Create a desk

A desk is a canvas for one piece of work. Creating one takes a few seconds: give it a name, pick a template and a room if you like, and PlexiDesk opens it for you.

Before you start

• You can create as many desks as you like on every plan. Rooms are the only thing the Free plan limits. See Create and organise rooms.
• Have AI suggest the setup needs AI to be set up: PlexiDesk credits while you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon.

Ways to start a new desk

Desks created in one click from Home start with the name "New desk". To rename one, see Rename a desk and move it to a room.

Create a desk, step by step

1. Click New desk at the top of the side menu. The New Desk window opens, with the current date and time already filled in as the name.
2. Type a name for the desk. The whole name is selected, so typing replaces it. If the date and time suit you, leave it.
3. Fill in any of the optional details described below, such as a template or a room.
4. Click Create Desk, or press Enter while you are in the name box.

Your new desk opens straight away. To close the window without creating anything, click Cancel or press Esc.

Everything in the New Desk window

A task on this desk, or a new desk

These two buttons appear under the name only when a desk is open.

• A new desk (the default) makes a separate desk with its own canvas.
• A task on this desk files the new item under the desk you are on, instead of making a separate desk. It opens straight away, and the Where you are list in the desk menu shows the desk it belongs to. See The desk menu: where you are, who's here, rename, share and move.

Or jump to an existing Desk…

If you already have a desk for this work, you may not need a new one. Type part of its name in Or jump to an existing Desk… and a list of matching desks appears, each with its room. While you are on a desk, clicking one switches to it and closes the window without creating anything. If nothing matches, you see No Desks match.

This box only appears once you have at least one desk.

Notes

Optional. Anything to remember about the work. Searching in All desks matches notes as well as names, so a few words here help you find the desk later.

Start from a template

Optional. A template places a ready-made set of widgets on the new desk.

• Empty gives you a blank canvas. It is selected unless you pick something else.
• Six starters are always there, marked Starter.
• Templates you have saved from your own desks follow the starters, each showing how many widgets it has. See Desk templates.

When you select a template, its description appears below the list. If you cleared the name box, the template's name is used.

Choosing a template hides Recent pages and Tools & tabs, because the template decides what goes on the desk. Pick Empty to get them back.

Recent pages

This row appears when no template is selected and you have visited pages in PlexiDesk's built-in browser. It shows up to ten of them, the ones you visit most first. Click one to add its address to Tools & tabs; a tick shows it has been added.

Tools & tabs

Optional. Type one item per line, and each line becomes a widget on the new desk:

• A line that starts with http:// or https:// becomes a Browser widget showing that page, named after the site.
• Any other line becomes a yellow sticky note with that text.

For example:

https://example.com/brief
https://example.com/budget
Call the printer before Friday

This makes two browsers and one sticky note.

Room

Choose where the desk lives. It starts as Top level (no Room), or as the room you were looking at when you clicked New desk.

1. Click the Room box, which says Change on the right.
2. Type in Search Rooms… to narrow the list.
3. Click Top level (no Room) or a room.

To make a room for this desk at the same time, click + Create new Room… at the bottom of the list, then type the room's name in the New Room name box. If you typed in the search box first, that text becomes the new room's name. If you leave the name empty, the list opens again when you click Create Desk, so you can name it. On the Free plan, a new room counts towards your three rooms.

Urgency and Importance

Click a dot to set each one, from one to five. Urgency runs from whenever to urgent, and Importance from low to high stakes. Both start in the middle.

Duration and Due

• Duration: how long you expect the work to take, in minutes, from 1 to 1440.
• Due: optional. The date the desk is due; it counts as due at the end of that day. To remove the date, click the clear button beside it (its tooltip says Clear due date).

Your history

Once you have finished at least one desk that had a duration and that you started and completed, a Your history panel appears. It compares how long your desks really took with what you estimated.

• The first line shows your real time as a percentage of your estimates, and in brackets how many desks that is based on. Over 100% means your desks have taken longer than you planned; under 100% means less.
• With a duration typed in, Predicted real time adjusts your estimate by that history.
• Without a duration, it shows how long your typical desk takes (the median).

To learn how a desk's time is tracked, see Track a desk's status and time.

Have AI suggest the setup

Tick Have AI suggest the setup and, once the desk is created, AI proposes widgets, browsers and notes that fit it. It looks at the desk's name and notes, your urgency, importance and duration, anything already on the desk and the pages you visit most in PlexiDesk's browser.

1. Give the desk a clear name, and a line of notes if you can. The suggestions are based on them.
2. Tick Have AI suggest the setup, then click Create Desk.
3. The desk opens and the Let me set up your desk window appears while AI looks at your task.
4. Read the suggestions. Each one shows its name, its widget type and a sentence on why it helps. They are all ticked to start with.
5. Untick anything you do not want.
6. Click the Set up button, which shows how many widgets are ticked. The widgets are placed on your desk.

To add nothing, click Cancel. If AI is not set up yet, the window tells you so instead of showing suggestions. See AI settings.

Later, you can ask AI for more on any desk. See Set up a desk with AI.

Common questions

I chose New desk but no window appeared

The New Desk window opens from the side menu. If you have minimised the side menu, click Expand menu at the top of the narrow menu and the window appears.

Where does a new desk go if I don't choose a room?

To the top level. You can move it into a room at any time. See Rename a desk and move it to a room.

Is there a limit on desks?

No. Every plan includes unlimited desks. The Free plan allows three rooms. See What each plan includes Coming soon.

Related tasks

• Create and organise rooms
• Add a widget to a desk
• Desk templates
• Desks, rooms and the canvas