Xfce4-session is a session manager for Xfce. Its task is to save the state of your desktop (opened applications and their location) and restore it during a next startup. You can create several different sessions and choose one of them on startup.
General
Preferences – Configure the behaviour of the session manager
Logout Dialog – The logout dialog and more information about power management handling
Advanced – Advanced information about environment variables and kiosk mode
Known Issues – Read this if xfce4-session causes trouble
Latest Release
xfce4-session 4.20.4 released (2026/03/02 11:21)
xfce4-session 4.20.4 is now available for download from
https://archive.xfce.org/src/xfce/xfce4-session/4.20/xfce4-session-4.20.4.tar.bz2
https://archive.xfce.org/src/xfce/xfce4-session/4.20/xfce4-session-4.20.4.tar.bz2?sha1
https://archive.xfce.org/src/xfce/xfce4-session/4.20/xfce4-session-4.20.4.tar.bz2?sha256
What is xfce4-session?
======================
The Xfce session manager controls the loading of applications when Xfce
is started. It also handles logging out, shutting down, and rebooting.
Website:
https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-session/start
Release notes for 4.20.4
========================
- logout-dialog: Do not create multiple dialogs
- startxfce4: Add support for OpenBSD to kbd layout detection on
wayland
- portals: Add gnome-keyring as Secret provider
- startxfce4: Prioritize XKBLAYOUT over KEYMAP for kbd layout on
wayland
- manager: Avoid use-after-free in idle function
- labwc: Let amixer use system default mixer