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Organise, share and back up a SpeedDeck

Rearrange SpeedDeck buttons, move them into and out of folders, copy them between decks, and export, import or reset a whole deck.

All plansUpdated

Once a SpeedDeck has a few buttons, you will want to put them in order, group them into folders, and keep a copy of the deck. This article covers everything you do in Edit mode, the right-click menu for a slot, and the deck menu for copying, exporting, importing and resetting a whole deck. To set up a new deck and its first buttons, see SpeedDeck widget.

Before you start

  • Plans. Everything here is on every plan.
  • Check which deck you are in. Every change applies to the deck you are looking at: Task (this desk's buttons) or Universal (the buttons shared by every SpeedDeck set to Universal on this computer). The tab is at the top left of the deck. See Task or Universal.

Turn on Edit mode

  1. Click Edit at the top of the deck. It becomes Done.
  2. A line under the buttons reminds you what you can do: click a slot to set it up, drag to reorder, right-click for more. On the Universal deck, it also reminds you that these buttons appear in every SpeedDeck set to Universal.
  3. Click Done when you have finished.

In Edit mode, clicking a button or a folder opens the button editor instead of running it.

Move buttons by dragging

In Edit mode, drag a button and drop it on another slot:

  • Onto an empty slot: the button moves there.
  • Onto another button: the two swap places.
  • Onto a folder: the button moves into the folder, in its first empty slot. If the folder is full, the two swap places instead.
  • Onto the back button at the top of the deck, when you are inside a folder: the button moves up to the page above, in its first empty slot. If that page is full, the button stays where it is.

The slot under the pointer lights up so you can see where the button will go.

Work inside a folder

In Edit mode, clicking a folder opens its settings rather than the folder. To set up the buttons inside a folder:

  1. Click Done.
  2. Click the folder to open it.
  3. Click Edit, then click any empty slot inside the folder to set it up.

To go back up, click the back button at the top of the deck, beside Task and Universal. It is named after the page above; the top page of a new deck is called Home. The back button works in Edit mode too.

The slot menu

In Edit mode, right-click any slot to open its menu. What it offers depends on the slot:

  • Configure… on a button, or Add button… on an empty slot, opens the button editor.
  • Copy keeps a copy of the button, ready to paste.
  • Cut keeps a copy of the button and empties its slot.
  • Paste puts the button you copied or cut into this slot. It shows once you have copied or cut a button. Pasting onto a slot that already has a button replaces it.
  • Duplicate puts a copy of the button in the first empty slot on this page.
  • New folder here, on an empty slot, makes a folder named Folder. To change its name, colour or icon, click it in Edit mode and use the Button tab.
  • Remove empties the slot. Removing a folder removes the buttons inside it too.

Press Esc or click anywhere else to close the menu.

Copy buttons between decks

The button you copy or cut stays ready to paste until you copy another one or quit PlexiDesk. While it is waiting, Edit mode shows its label at the top of the deck. You can paste it:

  • on another page or in a folder of the same deck,
  • on the other deck: copy a button on Task, switch to Universal, and paste it there, or the other way round,
  • into a SpeedDeck on another desk.

The deck menu

Open the deck menu in either of two ways:

  • Click More options, the three dots at the top right of the deck.
  • Right-click the deck's background, between or around the buttons.

The top of the menu says Task deck or Universal deck, so you can see which deck its actions apply to.

  • Copy deck JSON copies the whole deck as text, ready to paste into a message to another PlexiDesk user.
  • Export deck to file… saves the whole deck as a .json file, to share or keep as a backup.
  • Import deck from file… loads a deck from a .json file and replaces the deck you are looking at.
  • Accessibility permission… opens the dialog for allowing keyboard control on a Mac. See Allow keyboard control on a Mac.
  • Reset deck… clears every button and folder from the deck, after you confirm.

Back up a deck

  1. Switch to the deck you want to keep: Task or Universal.
  2. Open the deck menu and choose Export deck to file….
  3. Save the file if you are asked where to put it. Its name starts with speeddeck-task or speeddeck-universal.

The file holds every page, folder and button of that deck, including custom images.

Share a deck with someone

  • Send them the file. Export the deck (see above) and send the .json file. They open a SpeedDeck, switch to the deck they want to replace, and choose Import deck from file….
  • Send them the text. Choose Copy deck JSON and paste it into a message. To use it, they save the text as a file whose name ends in .json, then import it with Import deck from file….
  • Share the desk. A Task deck is part of its desk, so people you share the desk with get its buttons. See Share a desk with specific people.

Import a deck

  1. Switch to the deck you want to replace: Task or Universal.
  2. Open the deck menu and choose Import deck from file….
  3. Choose the .json file.

The imported deck replaces every button and folder on the deck you are looking at, and the deck opens on its top page. Importing into Universal changes every SpeedDeck set to Universal on this computer.

Move your Universal deck to another computer

The Universal deck is kept on each computer. To use the same buttons on another one:

  1. On the first computer, switch a SpeedDeck to Universal, open the deck menu and choose Export deck to file….
  2. Copy the file to the other computer.
  3. There, switch a SpeedDeck to Universal, open the deck menu and choose Import deck from file….

Reset a deck

  1. Switch to the deck you want to clear: Task or Universal.
  2. Open the deck menu and choose Reset deck….
  3. PlexiDesk asks Reset the Task deck? or Reset the Universal deck?. Click Reset deck to clear it, or cancel to keep it.

Resetting the Universal deck clears it in every SpeedDeck set to Universal on this computer. To keep a copy, export the deck first.

Common questions

Right-clicking a button does not show the slot menu. The slot menu is part of Edit mode. Click Edit first.

I dragged a button onto the back button and nothing happened. The page above is full. Make room there first, then drag again.

My pasted button replaced one I wanted. Paste replaces whatever is in the slot. Use Paste on an empty slot, or Duplicate to put a copy in the first empty slot.

Can I get a deck back after a reset or an import? Import a copy you exported earlier. That is why it is worth exporting first when you are unsure.

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