# Show a desk as columns, a list, a table or a gallery

> Switch a desk between the free canvas and Columns, List, Table, Gallery or Compact views, and set the view each desk opens in.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-views
Section: Desks and the canvas > Arrange and view
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-10

A desk is a free canvas by default: widgets sit wherever you put them. When you want to see the same widgets another way, switch the desk's view. Columns lays them out in scrollable columns you can sort by hand, by status or automatically. List, Table, Gallery and Compact give you a quick overview of everything on the desk.

Changing the view never moves anything on the canvas. Switch back to **Free canvas** and your layout is just as you left it.

Views work on every plan. Grouping columns by **Topic** uses AI, so it needs AI set up. See [AI credits and where your AI runs](https://plexiidesk.com/help).

## Switch the view



1. Open a desk.
2. Click the view button beside the desk's name at the top of the window. It shows the current view, such as **Free canvas**.
3. Under **Views**, click the view you want: **Free canvas**, **Columns**, **List**, **Table**, **Gallery** or **Compact**.

The current view has a tick. In any view other than Free canvas, the view button sits in the view's own bar at the top, so you can switch again from there.

### Choose the view a desk opens in

PlexiDesk remembers the view you last used on each desk and opens the desk that way next time. To give a desk a default view:

1. Open the view menu.
2. Click the star on the view you want. A filled star marks the desk's default view.

The default applies when you open a desk you have not switched views on yet. Both the last view you used and the default are remembered on this device.

## Columns



Columns shows the loose widgets on your desk as cards in side-by-side columns. Each column scrolls on its own, and the set of columns scrolls sideways. Each card shows the widget's content.

Choose how the columns are made with the buttons in the bar at the top:

| Group by | The columns are |
| --- | --- |
| **Freeform** | Your own columns. You decide which card goes where. New desks start with **To sort**, **In progress** and **Reference**. |
| **Status** | Four lanes, **To sort**, **In progress**, **Done** and **Reference**, from each widget's status. A widget with no status starts in **To sort**. |
| **Type** | One column for each kind of widget, such as **Documents**, **Notes**, **Tables**, **Files** and **Web & links**. |
| **Colour** | One column for each colour label you have given widgets, and **No label** for the rest. See [Select, move and arrange widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-select-arrange). |
| **Connections** | One column for each set of linked widgets, named **Linked ·** and the first widget's name, and **Unconnected** for the rest. See [Link widgets and set up wires](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-link-widgets). |
| **Sections** | One column for each section on the desk, named after it, with the widgets inside it, and **Ungrouped** for loose widgets. |
| **Recency** | **Today**, **This week**, **This month** and **Earlier**, by when each widget was added. |
| **Topic** | Columns that Plexii suggests from what each widget is about, and **Uncategorised** for anything without a topic. |

The number beside each column's name is how many cards it holds.

### Arrange your own columns (Freeform)

1. Click **Freeform**.
2. To add a column, click **Add column**. It appears at the end as **New column**.
3. To rename a column, click its name, type, and press `Enter`.
4. To move a card, drag it by the handle at the left of its title into another column. Or click its move button (**Move to another column**) and choose **Move to** and the column's name.
5. To reorder columns, drag a column by the handle beside its name and drop it on another column. It moves in front of that one.
6. To remove a column, click the **×** beside its name. Its cards move to the first column. You always keep at least one column.

### Use a status board (Status)

1. Click **Status**.
2. Drag a card into another lane, or click its move button (**Move to another lane**) and choose a lane.

The lane is the widget's status, and it is saved with the widget. Your freeform columns, column widths and grouping choice are remembered for each desk on this device.

### Group by topic with AI

1. Click **Topic**. Plexii reads each widget's title and text and suggests a topic for it, then builds a column for each topic.
2. Click **Regroup** at any time to ask again, for example after adding widgets.

Topic uses your PlexiDesk AI credits when you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. If AI is not set up, a note under the bar says so, and the cards stay in one column until it is. See [Add your own API keys](https://plexiidesk.com/help/api-keys).

### Work with a card

Each card has buttons on its title row:

- **Open in focus mode** shows the widget full screen. See [Open widgets full screen and side by side](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-focus-mode).
- **Show on the canvas** switches back to the free canvas and makes that widget the active one.
- **Move to another column** or **Move to another lane** appears in Freeform and Status.

In Type, Colour, Connections, Sections, Recency and Topic the columns are worked out for you, so cards cannot be dragged there. Switch to **Freeform** or **Status** to arrange cards by hand.

### Resize a column

Drag a column's right edge. Cards fill the column's width, so they grow and shrink with it.

### Go back to the canvas

Click **Canvas** at the right of the bar, or choose **Free canvas** from the view button beside it.

## List, Table, Gallery and Compact

These four views are quick overviews of everything on the desk, including widgets inside sections. Items are listed with the most recently changed first, and the bar at the top shows how many there are.

| View | What you see |
| --- | --- |
| **List** | One row per widget, with its name, type, status if it has one, and when it last changed. |
| **Table** | A table with **Name**, **Type**, **Status** and **Updated** columns. |
| **Gallery** | A card for each widget, with its icon, name and type. |
| **Compact** | Small chips with each widget's icon and name, for a fast scan of a full desk. |

Click any item to open that widget full screen in focus mode. Press `Esc` to come back to the view. See [Open widgets full screen and side by side](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-focus-mode).

These views are for finding and opening things. To change a widget, open it, or switch back to **Free canvas**.

## Tips

- **Run a desk as a board.** Group Columns by **Status** and drag cards across as work moves on. The status travels with each widget.
- **Find something on a crowded desk.** Switch to **Compact** or **List**, click the item, and it opens full screen.
- **Set a default for each kind of desk.** Give a planning desk **Columns** and a research desk **Gallery**, using the star.
- **Tidy the canvas too.** Views leave the canvas alone. To lay out the canvas itself, see [Tidy, auto-arrange and Smart Stack](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-tidy).

## Common questions

**I cannot find the view button.** It appears only while a desk is open, beside the desk's name at the top of the window. In Columns, List, Table, Gallery and Compact it sits in the view's own bar.

**A widget is missing from Columns.** Columns shows the loose widgets on the desk. Widgets inside a section appear when you group by **Sections**, and in List, Table, Gallery and Compact. Pinned widgets are not shown in Columns.

**I cannot drag cards.** Dragging works when you group by **Freeform** or **Status**. The other groupings are worked out automatically.

**Topic puts everything in one column.** Topic needs AI. Sign in to use your PlexiDesk AI credits, or add your own Anthropic key, then click **Regroup**.

**My freeform columns are different on another computer.** Freeform columns, widths and the grouping you chose are kept on each device. A widget's status is saved with the widget, so a Status board matches everywhere.

## Related tasks

- [Open widgets full screen and side by side](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-focus-mode)
- [Tidy, auto-arrange and Smart Stack](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-tidy)
- [Select, move and arrange widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-select-arrange)
- [Section widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help)
- [The header bar](https://plexiidesk.com/help/app-header)
- [Desks, rooms and the canvas](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-overview)