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SpeedDeck widget

A panel of 30 buttons on a desk that open apps and websites, press shortcuts, type text and run macros, with folders for more.

All plansUpdated

A SpeedDeck is a panel of buttons on your desk: ten across and three down, 30 in all. Each button does something when you click it, such as opening an app or a website, pressing a keyboard shortcut, typing a piece of text you use often, or running several steps in a row. A button can also be a folder that opens another page of 30 buttons, and folders can hold folders, so a deck can grow as far as you need.

What a button can do

When you set up a button, you choose what it does:

  • Open app opens an app on your computer.
  • Open URL opens a website in your web browser.
  • Keyboard shortcut presses a key combination in the app you were using.
  • Type text types a piece of text where your cursor is.
  • Media control plays, pauses or skips tracks in a supported music app, turns the volume up or down, or mutes it.
  • Set volume sets your computer's volume to a level you choose.
  • Shell command runs a command, for advanced use. It asks you to confirm each time it runs.
  • Multi-step macro runs several of these in a row, with a Delay between steps if you need one.

Each one is explained in SpeedDeck actions and multi-step macros.

Before you start

  • Plans. SpeedDeck is on every plan, with everything in this article.
  • Mac or Windows. Open app, Open URL and Shell command buttons work on both. Keyboard shortcut, Type text, Media control and Set volume buttons work on a Mac only.
  • Accessibility permission on a Mac. Keyboard shortcut, Type text and Media control buttons need macOS Accessibility permission. The first time you press one, PlexiDesk shows you how to allow it. See Allow keyboard control on a Mac.

Add a SpeedDeck

  1. Open the desk.
  2. Click Add widget in the middle of the header, then choose SpeedDeck. It is in the Web & apps column.
  3. The deck appears with all its slots empty, ready for your first button.

You can also press ⌘ K on a Mac (Ctrl K on Windows), type SpeedDeck and choose Add SpeedDeck.

The top of the deck

Along the top of the deck, from left to right:

  • Task and Universal choose which deck of buttons you are looking at. See Task or Universal, below.
  • The deck's name or the way back. On the top page it says SpeedDeck. Inside a folder, it shows a back button named after the page above, with the folder's name beside it.
  • AI builds buttons from a description, or suggests them from the apps you use. See Build SpeedDeck buttons with AI.
  • Edit turns on Edit mode, where you set up and arrange buttons. In Edit mode it becomes Done.
  • More options, the three dots, opens the deck menu: copy, export, import or reset the deck, and the Accessibility permission dialog. See Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck.

Task or Universal

Every SpeedDeck can show one of two decks. Click Task or Universal at the top left to switch.

  • Task keeps the buttons with this desk. Each SpeedDeck set to Task has its own buttons, and they go with the desk when you share it.
  • Universal is one deck kept on this computer. Every SpeedDeck set to Universal shows the same buttons, on any desk. Change a button in one, and it changes in all of them.

Each SpeedDeck remembers which one you left it on. Switching takes you back to the top page of that deck.

Make your first button

  1. Click Edit at the top of the deck.
  2. Click an empty slot. The button editor opens, titled with the slot's number, such as Slot 1.
  3. On the Button tab, type a Label and choose a Color and an Icon. The Preview shows how the button will look.
  4. Click the Action tab and choose what the button does under What does this button do?, then fill in the details, such as the app or the web address.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Click Done when you have finished setting up buttons.

Press Esc, click Cancel or click outside the editor to close it without saving.

The button editor

The editor has three tabs.

Button

  • Label: up to 20 characters. It shows in capitals under the icon.
  • Color: twelve colours to choose from.
  • Icon: pick one from the gallery, or type the name of any Material Symbols icon in the box underneath.
  • Custom image (optional): choose a PNG, JPEG, WebP or SVG picture of up to 256 KB to use as the button's face. The image replaces the icon. Click Clear to remove it.
  • Preview: how the button will look on the deck.

Action

Choose what the button does under What does this button do? and fill in its details. If the shortcut you choose is already used by macOS, or by another button on this deck, a note above the details tells you, and you can still save it. See SpeedDeck actions and multi-step macros.

Folder

Click Make this slot a folder to turn the slot into a folder, using the label, colour and icon from the Button tab. A folder opens a page of 30 more slots of its own.

On a slot that is already a folder, use the Button tab to change its label, colour or icon.

Use your buttons

  • Click a button to run it. Make sure Edit mode is off first: in Edit mode, a click opens the button editor instead.
  • Click a folder to open it. Click the back button at the top of the deck to go up a level.
  • If a button cannot do what it is set to do, it flashes, and for a few seconds resting the pointer on it shows why. Open the button in Edit mode and check its Action tab.

On a Mac, Keyboard shortcut and Type text buttons send keys to the app you were using before you clicked, so click into that app first, then press the button.

Change or remove a button

  1. Click Edit.
  2. Click the button. The editor opens with its settings.
  3. Change what you need and click Save, or click the bin icon at the top of the editor (Remove this button) to empty the slot.

You can also right-click a button in Edit mode and choose Remove. Removing a folder removes the buttons inside it too.

To rearrange buttons, move them into and out of folders, copy them between decks, or export and import a whole deck, see Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck.

Use AI

The AI button at the top of the deck is SpeedDeck's own AI. Describe what you want, such as buttons for your morning apps, and it builds a button or a folder of buttons for you to add. It can also suggest buttons from the apps you switch between. See Build SpeedDeck buttons with AI, which also says what it needs to be set up.

The AI button in the widget's title bar, the sparkle at the start of the buttons on the right of the title bar, is a different button. On a SpeedDeck it opens the Plexii panel, where you can ask Plexii a question. To build buttons with AI, use the deck's own AI button. See Use a widget's AI button.

SpeedDeck on shared desks

  • A Task deck goes with the desk. People you share the desk with get its buttons. See Share a desk with specific people.
  • A Universal deck stays on your computer. On a SpeedDeck set to Universal, other people see their own Universal deck, not yours. To give someone your Universal buttons, export the deck and send them the file. See Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck.
  • A live view of the desk shows a picture of the deck, or a placeholder. Its buttons do nothing there. See Publish a live view of a desk.

Good uses

  • Start your day. A folder of buttons for your email, your calendar and the websites you check every morning, or one Multi-step macro button that opens them all.
  • Text you type often. Type text buttons for your address, a sign-off or a standard reply.
  • Calls and music. Media control buttons to pause music and mute before a call, on a Mac.
  • One desk, one set of tools. A Task deck on a project's desk with the apps, websites and shortcuts for that project.

Common questions

Why did clicking a button open the editor instead of running it? The deck is in Edit mode. Click Done at the top of the deck, then click the button again.

How do I put buttons inside a folder? Click Done, click the folder to open it, then click Edit and set up the empty slots inside. You can also drag a button onto a folder in Edit mode to move it in. See Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck.

My Universal buttons are not on my other computer. The Universal deck is kept on each computer. Use Export deck to file… on one and Import deck from file… on the other. See Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck.

A keyboard shortcut button does nothing on Windows. Keyboard shortcut, Type text, Media control and Set volume buttons work on a Mac only. On Windows, use Open app and Open URL buttons.

More about this widget Coming soon

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