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Tidy, auto-arrange and Smart Stack

Lay out a busy desk in one click with Tidy, sort widgets into sections by type, or let Smart Stack suggest labelled groups for you to apply.

All plansUpdated

When a desk fills up, you do not have to drag every widget into place yourself. PlexiDesk has three ways to put a desk in order:

  • Tidy lays out the widgets and sections on the desk in one click, in the shape you choose.
  • Group by type and Stack by type put widgets into sections, one section for each type of widget.
  • Smart Stack asks Plexii to suggest groups by what the widgets are about, and you choose which ones to make into sections.

Tidy and the by-type arrangements work on every plan with nothing to set up. Smart Stack uses AI, so it needs AI set up: it runs on your PlexiDesk AI credits when you are signed in, or on your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon and Add your own API keys.

Tidy the desk in one click

  1. Open the desk.
  2. In the row of desk buttons at the top of the window, click Tidy (the grid of four squares). Rest the pointer on a button if you are not sure which it is.

PlexiDesk lays the widgets out in rows, each row as wide as the part of the desk you can see. The Clean up button on the tool rail at the right edge of the desk does the same thing. See The tool rail on the right of a desk.

Choose a layout

Rest the pointer on Tidy and a strip of layout icons opens below it. Point at an icon to see its name, then click it:

Layout What you get
Square grid An even grid, as close to square as the number of widgets allows.
Single column (vertical) Every widget in one column, top to bottom.
Single row (horizontal) Every widget in one row, left to right.
Mosaic Columns of equal width, with each widget placed in the shortest column, so widgets of different heights pack closely.
Rows of the canvas (flow) Rows as wide as the part of the desk you can see. This is what a plain click on Tidy does.

What Tidy changes and what it leaves alone

  • Similar widgets end up together, in the order you added them.
  • Linked widgets stay side by side, so the lines between them stay short. See Link widgets and set up wires.
  • Widgets may grow a little to close gaps, by up to a quarter of their size. Tidy never makes a widget smaller.
  • Sections move as whole blocks. The widgets inside a section stay as they are, and the section keeps its size.
  • Pinned widgets stay in their corner.

The layout starts at the top-left starting point of the desk. If you cannot see your widgets afterwards, right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Home — fit all to view.

Sort widgets into sections by type

These put every loose widget into a section with the others of its type, such as one section for your sticky notes and another for your browsers. Each new section is named after the widget type and coloured by its group.

From the right-click menu:

  1. Right-click an empty part of the desk.
  2. Choose Auto-arrange.
  3. Choose Group by type for sections that lay their widgets out in a grid, or Stack by type for sections that stack them.

From the tool rail, rest the pointer on the tool rail at the right edge of the desk and choose Tile by type (the same as Group by type) or Stack by type.

The new sections appear below any sections you already have. Pinned widgets and widgets already in a section are left where they are. To change how a section lays out its widgets, or to take widgets back out, see Section widget Coming soon.

Let Smart Stack suggest groups

Smart Stack reads the titles and content of the loose widgets on your desk and suggests a few groups that belong together, such as "Pricing research" or "Launch checklist". Each suggestion becomes a labelled section when you apply it.

Before you start

  • Open a desk with at least three loose widgets on it: widgets that are not in a section and not pinned.
  • Make sure AI is set up. See AI settings.

Make sections with Smart Stack

  1. Click Smart Stack (the hub icon) near the right end of the header. It is greyed out until the open desk has at least three loose widgets. You can also press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows and type Smart Stack.
  2. Wait a moment while it reads Finding groups in your widgets….
  3. Read the suggestions. Each card says Create section, the group's name, how many widgets it holds, and a one-line reason.
  4. Choose what to apply:
    • Click a card to create that one section.
    • Tick the boxes beside the cards you want, then click Apply selected. The button shows how many you ticked, such as Apply selected 2.
    • Click Apply all to create every suggested section. It also shows the number, such as Apply all 3.
  5. Click the × on a card to dismiss a suggestion you do not want.
  6. Click Done when you have finished.

Each new section appears below everything else on the desk, with its widgets in a grid. Widgets that did not fit any group are left where they were.

Apply all and Apply selected are a single step in your undo history, so one ⌘ Z (Ctrl Z on Windows) takes the sections away again. See Review and apply Plexii's changes Coming soon.

Ask again

If the desk has not changed since you last opened Smart Stack, you see the same suggestions again, marked cached. Click the refresh button (Generate a fresh proposal) at the top of the window to ask for new ones.

Undo an arrangement

Every widget that Tidy or Auto-arrange moves is recorded in your undo history, one widget at a time. Press ⌘ Z on a Mac or Ctrl Z on Windows repeatedly to step back. See Undo and redo.

Tips

  • Tidy, then fine-tune. Tidy gets everything in order, then drag the one or two widgets you want somewhere special. See Select, move and arrange widgets.
  • Pin what you always need before you tidy, such as a timer. Pinned widgets stay in their corner whatever layout you choose.
  • Use Smart Stack on a busy desk with a mix of topics. On a desk about one thing, Group by type is often the clearer choice.
  • Prefer columns? The Columns view shows the same widgets in scrollable columns without moving anything on the canvas. See Show a desk as columns, a list, a table or a gallery.

Common questions

I cannot find Tidy. The desk buttons, Tidy among them, appear at the top of the window only while a desk is open. Open a desk from Home or from Rooms in the side menu.

Smart Stack is greyed out. It needs a desk open with at least three loose widgets. Widgets inside sections and pinned widgets do not count. Rest the pointer on the button to see what it is waiting for.

Smart Stack shows a message about an API key instead of suggestions. AI is not set up yet. Sign in to use your PlexiDesk AI credits, or add your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon and Add your own API keys.

Tidy made a widget bigger. Tidy grows widgets a little to close the gaps in a layout. Drag an edge to resize it, or press ⌘ Z (Ctrl Z) to undo.

My widgets disappeared after Tidy. They moved to the desk's starting point. Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Home — fit all to view.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].