr/games/ but others have mentioned /usr/bin/) and add the force_close line near the top:
export STEAM_FRAME_FORCE_CLOSE=1
Then it doesn't matter about launchers or shortcuts. Though I suppose an update could overwrite it.
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I just learned to right-click the icon in the system tray and close it that way. If they could fix this though, that'd be great.
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natewardawg Nov 30, 2016
I'm on Manjaro, mine works properly. :) It must just be an Ubuntu thing?
Last edited by natewardawg on 30 November 2016 at 12:56 pm UTC
Last edited by natewardawg on 30 November 2016 at 12:56 pm UTC
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Closes to tray on Mint 18.
But clicking on the icon doesn't display the window again, it opens the right-click menu and I have to click on Library. Annoying.
Last edited by Xodetaetl on 30 November 2016 at 1:04 pm UTC
But clicking on the icon doesn't display the window again, it opens the right-click menu and I have to click on Library. Annoying.
Last edited by Xodetaetl on 30 November 2016 at 1:04 pm UTC
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Quoting: Spud13yI just learned to right-click the icon in the system tray and close it that way. If they could fix this though, that'd be great.Yes, that's how I close mine too, when I want to completely shut down the Steam client.
But sometimes I want Steam to still be running behind the scenes, with an icon in the system tray, and that's where the fix comes in. It means I can close the Steam 'browser' window properly, rather than that window being minimised to the taskbar. If I've got a game running at the time, that stays open as normal.
Quoting: XodetaetlCloses to tray on Mint 18.This is annoying. Telegram is the same for me, which I find particularly annoying. This is with Xfce, can't remember what it's been like elsewhere, I've been distro/DE-hopping like crazy recently!
But clicking on the icon doesn't display the window again, it opens the right-click menu and I have to click on Library. Annoying.
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Quoting: GuestIt works fine on Ubuntu Gnome
I use the Gnome desktop on top of vanilla Ubuntu 16.04 and it works there too.
Hmmm. I haven't used the Unity desktop in ages. It may be time to re-visit Ubuntu Gnome. :)
Last edited by Nanobang on 30 November 2016 at 1:37 pm UTC
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It works fine on Plasma (Manjaro Distro)
Never noticed this kind of a problem ..
Never noticed this kind of a problem ..
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Works fine on Manjaro cinnamon / gnome and mint 18 MATE. Always has done, across pretty much every distro i have tried.. Perhaps there was one when it didnt but for a long time i just close and its in the tray.. unless im missing the point.
Im not disputing it doesn't work on Ubuntu, nothing has done for me in years every time i try it there are so many things to configure and fix its laughable considering it is ( was ?) the goto distro. I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu unity to for new people transitioning to Linux it seems to give a lot of unnecessary headaches. Mint, Manjaro or Solus OS are great distro for gaming and newcomers alike.
Last edited by on 30 November 2016 at 9:50 pm UTC
Im not disputing it doesn't work on Ubuntu, nothing has done for me in years every time i try it there are so many things to configure and fix its laughable considering it is ( was ?) the goto distro. I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu unity to for new people transitioning to Linux it seems to give a lot of unnecessary headaches. Mint, Manjaro or Solus OS are great distro for gaming and newcomers alike.
Last edited by on 30 November 2016 at 9:50 pm UTC
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GustyGhost Nov 30, 2016
There was a week or so on Mint where Steam would not minimize properly, but then a Mint update fixed that functionality so they're definitely using a steam_force_close solution or similar.
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Quoting: GuestWhat the close button *should* do is exit Steam completely.Or have an option in the settings, where you can tick "close minimises to system tray" where the default could be it just closes fullstop. I don't need an entry on the taskbar/windows list for everything that's running. Like Notes, Telegram, Cantata, Dropbox etc.
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