Add a widget to a desk

Widgets are the pieces you build a desk from: notes, task lists, tables, documents, a web browser, drawings, timers and more. You can add one in several ways, and each suits a different moment. Browse the Add widget menu when you are not sure what you need, right-click when you want a widget in an exact spot, or press a single key when you already know.

This page covers every way to add a widget, what happens next, and a list of every widget grouped by what it is for, with a link to its own guide.

Before you start

• Open a desk. Widgets live on desks, so the ways to add them only appear while a desk is open. See Create a desk.
• Any plan can add widgets. A few widgets need something set up before they can do their job, such as an AI connection or a connected mail account. Each widget's guide says what it needs, and Widget sizes, limits and what some widgets need gathers them in one place.

Add a widget from the header

The Add widget button sits in the middle of the header whenever a desk is open. It is the easiest way to browse.

1. Click Add widget in the header. The menu opens with the cursor already in its search box.
2. Click the widget you want. It appears on the desk and the menu closes.

To close the menu without adding anything, press Esc or click anywhere outside it.

The menu groups widgets into nine columns by what you are trying to do: Write & capture, Plan & track, Numbers & data, Files & documents, Draw & diagram, People & messages, Web & apps, Build & automate and Desk layout.

To find a widget quickly, type in Search widgets… at the top of the menu. It matches a widget's name, what it does, or the name of its column, so typing numbers shows the whole Numbers & data column. Press Enter to add the first match. Click the small cross in the search box to clear it.

When there are more columns than fit in the window, scroll over the menu to move along them. Scrolling over the menu moves the menu, not the desk behind it.

The grey letter beside some widgets is that widget's quick-add key. With the menu closed, press that letter on the desk to add the widget straight away. See Add widgets with a single key.

Where a new widget appears

When you add a widget from the header menu, by clicking a tile in the tool rail, with a quick-add key or with Import file, PlexiDesk places it for you:

• If you are working in a widget (you have clicked into it), the new one appears right beside it, on its right if there is room, otherwise on its left or in the nearest clear space.
• If no widget is active, it appears in a clear space in the middle of what you can see.

Dragging a tile from the tool rail, or adding from a right-click, puts the widget exactly where you choose. Commands from the command palette place it near the top left of the desk.

Add a widget from the tool rail

The tool rail sits at the right edge of the desk. See The tool rail on the right of a desk.

1. Rest the pointer on the tool rail. It opens out.
2. Click Add widget at the top of it. The Add to this desk picker opens.
3. Click a tile to add that widget, or drag a tile onto the desk and drop it where you want it.

The picker first shows the everyday widgets under Notes, Web, Files, Tools, Comms and Layout. Click Advanced to show the rest. Typing in Search widgets and objects searches every widget, including the Advanced ones.

A tile with a small lock is a widget your plan does not include. Click it to see which plan includes it. See Upgrade to Pro or Team Coming soon.

When the search box is empty, two more options sit at the bottom of the picker:

• Bring a synced widget… Choose another desk, then pick one of its widgets. A copy lands on this desk and stays in sync with the original, so a change to either one shows in both. See Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync.
• Import file… Pick a .txt, .md, .csv or .json file to turn it into a widget on this desk. See Turn a file into a widget.

Add a widget exactly where you click

1. Right-click an empty part of the desk.
2. Point to Add object, then to a group: Notes, Web, Files, Tools, Comms, Layout or Advanced.
3. Click the widget. It appears where you right-clicked.

Add a widget from the command palette

1. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows.
2. Type add and part of the widget's name, for example add table.
3. Use the arrow keys to highlight the command, such as Add Table, and press Enter.

With the search box empty, the palette lists Add commands for the everyday widgets. Type to reach every widget. Where a widget has a quick-add key, the palette shows it at the right of the row. See Search and commands.

Add a widget with a single key

Click an empty part of the desk so that no widget is active and you are not typing, then press a letter:

These are the starting keys. You can change them, and the menus always show your current ones. See Add widgets with a single key.

Documents, spreadsheets and slides

When you add a Document, Spreadsheet or Slides widget from the Add widget menu, by clicking a tile in the tool rail, or from a right-click, a small window asks what to put in it:

• Create new starts a blank one.
• Import a file brings in a Word .docx, an Excel .xlsx or .csv, or a PowerPoint .pptx, keeping its formatting.
• Place an existing one lists the ones you already have. Type in the search box to narrow the list, then click the one you want.

When you add one from the command palette, or drag its tile from the tool rail, a new blank one is created straight away.

Other ways to put things on a desk

• Drop it in. Drag files, links and apps from outside PlexiDesk onto the desk. See Drop files, links and apps onto a desk.
• Make a linked widget from another one. Right-click a widget and use Create & link to add a new widget already connected to it. See Right-click menus.
• Ask Plexii. Ask the assistant to add something, and approve its proposal. See Review and apply Plexii's changes Coming soon.

Every widget, by what it is for

The groups below follow the columns of the Add widget menu.

Write & capture

Plan & track

Numbers & data

Files & documents

Draw & diagram

People & messages

Web & apps

Build & automate

Desk layout

Some things reach a desk in other ways. An email you keep on a desk comes from Mail (see Email widget: keep an email on a desk), and an App launcher tile is made by dragging an app from Connected apps (see Add and use connected apps Coming soon).

After you add a widget

• Move, rename, pin, resize or remove it with the controls along its top. See The controls on every widget.
• Let AI fill it in or set it up. See Use a widget's AI button.
• Select several widgets and arrange them. See Select, move and arrange widgets.
• Connect widgets so they pass information along. See Link widgets and set up wires.

Common questions

I cannot see the Add widget button. It only appears while a desk is open. Open a desk from Home or from Rooms in the side menu.

I added a widget but cannot see it. It may have landed outside the part of the desk you are looking at. Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Home — fit all to view to bring everything into view.

A tile in the tool rail has a lock on it. That widget is not included in your current plan. Click it to see which plan includes it.

I pressed a letter and it typed into a widget instead of adding one. Quick-add keys only work when you are not typing. Press Esc or click an empty part of the desk, then press the key.

The widget I want is not in the menu. Type part of its name in the search box at the top of the menu. In the tool rail's picker, also check under Advanced.

Everything in Widgets

Each group of widgets has an overview, and several widgets have extra guides for particular jobs.

Widget basics: Add widgets with a single key · The controls on every widget · Use a widget's AI button · AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text · Link desks, widgets and people with @ · Widget sizes, limits and what some widgets need

Group overviews: Write and capture widgets · Plan and track widgets · Numbers and data widgets · Files and documents widgets · Draw & diagram widgets · People & messages widgets · Web & apps widgets · Build & automate widgets · Desk layout widgets Coming soon

Write and capture: Keep a living summary of a desk

Plan and track: Plan a task in the Tasks widget

Numbers and data: Connect a number to a table · Six views of every table · Table columns and field types · Filter and group table rows · Build a table with AI · Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table · Move around a table and copy cells · Build a dashboard on a desk from a table

People and messages: Email widget: keep an email on a desk · Keep a client's people, mail and chat on their desk

Web and apps: Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck · SpeedDeck actions and multi-step macros · Build SpeedDeck buttons with AI · Keep a site signed in on your desks

Build and automate: Keep a running summary with a desk agent Coming soon · Send desk updates to other services and receive events back Coming soon

Desk layout: Watch several desks from one control-room desk Coming soon