Find a partner and run a session

This guide takes you through one body doubling session, from opening the panel to ending the session. For what body doubling is, see Body doubling: work alongside someone.

Before you start

• Plan: body doubling is part of the Pro and Team plans.
• Sign in to your PlexiDesk account. If you are signed out, the panel shows Sign in to find a partner instead of Find a partner. See Create an account and sign in.
• Allow your camera, and your microphone for every mode except Silent. See Allow microphone, camera and screen recording on a Mac.
• Leave any other meeting first. The session's video cannot open while you are in another meeting.

Open the Body double panel

Use either of these:

• Click the Body double button near the right-hand end of the header. It shows three people, and its tooltip says Body double — pair with someone to feel less alone while you work.
• Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type "body double" and choose Find a body double. See The command palette.

The panel is headed Body double, with the line Work alongside someone, matched at random.

Find a partner

1. Under How much interaction would you like?, click a mode: Silent, Intros only, A little chat is fine or Happy to talk. The panel opens on your usual mode, and the one you click becomes your usual mode for next time. See The four body doubling modes.
2. Optionally, type a few words in What are you working on?, for example "inbox triage". Your partner sees it. It holds up to 80 characters, and it is not shown in Silent mode.
3. Read the Privacy note at the bottom of the panel, then click Find a partner.
4. The panel says Looking for someone who picked followed by your mode, and shows your session name for this session, for example You're QuietCedar34 while you wait. To stop looking, click Cancel.

You can close the panel while it looks. The search carries on, the header button stays filled in, and its tooltip says Body double — searching for a partner….

Meet your partner

When a partner is found, a small dot appears on the header button and its tooltip says Body double — partner found, click to greet. Open the panel to see:

• Say hello to and your partner's session name
• Working on and their line, if they wrote one
• You both picked and the mode, with Starting opens your camera in a private room, docked to the side of your screen.

Then:

• Click Start session to open the video room.
• Click Skip to end the pairing without starting. Your partner is told the session ended.

During the session

When you start, PlexiDesk turns on your camera, and your microphone if your mode uses one. The panel says Opening your camera…, then You are on camera together. The video is docked at the side of your screen.

The video

The video sits in a panel docked to one side of the window, titled Body double · and your partner's session name. Under the title, a line states your mode and the state of your microphone, for example A little chat · mic muted, unmute for a quick word. In Intros only it counts down the time until your microphone mutes.

The buttons along the bottom of the video:

To move the docked video, click one of the four arrow buttons at the top of it (Dock left, Dock top, Dock bottom, Dock right). PlexiDesk remembers the side you choose. In full screen, pressing Esc docks the video again and does not end the session.

The Body double panel

While the session runs, the panel shows your mode at the top and acts as the session's controls:

• Dock video or Full screen switches the video between docked and full screen.
• Reopen video appears if the video has been closed. The session carries on without it until you reopen it.
• Your partner's session name and their Working on line.
• Block ends the session, and you are not matched with that member again.
• End session ends the session for both of you.

In every mode except Silent, the panel has a text chat. Type a message and press Return (Enter on Windows), or click Send. A message holds up to 1,000 characters. In Silent, the panel says You're not alone. instead, and there is no chat.

You can close the panel and get on with your work. Its close button's tooltip says Hide panel — session keeps running, and Esc or clicking outside the panel also just hides it. A green dot on the header button shows the session is running. Click the button to bring the panel back.

End the session

• Click End session in the panel, or End body double session on the video. The video closes and the session ends for both of you.
• To end it and never be paired with that member again, click Block in the panel, or End and never match with them again on the video. The panel says Session ended. You will not be matched with them again. Your partner is told only that the session ended.

If your partner ends the session, the panel opens by itself and says Your partner ended the session.

Common questions

The video did not open. The panel says why, with a Try again button:

• You are in another meeting. Leave it to see your body double. Leave the other meeting, then click Try again.
• Could not access your camera. Check system permissions. (or your microphone or camera). Allow PlexiDesk to use them, then click Try again. On a Mac, see Allow microphone, camera and screen recording on a Mac.

It says it could not reach the matching service. The message reads Could not reach the matching service. Check your connection and try again. Check your internet connection and click Find a partner again. If the connection drops during a session, the session ends and the panel says Lost the connection to the matching service, so the session ended.

It is taking a while to find someone. You are only paired with someone who picked the same mode. Leave it looking while you work, or click Cancel and try another mode.

Can I change mode in the middle of a session? No. Both of you agreed to the mode you were matched on. End the session and look again in another mode.

I see "See plans" instead of "Find a partner". Your plan does not include body doubling. See plans opens the pricing page. See Plans and pricing: Free, Pro and Team.

Related tasks

• Body doubling: work alongside someone
• The four body doubling modes
• Set your body doubling preference
• The command palette
• The header bar