# Document widget > Write a PlexiiDocs document right on a desk. Create one, import a Word file or place one you have, and edit it with the full editor. Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-document Section: Widgets > Files and documents Plans: All plans Updated: 2026-10-10 The Document widget puts a PlexiiDocs document on a desk, with the document editor inside it. You can write, format, lay out pages, draft with AI and export to Word or PDF without leaving the desk where the rest of the work is. It is the same document you see in Office, not a copy. Edit it on the desk or in Office and you are changing one file. Use it for writing that belongs with a piece of work: the brief beside the research, the report beside the numbers, meeting notes beside the plan. More about this widget ## Before you start - The Document widget is on every plan. - You need a desk open. - **Draft with AI** and **Rewrite selection** need 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). - To bring in a Word file, have it saved as a .docx file on your computer. ## Add a Document 1. Open the desk. 2. Click **Add widget** in the centre of the header. 3. Click **Document**. The **Add document** window opens. 4. Choose one of the three options below. The **Add widget** menu groups widgets into columns by what they are for. **Document** is in the **Files & documents** column. You can also type document in the search box at the top of the menu and press `Enter` to add it. ### Create new Click **Create new** ("Start blank with our editor"). A blank document called "Untitled document" is placed on the desk, ready to type in. ### Import a file 1. Click **Import a file** ("Import a Word .docx, formatting kept"). 2. Choose a .docx file on your computer. A new document is made from the Word file, named after it, and placed on the desk. The Word file on your computer is not changed. ### Place an existing one Under **Place an existing one**, the window lists the documents you already have. 1. If the list is long, type part of the document's name in **Search documents…**. 2. Click the document. It is placed on the desk. If you have no documents yet, the list says **No documents yet.** To close the window without adding anything, click the close button or click outside it. ### Other ways to add one - Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose **Add object** > **Files** > **Document**. The same window opens, and the document is placed where you clicked. - Press `⌘` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows and choose **Add Document**. This skips the window and places a new blank document called "Document". - From Office, put a document you already have onto a desk. See [Put a document, spreadsheet or deck on a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## The same document in Office The widget shows a document kept in Office. Your changes save automatically as you type, and they are there when you open the document in Office, and the other way round. - You can place the same document on more than one desk. Each widget shows the same file. - Removing the widget from a desk takes it off that desk only. The document stays in Office. To open the document in PlexiiDocs: 1. Open **Office**. If you have not used it yet, see [PlexiiOffice: your office suite](https://plexiidesk.com/help). 2. Click **Recent** in the Office menu. 3. Click the document. It opens in PlexiiDocs. If it is not among your latest files, see [Find, star and pin your Office files](https://plexiidesk.com/help). Do these in PlexiiDocs rather than in the widget, because they concern the file itself: - Give the document a new title with **File** > **Rename**. - Make a separate copy with **File** > **Make a copy**. - Go back to an earlier version with **File** > **Version history**. See [Version history](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - Add and answer comments. See [Comment on a document](https://plexiidesk.com/help). See [PlexiDocs overview](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## The editor at a glance From top to bottom, the widget shows: - **The menu bar:** **File**, **Edit**, **View**, **Insert**, **Format**, **Tools** and **Help**. - **The formatting toolbar:** undo and redo, the styles menu (it shows the style of the text you are in), font size, bold, italic, underline and the other text styles, text colour and highlight, alignment, line spacing, lists, link, image, table, divider, clear formatting, and find and replace. At the right end are the word count, the **Open or export Office files** button (a folder) and **Ask AI**. - **The view bar:** the word count and reading time, **Continuous** or **Page**, and in page view the page settings. On the right are **Outline**, **Comments**, **Assistant**, **Focus** and **Suggesting**. - **The page** you write on. For formatting and styles, see [Format text and use styles](https://plexiidesk.com/help). Type / to insert things, and @ to link to other things in your workspace; see [Insert with / and link with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Lay out the page The **Continuous** and **Page** buttons in the view bar switch between one flowing column and real pages with margins. PlexiDesk remembers which you prefer. In page view the page is white, like paper, in every theme. In page view, the view bar adds: - **Portrait** or **Landscape**: click to switch the orientation. - **A4** or **Letter**: click to switch the paper size. - **Margins**: choose **Normal (1")**, **Narrow (0.5")**, **Moderate (1" / 0.75")** or **Wide (1" / 2")**, or type your own top, right, bottom and left margins in inches under **Custom (inches)**. - **Ruler**: shows a ruler above the page. Drag its markers to set the margins. - **Header/Footer**: type a header and a footer to repeat on every page, and tick **Show page number** for either. Paper size, orientation, margins, header and footer are saved with the document, so they carry over to Office and to your exports. See [Page view, margins, headers and footers](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Write with AI ### Draft new text 1. Click where you want the text to go. 2. Click **Ask AI** at the right end of the toolbar. The **Draft with AI** panel opens. 3. Describe what to write, for example "a risks section with a table". 4. Click **Draft**, or press `⌘` `Enter` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `Enter` on Windows. 5. Read the **Preview**. Click **Insert** to add it to the document, or **Regenerate** for another version. ### Rewrite a passage 1. Select the text you want to change. A small formatting bar appears above it. 2. Click its AI button (**Rewrite with AI**). The **Rewrite selection** panel opens. 3. Click a quick choice: **Improve writing**, **Make it more concise**, **Fix spelling and grammar**, **Make the tone more formal**, **Turn this into a bulleted list** or **Turn this into a table**. Or describe the change in your own words and click **Rewrite**. 4. Read the **Preview**, then click **Replace selection**, or **Regenerate** for another version. Nothing changes in your document until you click **Insert** or **Replace selection**. See [Draft and rewrite with AI in PlexiDocs](https://plexiidesk.com/help). The **Assistant** button in the view bar opens the Plexii panel, for questions and help beyond this document. See [Meet Plexii, your assistant](https://plexiidesk.com/help/ai-assistant). ## Review and tidy - **Suggesting**: click **Suggesting** in the view bar and your edits are recorded as tracked changes instead of being made outright. **Accept all** and **Reject all** appear beside it. See [Suggest edits with track changes](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Find and replace**: press `⌘` `F` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `F` on Windows while you are typing in the document, or use the toolbar's find and replace button. See [Find and replace in a document](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Outline**: click **Outline** to see the document's headings in a side panel. The panel starts closed; the **Panel** tab at the top right brings it back. - **Focus**: click **Focus** to dim everything except the paragraph you are writing. Press `Esc`, or click **Exit** in the bar at the top, to leave. See [Focus mode, outline and word count](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Comments**: comments are added and read when you open the document in PlexiiDocs, as described under The same document in Office above. See [Comment on a document](https://plexiidesk.com/help). - **Tools** menu: **Word count**, and **Check accessibility** to look for things that make a document harder to read with assistive technology. See [Check a file for accessibility](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Insert pictures, tables and more The **Insert** menu adds an **Image** (a PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP or SVG file from your computer), a **Table**, a **Table of contents**, a **Footnote**, a **Link** or a **Horizontal line**. **Widget from a desk** lists your desks and their widgets, and places the one you pick inside the document. See [Embed desk widgets and other files in a document](https://plexiidesk.com/help). See also [Tables, images and links](https://plexiidesk.com/help) and [Table of contents and footnotes](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Import and export Click **Open or export Office files** (the folder button near the right end of the toolbar) for: - **Import Word (.docx)**: adds the contents of a Word file at the cursor, and takes its page size, orientation, margins, header and footer. - **Export Word (.docx)**: saves a copy as a Word file, named after the document. Choose where to save it. - **Export PDF**: saves a copy as a PDF, laid out with the document's page settings. The **File** menu's **Download** offers **Microsoft Word (.docx)**, **PDF document (.pdf)** and **Web page (.html)**, and **Print (PDF)** saves a PDF ready to print. After a Word or PDF export, a line above the page shows where the file was saved. > **Tip:** > Word and PlexiiDocs style documents in slightly different ways. After importing a Word file, look over the headings and spacing before you share it. See [Word, PDF and web export in PlexiDocs](https://plexiidesk.com/help) and [Export to PDF and print](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Commands from the keyboard While a Document widget is on the desk in front of you, press `⌘` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows. The command palette shows a **Document** label beside the search box, and its list starts with the editor's own commands, such as **Insert table**, **Find and replace**, **Toggle page view**, **Draft with AI**, **Export Word (.docx)** and **Export PDF**. Type a few letters to find one. For the editor's shortcuts, choose **Help** > **Keyboard shortcuts** in the menu bar. See [Search and commands (Cmd+K)](https://plexiidesk.com/help/command-palette). ## Make room to work A new Document widget opens wide enough to show a full page. To give it more room: - Drag an edge or corner of the widget to resize it. - Use **Expand** in the title bar and choose **Larger on desk**, or **Focus mode** to give the document a whole pane. See [Open widgets full screen and side by side](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-focus-mode). ## The title bar The title bar's buttons appear when you rest the pointer on the widget. - **The name** is the document's title. To use a different name on this desk, double-click it or click **Rename** (the pencil), type the name and press `Enter`. This renames the widget on the desk only; the document keeps its title in Office. To rename the document itself, open it in PlexiiDocs and use **File** > **Rename**. - **Pin** keeps the widget in a corner of the screen while you move around the desk. - **Expand** offers **Larger on desk** and **Focus mode**. - **×** removes the widget from the desk. PlexiDesk asks **Remove from the desk?** first. The document stays in Office. If you remove one by mistake, undo it straight away. See [Undo and redo](https://plexiidesk.com/help/undo-redo). See [The controls on every widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-title-bar) for the rest. The title bar starts with an **AI** button (the sparkle). The document's writing AI is in the editor, as described above. The title-bar button opens the Plexii panel with this document attached, so you can ask Plexii about it; Plexii reads the document's text. See [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai). ## Sharing If you publish a live view of the desk, the document is shown on it for people to read but not change. See [Publish a live view of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/share-live-web-view). To share the document itself with someone, see [Share a widget, document or file](https://plexiidesk.com/help). ## Good uses - **Brief and research together.** Write the brief in a Document widget beside the browser pages and notes it draws on. - **Report next to its numbers.** Keep the write-up beside the table or chart it explains, and embed the chart in the document with **Widget from a desk**. - **Work on a Word file in place.** Import the .docx someone sent you, edit it on the desk, then export it back to Word. - **Meeting notes on the project desk.** Keep one running document per project where everyone working on the desk can find it. ## Common questions **Is the document on the desk a copy?** No. It is the same document as in Office. Changes in either place are changes to one file. **I dropped a Word file onto the desk and got a File or link widget.** Files dropped onto a desk become File or link widgets, which open the file in your computer's default app. To edit a Word file in PlexiiDocs, add a Document widget and choose **Import a file**. **Where do I add comments?** Open the document in PlexiiDocs from Office; comments are added and read there. See [Comment on a document](https://plexiidesk.com/help). **Why is the page white when I use a dark theme?** Page view shows the document as it will print, on white paper. Switch to **Continuous** to write in your theme's colours. **What happens to the document if I remove the widget?** The widget points at the document in Office, so the document stays there. ## Related tasks - [Files and documents widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-files-and-documents) - [PlexiDocs overview](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Put a document, spreadsheet or deck on a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Slides widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-slides) - [Draft and rewrite with AI in PlexiDocs](https://plexiidesk.com/help) - [Word, PDF and web export in PlexiDocs](https://plexiidesk.com/help)