# Turn a widget into its own desk > Right-click a widget and choose Make this a Desk to start a new desk named after it, with a synced or independent copy of the widget on it. Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-from-widget Section: Desks and the canvas > Desk tools Plans: All plans Updated: 2026-10-10 Some work outgrows the desk it started on. A sticky note with an idea becomes a project, or a checklist needs a canvas of its own. **Make this a Desk...** creates a new desk named after the widget, files it in one of your rooms, and can bring the widget along, either kept in sync with the original or as a separate copy. ## Before you start - **Every plan includes this.** Desks are unlimited on every plan. - **New rooms count on the Free plan.** You can create a room from the same dialog. On the Free plan it counts towards your three rooms, and if you already have three, PlexiDesk offers an upgrade instead of creating a fourth. See [Create and organise rooms](https://plexiidesk.com/help/room-create). - **Start on the desk that holds the widget.** The dialog opens from the widget's right-click menu. ## Make a desk from a widget 1. Right-click the widget's title bar, the strip along its top. 2. Choose **Advanced**, then **Make this a Desk...**. The **Make this a desk** dialog opens. 3. Under **Add it**, click **As a new desk** (its own canvas). The dialog starts on **To this desk**, which adds a task to the current desk instead (see Add a task to this desk instead, below). 4. Check the name in **Task title**. It is filled in from the widget's title, or from the start of its text if the widget has no title. Type over it to change it. 5. Under **Folder**, choose the room for the new desk: - Click a room in the list. If your current desk is in a room, that room is already selected and marked **current**. - Type in **Search folders…** to narrow a long list. - Click **+ Create new folder…** to make a new room, then type its name in the box that appears. If you typed in the search box first, the button shows that text and it becomes the room's name. Click **← Pick an existing folder** to go back to the list. 6. Leave **Copy this widget into the new desk** ticked to bring the widget along, then choose how: - **Keep in sync (live)**: content, title and colour mirror both ways between the original and the copy. - **Independent copy (point-in-time)**: a snapshot of the widget as it is now. After that, the two never affect each other. Untick **Copy this widget into the new desk** if you want only the new desk, with nothing copied onto it. 7. Leave **Switch to the new desk** ticked to go straight to it. Untick it to stay where you are. 8. Click **Create task**, or press `Enter` in the title box. The new desk appears in the room you chose. If you kept **Switch to the new desk** ticked, it opens straight away. If you copied the widget, the copy is on the new desk at the same size and colour as the original. The original widget always stays on the desk where you started. If you chose **Keep in sync (live)**, both the original and the copy show a small link icon in their title bars, so you can tell they are connected. To close the dialog without creating anything, click **Cancel** or press `Esc`. > **Tip:** > Moving the widget rather than sharing it? Choose **Independent copy (point-in-time)**, then delete the original: right-click its title bar and choose **Remove** > **Delete**. The copy on the new desk stays as it is. ## Keep in sync or make an independent copy? - **Keep in sync** suits something both desks work from, such as a project brief, a list of decisions or a checklist. Edit either copy and the other follows. Each copy keeps its own position and size. - **Independent copy** suits a starting point that the new desk will rework, such as a draft, a template or last quarter's plan. - **You can change your mind later.** To stop a synced copy following the others, right-click its title bar and choose **Advanced** > **Unlink from synced copies**. See [Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-duplicate-sync). ## Add a task to this desk instead When the dialog opens, **Add it** is set to **To this desk**, with the name of the desk you are on. Leave it there and click **Create task** to add a task with that title to the current desk, with no new canvas. The task shows in any [Tasks widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-tasks) on this desk. With **To this desk** chosen, the dialog hides **Folder**, the copy options and **Switch to the new desk**, and the widget stays exactly as it is. ## Make a desk from a section A [Section widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help) has its own right-click menu. 1. Right-click the section's coloured name tag at its top-left corner. 2. Choose **Make this a task…**. The same **Make this a desk** dialog opens, named after the section. 3. Follow steps 3 to 8 above. If you copy a section onto the new desk, the copy is the section frame with its name and colour. The widgets inside the section stay on the original desk. ## Another way in: Duplicate into another Room / Desk... Right-click a widget's title bar and choose **Advanced** > **Duplicate into another Room / Desk...**. It opens the same **Make this a desk** dialog. Choose **As a new desk**, pick a room, and leave **Copy this widget into the new desk** ticked: the copy goes onto a new desk in that room. Widgets inside a section do not show this row. Use **Make this a Desk...** instead, which opens the same dialog. To put a synced copy on a desk you already have, open that desk and use **Bring a synced widget…** in the tool rail's **Add widget** menu. See [Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-duplicate-sync). ## Common questions ### Why do the labels say task when I am making a desk? The dialog can make a desk or a task on the current desk, so its title box is called **Task title** and its button **Create task**. With **As a new desk** chosen, what you get is a desk with its own canvas. ### Where did my new desk go? If you unticked **Switch to the new desk**, you stayed on the desk you were on. The new desk is in the room you picked under **Folder**. Open **Rooms** in the side menu and click that room, or open **All desks** to see every desk. See [Browse All rooms and All desks](https://plexiidesk.com/help/rooms-desks-index). ### Can the new desk sit at the top level, outside any room? The dialog always files the new desk in a room. To take it out of the room afterwards, use **Move to room…** in **All desks** and choose **Top level**. See [Rename a desk and move it to a room](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-rename-move). ### I do not see Copy this widget into the new desk Those options appear only after you choose **As a new desk** under **Add it**. ### I do not see Advanced in the right-click menu If the widget is one of several selected widgets, the right-click menu shows actions for the whole selection. Press `Esc` or click an empty part of the canvas to clear the selection, then right-click the one widget again. ## Related tasks - [Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-duplicate-sync) - [Create a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-create) - [Create and organise rooms](https://plexiidesk.com/help/room-create) - [The desk menu: where you are, who's here, rename, share and move](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-menu) - [Related desks and 'since your last visit'](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-related-desks) - [Desks, rooms and the canvas](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-overview)