# Diagram widget

> Draw boxes, circles, text and pictures on a desk and join them with arrows, for quick flowcharts, hierarchies, system sketches and Venn diagrams.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-diagram
Section: Widgets > Draw and diagram
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-10

The Diagram widget is a small drawing board for boxes and arrows. You add boxes, circles, text labels and pictures, then join them with connectors that end in an arrow. Everything lives inside the widget on your desk, so there is no separate file to open.

Use it when you want a quick structure next to your work: a simple flowchart, who reports to whom, how the parts of a system talk to each other, or a Venn diagram of overlapping ideas. For a full flowchart document with templates and export, use the [Flowchart widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help) instead. The table near the end of this page compares the three diagram widgets.

## Before you start

- The Diagram widget is on every plan.
- You need a desk open.
- **Build with AI** 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](https://plexiidesk.com/help). Everything else works without AI.

## Add a Diagram

1. Open the desk you want it on.
2. Click **Add widget** in the middle of the header bar.
3. Click **Diagram**.

In the **Add widget** menu, **Diagram** is in the **Draw & diagram** column. You can also type *diagram* in **Search widgets…** and press `Enter` to add the first match.

Other ways to add one:

- **The command palette.** Press `⌘` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows, type *add diagram* and press `Enter`.
- **Right-click the desk.** Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose **Add object** > **Advanced** > **Diagram**. It appears where you clicked.

A new diagram is empty and says **Add a Box, Circle, Text or Image from the toolbar to start your diagram**.

## Make the diagram active

Click the diagram once before you work in it. A small blue dot appears beside its name in the title bar. While the diagram is active you can drag nodes, draw connectors, pan and zoom. Until then, scrolling over it moves the desk instead.

When you are finished, press `Esc` or click an empty part of the desk.

## Add boxes, circles and text

The toolbar along the top of the diagram adds one node each time you click a button.

| Button | What it adds |
| --- | --- |
| **Box** | A rectangle with a coloured outline, labelled *Node*. |
| **Circle / Venn** | A circle with a coloured outline and a see-through fill, labelled *Node*. Overlapping circles show where they overlap. |
| **Text** | A free-standing label in colour, with no box, reading *Label*. |
| **Image** | A picture or icon you upload. See **Add pictures and icons** below. |

New nodes appear near the top left of the diagram. Drag each one into place.

### Choose a colour

The seven colour dots after the buttons set the colour for the next nodes you add: blue, green, amber, red, violet, cyan and slate grey. Pick the colour first, then click **Box**, **Circle / Venn** or **Text**. Nodes you already added keep their colour.

### Rename a node

1. Double-click a box, circle or text label.
2. Type the new label.
3. Press `Enter` or click somewhere else to keep it. Press `Esc` to cancel.

## Connect nodes

Each node has small grey dots on its edges.

1. Make sure the diagram is active.
2. Drag from a dot on one node to a dot on another.
3. Let go. A connector joins the two, with an arrowhead where it arrives.

Connectors leave from the right or bottom dot of a node and arrive at the top or left dot of another, so place your nodes so the flow reads left to right or top to bottom. When you drag a node, its connectors follow.

## Select, delete, pan and zoom

- **Select.** Click a node or a connector.
- **Delete.** Select it, then press `Backspace` or `Delete`. On a Mac, that is the `⌫` key.
- **Pan.** Drag an empty part of the diagram.
- **Zoom.** Scroll over the diagram, or use the zoom buttons at the bottom left: zoom in, zoom out and fit view, which fits everything into the widget.

The hint at the right of the toolbar is a reminder: double-click to rename, drag the dots to connect, `⌫` deletes.

Your diagram is saved as you work.



## Add pictures and icons

1. Click **Image** on the toolbar.
2. Choose one or more pictures from your computer.
3. Each picture becomes its own node. Drag it into place and connect it like any other node.

Each picture can be up to 1.5 MB. If you choose a larger one, it is skipped and a message names it, and the rest are still added. To use a larger picture, make a smaller copy of it first.

Picture nodes have no label. To caption one, add a **Text** node beside it.

## Draw a Venn diagram

1. Choose a colour and click **Circle / Venn**. Repeat with a different colour for each set.
2. Make the diagram active and drag the circles so they overlap. The see-through fills show the shared areas.
3. Double-click each circle to name it.
4. Add **Text** nodes and drag them into the overlaps to label what the sets share.

## Build a diagram with AI

AI can suggest the nodes for your diagram from what your desk is about. You choose which ones to keep.

1. Right-click the diagram's title bar and choose **Build with AI**. The **Set up with AI** panel opens and starts drafting.
2. If you want, type what to focus on in the box at the top, such as *the steps in our hiring process*, and press `Enter` or click **Redraft**.
3. Under **Proposed nodes, tick the ones to add**, untick any you do not want. Everything starts ticked.
4. Click **Add** (it shows how many, such as **Add 5**). Or click **Cancel** to add nothing.

The ticked suggestions are added as labelled nodes, laid out in a grid. Your existing nodes and connectors stay as they are. Arrange the new nodes and draw the connectors between them yourself.

You can also open the same panel with the AI button on the diagram's title bar, the sparkle icon at the start of the buttons on the right. Its tooltip reads **Build with AI** or **Rebuild with AI**. Either way, it only adds the nodes you tick and never removes what is there. See [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai).



## Diagram, Flowchart or Mind map?

| Widget | Best for |
| --- | --- |
| **Diagram** | A quick boxes-and-arrows sketch on the desk, Venn diagrams, and diagrams with your own pictures or icons. |
| **Flowchart** | A full flowchart document, with templates and export, that also appears in Office. See [Flowchart widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help). |
| **Mind map** | Growing an idea into branches, with AI suggesting new ones and branches you can turn into tasks. See [Mind map widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-mind-map). |

## Share a diagram

When you publish a live view of a desk, people see your diagram's nodes, labels and connectors, read-only. See [Publish a live view of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/share-live-web-view).

## Common questions

**I cannot drag nodes or draw connectors.** The diagram is not active. Click it once, check for the blue dot beside its name, then try again.

**Scrolling moves the whole desk.** The same reason: click the diagram once so scrolling zooms the diagram instead.

**The connector will not attach.** Drag from one of the small dots on a node's edge and let go on a dot on another node, not on the middle of the node.

**Can I change a node's colour after adding it?** The colour is set when you add a node. To change one, pick the new colour, add a new node, give it the same label, and delete the old one.

**My picture was not added.** It is larger than 1.5 MB. Make a smaller copy and add that instead.

## Related tasks

- [Draw & diagram widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-draw-and-diagram)
- [Flowchart widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help)
- [Mind map widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-mind-map)
- [Shape widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-shape)
- [Scratchpad widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-scratchpad)

More about this widget