# Section widget

> Keep related widgets together in a coloured, labelled frame that grows to fit them and can lay them out as a grid, a stack, icons or a list.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-section
Section: Widgets > Desk layout
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-15

A Section is a coloured frame with a name tag that holds other widgets. Drop widgets into it and they travel with it: drag the section and everything inside moves together. The frame grows and shrinks to fit what it holds, and it can arrange its widgets for you as a grid, a stack, a set of icons or a list.

Use sections to bring order to a busy desk: one for research, one for drafts, one for the numbers. Sections sit behind everything else on the desk, so they never cover a widget.

## Before you start

- The Section widget is on every plan.
- You need a desk open.

## Add a Section

1. Open the desk you want it on.
2. Click **Add widget** in the centre of the header.
3. In the **Desk layout** column, click **Section**.

Other ways to add one:

- **Press `R`** on an open desk, when you are not typing. See [Add widgets with a single key](https://plexiidesk.com/help/quick-add-keys).
- **Right-click an empty part of the desk** and choose **Add object** > **Layout** > **Section**. It appears where you clicked.
- **Press `⌘` `K`** on a Mac or `Ctrl` `K` on Windows and choose **Add Section**.

A new section is an empty dashed frame with a grey name tag reading **Section**.

### Wrap widgets you already have

1. Select the widgets. Hold `Shift` and click each one, or hold `Shift` and drag a box around them on an empty part of the desk.
2. On the bar that appears above them, click **Group**.

A new section called **Group** is drawn around them, and they keep their places inside it. Pinned widgets and widgets already in a section are left out. See [Select, move and arrange widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-select-arrange).

To sort a whole desk into sections in one go, by widget type or with Smart Stack's suggestions, see [Tidy, auto-arrange and Smart Stack](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-tidy).

## Put widgets in and take them out

- **To put a widget in,** drag it by its title bar over the section. When the section lights up, let go. An empty section also says **Drop to add to section**.
- **To take a widget out,** drag it outside the frame and let go. It lands on the desk where you dropped it.
- **Or use the menu.** Right-click the widget's title bar and choose **Organise** > **Move out of section**. The widget is placed just below the section.

In the **Icons** and **List** layouts, each widget also has a **Remove from section** button, which appears when you point at it.

A widget belongs to one section at a time.

## The name tag

Everything you need is on the coloured tag at the top-left corner of the frame, from left to right:

| Part | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **The name** | Double-click it to rename the section. Press `Enter` to keep the new name, or `Esc` to cancel. |
| **The number** | How many widgets are in the section. |
| **Five layout buttons** | How the section arranges its widgets. See the next section. |
| **Six colour dots** | The section's colour: grey, blue, green, amber, pink or violet. The frame and tag change to match. |
| **The link button** | Connect the section to another widget with a wire. Click it, then click the other widget. See [Link widgets and set up wires](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-link-widgets). |
| **The pin** | **Pin to screen** keeps the section in the same place on your screen while you move around the desk. Click again to unpin. |
| **×** | Remove the section. See [Remove or archive a section](#remove-or-archive-a-section). |

To move the section, drag its name tag. Click anywhere in the frame to bring the section to the middle of your screen.

## Choose a layout

Click one of the five layout buttons on the tag. Rest the pointer on a button to see its name.

| Layout | How it arranges the widgets |
| --- | --- |
| **Free** | Each widget stays where you put it inside the frame. This is where a new section starts. |
| **Grid** | Even tiles in rows, up to four across. Each tile is as wide as the widest widget and as tall as the tallest. |
| **Stacks** | Widgets overlap like a fanned deck of cards, each a little lower and to the right of the one before. |
| **Icons** | Each widget becomes a small tile with its icon and name. Click a tile to open the widget. |
| **List** | Each widget becomes one row with its icon and name. Click a row to open the widget. |

The frame resizes itself to fit the layout. You cannot drag its edges.

**Icons** and **List** are handy when a section holds many widgets that you open now and then, such as reference notes.

## Right-click the name tag

Right-click the coloured tag for more:

- **Share section…** shares the section. See [Sharing and invites](https://plexiidesk.com/help/sharing-and-invites).
- **Make this a task…** turns the section into a new desk. See [Turn a widget into its own desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-from-widget).
- **Duplicate (empty)** adds a copy of the frame, named with **(copy)**, with the same colour and no widgets in it.
- **Section layout** offers the same five layouts. The current one has a tick.
- **Archive (keep children on desk)** archives the section and puts its widgets back on the desk.

## Remove or archive a section

1. Click **×** on the name tag.
2. PlexiDesk asks **Remove section "…"?** If the section holds widgets, it says how many will remain on the canvas.
3. Click **Remove section**.

The frame goes and its widgets stay on the desk, where they were. To keep the section so you can bring it back later, right-click the tag and choose **Archive (keep children on desk)** instead.

## Jump to a section

Each section on a desk gets its own button on the tool rail at the right edge of the desk, named after the section. Click it to bring that section to the middle of the screen. Pinned sections do not get a button, because they are always in view. See [The tool rail on the right of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-tool-rail).

## Tips

- **Name sections for what they are for**, such as *To read* or *This week*, so the tool rail becomes a table of contents for the desk.
- **Use colour as a signal.** For example, amber for anything waiting on someone else.
- **Use Stacks for drafts,** so the newest sits on top and the rest stay within reach.

## Common questions

**My widget did not go into the section.** Drag it by its title bar and let go while the section is lit up. Pinned widgets, other sections and widgets you are moving as part of a group selection do not drop into a section.

**I cannot resize the section.** A section sizes itself to fit its widgets. To change its size, add or remove widgets, or switch layout.

**I removed a section by mistake.** Its widgets are still on the desk, where they were. Add a new section and drag them back in, or select them and click **Group**.

**Can a section hold another section?** No. Sections hold widgets.

## Related tasks

- [Desk layout widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-desk-layout)
- [Tidy, auto-arrange and Smart Stack](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-tidy)
- [Select, move and arrange widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/canvas-select-arrange)
- [The tool rail on the right of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-tool-rail)
- [Turn a widget into its own desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/desk-from-widget)