# Add a widget to a desk

> Add widgets to a desk from the Add widget menu, the tool rail, a right-click, the command palette or a single key, and find every widget by what it does.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/add-a-widget
Section: Widgets > Widget basics
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-10

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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-create).
- **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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-requirements) 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/quick-add-keys).



## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-tool-rail).

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](https://plexiidesk.com/help).

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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-duplicate-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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-import-file).

> **Tip:**
> If you have dragged the tool rail to the top or bottom of the window, it shows icons only and has no Add widget button. Double-click an empty part of the rail to send it back to the right edge.

## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/command-palette).

## 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:

| Key | Adds | Key | Adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `S` | Sticky | `C` | Calc |
| `N` | Note | `I` | Timer |
| `P` | Page | `B` | Browser |
| `M` | Markdown | `O` | Color |
| `D` | Card | `R` | Section |
| `T` | Table | `G` | Shape |
| `F` | Field | | |

These are the starting keys. You can change them, and the menus always show your current ones. See [Add widgets with a single key](https://plexiidesk.com/help/quick-add-keys).

## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-drop-files).
- **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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/right-click-menus).
- **Ask Plexii.** Ask the assistant to add something, and approve its proposal. See [Review and apply Plexii's changes](https://plexiidesk.com/help).

## Every widget, by what it is for

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

### Write & capture

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Sticky](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-sticky) | A small coloured note for a quick thought or a short to-do list. |
| [Note](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-note) | A larger sheet for longer writing. |
| [Markdown](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown) | One note written in Markdown, with a slash menu, that you can export or copy out. |
| [Page](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-page) | A rich document of headings, lists and to-dos, with AI drafting built in. |
| [Voice note](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-voice-note) | Record what you say and turn it into text. |
| [Card](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-card) | A callout with a bold title, a body and a coloured accent bar. |
| [Living Doc](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-living-doc) | A document that keeps a running summary of the desk, from a brief you give it. |

### Plan & track

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Tasks](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-tasks) | This desk's tasks, with the rest of your workspace one click away. |
| [Calendar](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-calendar) | A month view marked with the desk's due dates and booked time. |
| [Attention](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-attention) | The desk's Attention items, or all of them. |
| [Timer](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-timer) | A countdown timer that beeps as time runs out. |

### Numbers & data

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Metrics](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-metrics) | Several numbers read together, each with its own history. |
| [Stat card](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-stat-card) | One number worth watching, and how it got there. |
| [Table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table) | Rows and columns of typed fields, like a small database. |
| [Chart](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-chart) | Bar, line, area, pie or single-number charts drawn from a table. |
| [Spreadsheet](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-spreadsheet) | A full PlexiiSheets spreadsheet with formulas. |
| [Calc](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-calc) | A small calculator. |

### Files & documents

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Gallery](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-gallery) | A grid of pictures, kept in this workspace. |
| [File or link](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-file-or-link) | Upload any file or paste a link, and see a preview of it. |
| [Drive (folder)](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-drive) | A folder from Files, pinned to the desk. |
| [Document](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-document) | A full PlexiiDocs document. |
| [Slides](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-slides) | A PlexiiSlides deck. |

### Draw & diagram

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Image](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | Describe a picture and generate it on the desk. |
| [Flowchart](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | Flowcharts, process maps and org charts, drawn by hand or with AI. |
| [Design](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | A PlexiiDesign layout for brochures, posters, newsletters and one-pagers. |
| [Artwork](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | A PlexiiDraw artwork of vector shapes and painted layers. |
| [Color](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-color) | A colour picker with an eyedropper for anything on your screen. |
| [Mind map](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-mind-map) | Explore an idea as branches, with AI suggesting more. |
| [Diagram](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-diagram) | Boxes, circles, text and picture nodes joined by connectors. |
| [Scratchpad](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-scratchpad) | A freehand sketching surface. |
| [Shape](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-shape) | A rectangle, ellipse, diamond, star, arrow or other shape, with an optional label. |

### People & messages

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Contacts](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-contacts) | The handful of people this desk is about. |
| [Inbox](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-inbox) | Your mail, narrowed to what this desk is about by a rule you write. |
| [Chat](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-chat) | A chat channel you can read and reply to without leaving the desk. |

### Web & apps

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Map](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-map) | A real address on a map you can search, pan and zoom. |
| [App launcher](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-app-launcher) | A one-click tile that opens an app on your Mac. You make one by dragging the app from Connected apps. |
| [SpeedDeck](https://plexiidesk.com/help/speeddeck-intro) | A pad of buttons that launch apps and run macros, organised in folders. |
| [Browser](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-browser) | A web page, live on the desk. |

### Build & automate

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Custom](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-custom) | Describe a tool you need and have it built on the desk. Part of the Pro and Team plans. |
| [Field](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-field) | A single value: text, a number, a choice, a checkbox, an attachment or a button. |
| [Custom block](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-custom-block) | Design your own form from typed fields and save it to reuse. |
| [Desk agent](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-desk-agent) | An AI agent that works on the widgets you connect to it, from an instruction you give it. |
| [Send to a URL](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | Sends a connected widget's content to a web address whenever it changes. |
| [Receive from a URL](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | Gives you a web address; what other services send to it lands on the desk. |

### Desk layout

| Widget | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| [Section](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | A labelled frame that groups widgets together. |
| [Portal](https://plexiidesk.com/help) | A live window onto another desk that you can click to dive into. |

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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-email)), and an App launcher tile is made by dragging an app from Connected apps (see [Add and use connected apps](https://plexiidesk.com/help)).

## After you add a widget

- Move, rename, pin, resize or remove it with the controls along its top. See [The controls on every widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-title-bar).
- Let AI fill it in or set it up. See [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai).
- Select several widgets and arrange them. See [Select, move and arrange widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-select-arrange).
- Connect widgets so they pass information along. See [Link widgets and set up wires](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-link-widgets).

## 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help/quick-add-keys) · [The controls on every widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-title-bar) · [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai) · [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist) · [Link desks, widgets and people with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-mentions) · [Widget sizes, limits and what some widgets need](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-requirements)

**Group overviews:** [Write and capture widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-write-and-capture) · [Plan and track widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-plan-and-track) · [Numbers and data widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-numbers-and-data) · [Files and documents widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-files-and-documents) · [Draw & diagram widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-draw-and-diagram) · [People & messages widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-people-and-messages) · [Web & apps widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-web-and-apps) · [Build & automate widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-build-and-automate) · [Desk layout widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help)

**Write and capture:** [Keep a living summary of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-living-summaries)

**Plan and track:** [Plan a task in the Tasks widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-tasks-planning)

**Numbers and data:** [Connect a number to a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-number-from-table) · [Six views of every table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/table-views) · [Table columns and field types](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-columns) · [Filter and group table rows](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-filter-group) · [Build a table with AI](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-ai) · [Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-import) · [Move around a table and copy cells](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-table-keyboard) · [Build a dashboard on a desk from a table](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-dashboard)

**People and messages:** [Email widget: keep an email on a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-email) · [Keep a client's people, mail and chat on their desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-people-and-mail)

**Web and apps:** [Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck](https://plexiidesk.com/help/speeddeck-organise) · [SpeedDeck actions and multi-step macros](https://plexiidesk.com/help/speeddeck-macros) · [Build SpeedDeck buttons with AI](https://plexiidesk.com/help/speeddeck-ai) · [Keep a site signed in on your desks](https://plexiidesk.com/help/browser-stay-signed-in)

**Build and automate:** [Keep a running summary with a desk agent](https://plexiidesk.com/help) · [Send desk updates to other services and receive events back](https://plexiidesk.com/help)

**Desk layout:** [Watch several desks from one control-room desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help)