CachyOS desktop preview
See what CachyOS looks like before you download it. Open the menu, launch apps, move windows and switch to dark mode in a mockup of the default desktop. There’s nothing to download and no virtual machine.
distro.watch rebuilt this desktop in HTML from official screenshots and default settings, and checked it on Oct 2, 2026. CachyOS’s default “north” wallpaper (a calm sea between two mountains with the logo on the horizon) is redrawn in a simplified form. App icons are simplified stand-ins.
What does CachyOS look like?
CachyOS’s KDE Plasma edition uses the dark Breeze theme with a floating panel along the bottom. The CachyOS logo opens the Kickoff app menu, followed by a virtual desktop pager and pinned System Settings, Dolphin and Firefox. The system tray, clock and a show-desktop button sit on the right. On first login the CachyOS Hello welcome app opens over a dusky sea-and-mountains wallpaper.
Breeze Dark and a floating panel
CachyOS ships Plasma with the Breeze Dark colors and icons. The 44-pixel bottom panel floats a little above the screen edge until a window touches it.
What is on the panel
From left to right: Kickoff (the CachyOS logo), the pager for virtual desktops, pinned System Settings, Dolphin and Firefox, then the system tray, clock and show-desktop button.
CachyOS Hello
The welcome app opens at login with links to the readme, release info, wiki and forum, an Apps/Tweaks page and an app installer. Untick “Launch at start” to stop it.
fish in Konsole
The default shell is fish, and a new Konsole window greets you with a fastfetch summary of the system.
Plasma is the showcase, not the only option
The installer also offers GNOME, COSMIC, Hyprland, niri, Xfce and more. This preview shows the KDE Plasma setup CachyOS features on its homepage.
Try the real CachyOS
This preview shows the layout, theme and default apps. It can’t show speed, hardware support or the real apps. Boot CachyOS from a USB stick to test those on your own computer before you install.
Sources
CachyOS desktop: common questions
What does CachyOS look like?
CachyOS’s KDE Plasma edition uses the dark Breeze theme with a floating panel along the bottom. The CachyOS logo opens the Kickoff app menu, followed by a virtual desktop pager and pinned System Settings, Dolphin and Firefox. The system tray, clock and a show-desktop button sit on the right. On first login the CachyOS Hello welcome app opens over a dusky sea-and-mountains wallpaper.
What desktop environment does CachyOS use?
CachyOS (KDE Plasma) uses KDE Plasma 6 with the Breeze Dark theme. Other CachyOS desktops (GNOME, COSMIC, Hyprland, niri, more) look different from this preview.
Is this preview a real Linux system?
No. It is an interactive mockup that distro.watch built in HTML to match CachyOS’s default layout, theme and apps. Nothing is downloaded, installed or run, so it can’t show performance or whether your hardware works.
How can I try CachyOS for real without installing it?
Write the CachyOS ISO to a USB stick and boot from it. The live session runs the real desktop on your own computer, so you can check Wi-Fi, graphics, sound and suspend before installing.