# Page widget

> A structured document on your desk with headings, lists, to-dos and tables, where AI draft writes sections you review before they go in.

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

A Page is a structured document that lives on your desk. Give it headings, bulleted and numbered lists, to-do lists you tick off, quotes, code blocks and tables. **AI draft** writes a section from your request and shows it to you before anything goes in, and **Make living** turns the page into a summary of the desk that keeps itself up to date.

Use a Page for a project brief, a plan with sections, meeting notes with action items, or research findings. For a single note you will copy out or export as a file, use a [Markdown](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown) widget instead.

More about this widget

## Before you start

- The Page widget is included on every plan.
- AI draft, Set up with AI, Make living and AI Assist 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).

## Add a page

1. Open the desk.
2. Click **Add widget** in the middle of the header.
3. Click **Page**.

The page appears beside the widget you touched last.

Other ways to add one:

- **Quick-add key.** Click an empty part of the desk so that no widget is selected, then press `P`. See [Add widgets with a single key](https://plexiidesk.com/help/quick-add-keys).
- **Tool rail.** Rest the pointer on the tool rail at the right of the desk, click **Add widget**, and click **Page** under **Notes**. You can drag the tile to the exact spot you want.
- **Command palette.** Press `⌘` `K` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows and choose **Add Page**.
- **From another widget.** Right-click another widget's title bar, or text you have selected in it, and choose **Create & link** > **Page**. The new page appears to the right of it, linked to it. It starts with a copy of the text you selected, or of all the text when you right-click a Sticky, Note or Markdown widget.

In the **Add widget** menu, Page is in the **Write & capture** column, after Markdown. You can also type `page` in **Search widgets…** at the top of the menu and press `Enter` to add the first match.

**Import file…** turns a file on your computer into a page. Rest the pointer on the tool rail, click **Add widget**, then **Import file…** and choose a file. A `.md` file arrives with its headings, lists, task lists, quotes and code blocks; a `.txt` file arrives as paragraphs; and a `.json` file that is not a list of records arrives as a page showing the data. See [Turn a file into a widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-import-file).

## Write and format

Click in the page and start typing. An empty page shows **Start writing… press / for blocks, or click AI draft above**. Your writing saves as you type.

### The / menu

1. Type **/** where you want a block. A menu opens at your cursor.
2. Click **Heading 1**, **Heading 2**, **Bullet list**, **Numbered list**, **Todo list**, **Code block**, **Quote** or **Divider**. **AI prompt** opens AI draft (see below).

The / you typed is removed and the block is added. To close the menu without choosing, press `Esc`.



### Shortcuts as you type

At the start of a line, type one of these followed by a space:

| Type | You get |
| --- | --- |
| `#` | Heading 1 (`##` for Heading 2) |
| `-` | A bulleted list |
| `1.` | A numbered list |
| `[ ]` | A to-do item with a box to tick |
| `>` | A quote |

Type three backticks and a space for a code block. For bold and italic, select the words and press `⌘` `B` or `⌘` `I` on a Mac, or `Ctrl` `B` or `Ctrl` `I` on Windows.

### To-do lists

Add a **Todo list** from the / menu, or type `[ ]` and a space. Click a box to tick an item off.

### Paste markdown and tables

Paste markdown from anywhere and it arrives formatted. A markdown table, with a header row, a row of dashes and then one row per line, becomes a real table you can type in.

## Draft with AI

AI draft writes content from your request and shows it to you first. Nothing goes into the page until you click **Insert**.

1. Click in the page where you want the new content to go.
2. Click **AI draft** at the top of the page, or type **/** and choose **AI prompt**. The **AI assistant** panel opens at the bottom of the page.
3. Type what you want, for example `Write a meeting agenda for Thursday's launch review, with timings`. Include the topic, the sections you want and any details, because AI draft writes from what you type here. You can type **@** to name a desk, widget, document or person in your request.
4. Click **Draft**, or press `⌘` `Enter` on a Mac or `Ctrl` `Enter` on Windows.
5. Read the draft under **Preview — review before inserting**.
6. Choose what to do with it:
   - **Insert** adds it to the page at your cursor, with its headings, lists and to-dos in place.
   - **Regenerate** writes a new version. You can change your request first.
   - **Discard** throws the draft away and keeps the panel open for a new request.

To close the panel, click **×** at its top right.



## Set up an empty page with AI

On an empty page, AI can propose a whole outline from what the desk is about. It looks at the desk's name and notes, the page's title and the other widgets on the desk.

1. Click **Set up with AI** at the bottom of the empty page.
2. The **Set up with AI** window shows a **Page outline**: the headings it proposes, usually with a one-line description above them.
3. To steer it, type what to focus on in the box at the top, then press `Enter` or click **Redraft**.
4. Click **Set up**. The page fills with the headings and a short paragraph or list under each one.

To close the window without changing anything, click **Cancel**.

The sparkle button at the start of the page's title bar opens the same window. On an empty page it reads **Write with AI**, and its tooltip says **Draft the page: headings, then sections under them**. Once the page has writing, the button reads **Rewrite with AI** and proposes a new page; clicking **Set up** then replaces what is on the page. To keep your writing and add to it, use **AI draft** instead. See [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai).

## Make it a living page

**Make living**, at the top of the page beside **AI draft**, turns the page into a summary of everything on the desk. AI writes it from the other widgets and keeps it up to date as they change. While a page is living, its text is written for you; to edit it again, convert it back to a manual page. See [Keep a living summary of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-living-summaries).

## Rewrite text with AI Assist

1. Select some text on the page and right-click it.
2. Choose **AI Assist**, then an action such as **Expand**, **Summarise**, **Change Tone** or **Translate**.
3. Read the result. Click **Apply**, **Copy**, **Regenerate** or **Discard**.

**Apply** puts the result in place of your selection where it can. When it cannot place it exactly, for example when your selection runs across headings or lists, it adds the result as a new sticky beside the page, linked to it, and leaves the page as it was. See [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist).

## Copy, move and share

On a page, select the text you want before you copy or move it. To select the whole page, click in it and press `⌘` `A` (`Ctrl` `A` on Windows).

- **Copy the text.** Press `⌘` `C` (`Ctrl` `C` on Windows), or right-click the selection and choose **Share** > **Copy text**.
- **Copy it into another widget.** Right-click the selection, choose **Create & link**, and under **Copy into** pick **Sticky**, **Note** or **Markdown**. A new widget appears to the right with a copy of the text, linked to the page.
- **Share the page.** Right-click the title bar and choose **Share** > **Share...**. See [Share a widget, document or file](https://plexiidesk.com/help).
- **Live view.** When you publish a live view of the desk, people with the link see the page as a document. See [Publish a live view of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/share-live-web-view).

A page has no file export. To save its text as a file, copy it into a Markdown widget and use **Export as HTML** or **Export as PDF** there. See [Markdown widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown).

## Good uses

- A project brief with Goals, Scope, Risks and Next steps sections.
- Meeting notes with a to-do list of actions you tick off on the desk.
- A plan drafted with AI draft, then edited in your own words.
- A transcript or summary sent from a [Voice note](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-voice-note), tidied into sections.

## Common questions

### I typed / and a menu appeared

That is the / menu for adding blocks. Press `Esc` to close it and carry on typing.

### Where does AI draft put the text?

At your cursor in the page. Click where you want it before you click **Insert**.

### Can I edit a living page?

Convert it back to a manual page first. Its current text stays and becomes editable. See [Keep a living summary of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-living-summaries).

### Page or Document widget?

A Page is a document that lives on the desk. For a full document with page layout, comments and Word import and export, add a [Document widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-document), which holds a PlexiiDocs document.

## Related tasks

- [Write and capture widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-write-and-capture)
- [Keep a living summary of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-living-summaries)
- [Markdown widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown)
- [Voice note widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-voice-note)
- [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist)
- [Add a widget to a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/add-a-widget)