Is it just me? Footprint preview remains on second symbol placement but footprint is not selected

Software
1

Before I go make the bug report, I wanted to ask if it’s just me, or is this the expected behavior?

Situation:

Let’s say I want two resistors when wiring up some pull-ups/pull-downs. I click add component, type “r” into the search. Select the SMD footprint I want (1608 metric hand soldered in this case) and click ok and place it. Then click again to add the second resistor. The “r” is still in the search box, resistor is still selected, I still see the footprint preview in the preview window, which makes me think the footprint is still selected, too. I click ok, and can go do this for quite some time before realizing that no… those symbols added after the first footprint being manually selected never had any footprints assigned to them because even though the preview showed the footprint I wanted and all my other input was preserved, that footprint selection was NOT preserved. Now I have to go back and assign footprints for everything I thought had a footprint but didn’t.

Does this happen to anyone else? Is this the expected behavior? Cause I really wish it would just leave the footprint selected like the search box and the symbol which are both still input/selected.

Here’s a screenshot of adding a third resistor. This is immediately after clicking add component after having just added a resistor and having selected the footprint. Notice it says “No default footprint” indicating no footprint is selected, but it also shows the previously placed symbol’s selected footprint preview. Why?

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This happens to me after any symbol is added with a selected footprint, and I attempt to add another of the same component.

Ooo… I just noticed that “Place repeated copies” check box… I’ll use that in the future, but this behavior is still confusing. If the footprint field is cleared, the footprint preview should be cleared as well.

Update: Just realized that this previously selected footprint preview comes back even after placing other components. I placed a few SPDT switches and went back to put another resistor. typed “r” in the search bar, and there’s that footprint preview again even though no footprint is currently selected.

Update 2: Just realized it’s connected to the “-- Recently Used --” list. If I select the “R” in the “-- Already Placed --” list, the preview disappears and says “No footprint specified” … this makes me think this is a bug. Furthermore, it does not happen for the screw terminal, but it does happen for the resistor… strange.

2

This has always been the case. Each time you use the R symbol (or most others) you need to assign a footprint.

There are basically three ways to overcome this.
1/ have symbols with dedicated footprints in personal libraries. eg.one R has 1608 another different R has 0805, another different R = 0603 etc.
2/ Place one R with a 1608 on the PCB and Duplicate 'till you have enough of that value then move on to the next value and repeat.
3/ Place repeated copies.

Does the screw terminal in the symbol library have a footprint already attached?
Some symbols have footprints attached.
Symbols that can have different packages do not have footprints attached. eg.Resistors, Caps, Transistors, many ICs etc.

3

The screw terminal is similar to the resistor. If you click the drop-down, there’s a long list of options, but there is not a default. However, unlike the resistor, the screw terminal in the recently placed list does not have the previously selected footprint preview appear. It is blank and says no default footprint. A SPDT switch has no footprints in the drop-down, so I do not expect it to have any preview ever, and indeed nothing shows. As far as I’ve seen, this only happens with resistors, which means there is no pattern being followed that I can tell.

I’d like to reiterate that the issue is that there is a preview of the previously selected footprint while no footprint is selected. In other situations, even with resistors not in the recent list at the top of the component list, if no footprint is selected, the preview is blank, not displaying something that was used in the past.

4

In which library is the screw terminal?

5

I misread your comments.
It appears you do have a bug. I cannot duplicate your bug

Please post your Kicad version.
Find it by opening Kicad, go to Help > About Kicad. Top RH corner click “copy version info” and paste into a forum post.
My version that will not duplicate your bug is:

Application: KiCad Schematic Editor x86_64 on x86_64

Version: 9.0.2-9.0.2-0~ubuntu22.04.1, release build

Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.1
FreeType 2.11.1
HarfBuzz 2.7.4
FontConfig 2.13.1
libcurl/7.81.0 OpenSSL/3.0.2 zlib/1.2.11 brotli/1.0.9 zstd/1.4.8 libidn2/2.3.2 libpsl/0.21.0 (+libidn2/2.3.2) libssh/0.9.6/openssl/zlib nghttp2/1.43.0 librtmp/2.3 OpenLDAP/2.5.19

Platform: Linux Mint 21.3, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, X11, cinnamon, x11
OpenGL: Mesa, NV106, 4.3 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.3

Build Info:
Date: May 7 2025 21:51:58
wxWidgets: 3.2.1 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
Boost: 1.74.0
OCC: 7.5.1
Curl: 7.81.0
ngspice: 43
Compiler: GCC 11.4.0 with C++ ABI 1016
KICAD_IPC_API=ON

Locale:
Lang: en_AU
Enc: UTF-8
Num: 1,234.5
Encoded кΩ丈: D0BACEA9E4B888 (sys), D0BACEA9E4B888 (utf8)