The command palette

The command palette is one search box that reaches almost everything in PlexiDesk. Use it to jump to a desk, room or document by name, find a word inside your notes, tables, meetings or recent mail, run a command such as New document or Reset canvas view, add a widget to the desk you are on, open a web page, or pass a question to Plexii. It works from every screen, so you never need to remember where something lives.

The palette is part of every plan. A few of its commands open features that depend on your plan or on something you set up first; those are noted below.

Open and close the palette

There are three ways to open it:

• Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows. This works on every screen, even while you are typing in a text box.
• Click the magnifying glass near the right end of the header, just left of the Settings gear. Its tooltip reads Search and commands (⌘K).
• On your Home dashboard, click the ⌘K button in the Home bar, just before its Ask or Search button. See The Home bar: ask, search and jump.

The palette opens near the top of the window with the cursor already in its search box. To close it, press Esc, press ⌘ K or Ctrl K again, or click anywhere outside it.

Find something

1. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows.
2. Type part of a name, or a word you remember from inside the thing you want. The results change as you type.
3. Press ↓ and ↑ to move the highlight to the result you want.
4. Press Enter to open it. You can also click any row.

Each row shows a name and, underneath, a short hint that says what kind of thing it is, often with the words that matched. The number of results is shown at the bottom right of the palette.

What the palette searches

Rooms and desks match by name from the first letter you type, including one you created or renamed a moment ago. Once you have typed two characters, the palette also looks inside your work:

Items in Trash and archived items are left out, so everything you find is something you can open.

Desks with the same name

If two desks share a name, their rows also show the room each one is in, its status and how many objects it holds, so you can tell them apart before you open one.

Browse without typing

With the search box empty, the palette lists every command it can run from where you are, the everyday Add widget commands when a desk is open, and up to 60 of your rooms and desks. The areas and apps you have opened most recently move towards the top. Scroll, or use the arrow keys, to pick by eye.

Run a command

Type a few letters of what you want to do, such as "new", "reset" or "calendar". When the command is highlighted, press Enter.

These are the commands the palette offers. Some appear only in the situations noted.

Go somewhere

Create something

Type new to see every create command at once.

On a desk

These commands appear only while a desk is open.

If a widget is not included in your plan, choosing its Add command offers an upgrade instead.

Focus, Attention and Brain

Learn and explore

Commands inside a document or presentation

When you open the palette inside PlexiiDocs or PlexiiSlides, a small Document or Slides label appears in the search box, the box reads Command the document, or search everything… (or Command the slides, or search everything…), and that editor's own commands lead the list. When you type, matching editor commands rank above the palette's other commands. Where a command has a keyboard shortcut, it is shown at the right of the row.

In a document you can, for example:

• Format text: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Inline code, Highlight, Clear formatting.
• Set the style: Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, Body text, Bulleted list, Numbered list, Checklist, Quote block, Code block, Divider, and the four alignments.
• Insert: Insert image, Insert table, Insert widget from a desk, Insert office file.
• Work with the page: Find and replace, Toggle focus mode, Toggle outline, Toggle page view, Page orientation: portrait and Page orientation: landscape.
• Use AI: Draft with AI and Rewrite selection with AI (AI needs to be set up).
• Import and export: Import Word (.docx), Export Word (.docx), Export PDF.

In a presentation you can, for example:

• Insert: Insert text box, Insert shape, Insert ellipse, Insert image, Insert line, Insert widget from a desk, Insert chart, Insert table.
• Work with slides: New slide, Present deck, AI: generate or redesign slides, Undo, Redo.
• Import and export: Import PowerPoint (.pptx), Export PowerPoint (.pptx), Export PDF.
• With something selected on the slide: Duplicate element, Delete element, Centre on slide horizontally, Centre on slide vertically, Bring to front, Bring forward, Send backward, Send to back.
• With two or more things selected: the align commands (such as Align left edges) and Group. With three or more: Distribute horizontally and Distribute vertically. With a group selected: Ungroup.

PlexiiSheets, PlexiiDesign and PlexiiDraw show the palette's usual commands. For more on the editors, see PlexiiDocs overview Coming soon and PlexiiSlides overview Coming soon.

Capture to Attention from the palette

When Attention is turned on, the palette is a fast way to note something down without leaving what you are doing.

1. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows.
2. Type @attention followed by what you want to remember, for example @attention book the venue for the launch. The @attention tag can also go at the end of the line.
3. The top row now reads Attention — capture with your text. Press Enter.
4. The Capture window opens with your text already in it. Finish filing it there. See Capture something into Attention Coming soon.

To open Capture empty, type @a and press Enter, or choose Attention — open Capture. While what you type is addressed to Attention, the web and Plexii rows step aside, so Enter always goes to Capture.

Open a web page, search the web or ask Plexii

Whatever you type, the palette also offers to take it beyond your workspace:

• Open and a web address, such as Open example.com, appears when you type an address. Its hint reads Opens in Plexii. Choose it to open the page in the built-in browser. See Browse the web inside PlexiDesk Coming soon.
• Search the web — “your words” searches the web and shows the results inside PlexiDesk.
• Ask Plexii — “your words” opens the assistant panel and sends your words to Plexii as a new conversation. See Meet Plexii.

Which row comes first depends on what you type:

• A web address puts Open at the top, so Enter opens the page.
• A question or a request puts Ask Plexii at the top, so Enter asks Plexii. The palette reads your words as a question when they end with a question mark, or start with a word such as how, what, why, can or is, or with a request such as write, draft, summarise, explain or plan.
• Anything else puts your closest matches and Search the web near the top, with commands and Ask Plexii further down.

Plexii needs AI to be set up: sign in to use PlexiDesk credits, or add your own Anthropic key. See AI settings. To talk with Plexii on a page of its own, press ⌘ ⇧ K on a Mac or Ctrl Shift K on Windows to open the Plexii hub.

Tips

• The palette keeps your hands on the keyboard: ⌘ K (or Ctrl K), a few letters, ↓ if needed, then Enter.
• To find a desk you just made, type the start of its name. It is findable straight away.
• To see every keyboard shortcut, press ⌘ / on a Mac or Ctrl / on Windows. See Keyboard shortcuts.

Common questions

I pressed Enter and it searched the web instead of running my command. When you type ordinary words, Search the web is often the first row. Press ↓ until the command is highlighted, then press Enter, or click the command.

I cannot see the Add widget commands. They appear only while a desk is open. Open a desk from Home or from Rooms in the side menu, then open the palette again.

The Attention row is missing. Attention is turned off. Turn it on in Settings (Turn Attention on or off Coming soon) and the row appears.

Why are document commands at the top while I am on a desk? A Document or Slides widget on the open desk shares its editor's commands with the palette, the same as the full editor does. Type what you want and the matching rows come up.

Ask Plexii did not answer. Plexii needs AI to be set up. Sign in to use PlexiDesk credits, or add your own key in AI settings.

Related tasks

• Find your way around PlexiDesk
• The Home bar: ask, search and jump
• Add widgets with a single key
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Undo and redo