# Sticky widget

> A small coloured note for a quick thought or a checklist you tick off, with bold text, bullets, @ links and AI that drafts to-dos for the desk.

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

A Sticky is a small coloured note on your desk. Use it for a quick thought, a reminder, a short list, or a checklist you tick off as you go. It grows taller as you write, so a longer list stays readable without resizing.

More about this widget

## Before you start

- The Sticky widget is included on every plan.
- Letting AI draft to-dos, 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 sticky

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

A yellow sticky appears beside the widget you touched last, ready for you to type.

Other ways to add one:

- **Quick-add key.** Click an empty part of the desk so that no widget is selected, then press `S`. 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 **Sticky** 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 Sticky**.
- **From another widget.** Right-click another widget's title bar, or text you have selected in it, and choose **Create & link** > **Sticky**. The new sticky 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, Sticky is the first widget in the **Write & capture** column. You can also type `sticky` in **Search widgets…** at the top of the menu and press `Enter`.

## Write on a sticky

1. Click the sticky and type. A new, empty sticky is ready to type in straight away.
2. Click anywhere outside the sticky when you are done. It shows your text formatted.
3. To change the text, click it again.

Your text saves as you type.

### Formatting you can type

| Type this | You see |
| --- | --- |
| Two asterisks either side of words, like `**Friday**` | The words in bold |
| A dash or an asterisk and a space at the start of a line | A bullet |
| `[ ]` and a space at the start of a line | An empty box you can tick |
| `[x]` and a space at the start of a line | A ticked box, with the line struck through |

You can also paste a table written in markdown: a header row with the columns between bars, a row of dashes under it, then one row per line. When you click away, it shows as a table.

## Make a checklist

1. Type each item on its own line.
2. Click the **Make a checklist** button, the checklist icon at the end of the sticky's toolbar. Every line gets an empty box, and any bullets become boxes.
3. Click a box to tick it. The line is struck through and fades. Click the box again to untick it.

To take the boxes off, click the same button again. Its name changes to **Remove checkboxes** while the sticky has any boxes, and it removes all of them, ticked or not. You can do the same from the menu: right-click the sticky's title bar and choose **Make a checklist** or **Remove checkboxes**.

> **Tip:**
> Tick boxes when the sticky is showing its formatted text. While you are typing, you see the boxes as `[ ]` and `[x]`, and you can type them yourself.



## Change the colour

Click one of the five dots at the top of the sticky: yellow, pink, blue, green or orange.

You can also right-click the title bar and choose **Organise** > **Recolor**, then a colour. **Clear color** puts the sticky back to yellow.

## Link to a desk, widget or person with @

1. While typing on the sticky, type **@**. A list of desks, rooms, widgets, documents and people appears. Keep typing to narrow it.
2. Pick one with the arrow keys and `Enter` (or `Tab`), or click it. `Esc` closes the list.
3. Click away from the sticky. The mention shows as a link.

Click a link to a desk or room to go there, or a link to a widget to go to the desk it is on. See [Link desks, widgets and people with @](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-mentions).

## Let AI draft to-dos

AI can suggest to-dos for the sticky from what the desk is about. It looks at the desk's name and notes, the sticky's title, what is already on the sticky and the other widgets on the desk.

1. On an empty sticky, click **Set up with AI** at the bottom of the sticky. On a sticky that already has text, right-click its title bar and choose **Build with AI**.
2. The **Set up with AI** window drafts a short list of to-dos.
3. To steer it, type what to focus on in the box at the top, for example `only things to do before Friday`, then press `Enter` or click **Redraft**.
4. Untick any to-dos you don't want. They all start ticked.
5. Click **Add**. The button shows how many to-dos are ticked, for example **Add 4**.

The to-dos are added as checklist lines under anything already on the sticky, ready to tick. To close the window without adding anything, click **Cancel**.



The sparkle button at the start of the sticky's title bar opens the same window. It reads **Write with AI** on an empty sticky and **Rewrite with AI** once the sticky has text, and its tooltip says **Draft the to-dos from what this desk is about**. In both cases the to-dos you tick are added under what is already on the sticky, and nothing changes until you click **Add**. See [Use a widget's AI button](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai).

## Rewrite text with AI Assist

1. Click the sticky so you are typing, then select some text.
2. Right-click the selection and choose **AI Assist**, then an action such as **Summarise**, **Fix Grammar**, **Change Tone** or **Translate**.
3. Read the result. Click **Apply** to put it in place of your selection, **Copy** to copy it, **Regenerate** for another version, or **Discard**.

To work on the whole sticky, right-click its title bar and choose **AI Assist**. Then **Apply** replaces all of the sticky's text. See [AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-ai-assist).

## Copy, move and share the text

- **Copy the text.** Right-click the title bar and choose **Share** > **Copy text**. Or select text while typing and press `⌘` `C` (`Ctrl` `C` on Windows).
- **Copy it into another widget.** Right-click the title bar, choose **Create & link**, and under **Copy into** pick **Note**, **Markdown** or **Page**. A new widget appears to the right with a copy of the text, linked to the sticky. The sticky stays as it is.
- **Share the sticky.** 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 sticky's text. See [Publish a live view of a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/share-live-web-view).

A sticky has no file export. To save its text as a file, copy it into a Markdown widget and export it from there. See [Markdown widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown).

## The sticky's right-click menu

Right-click the sticky's title bar for these, among the menu every widget has:

| Item | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Build with AI** | Opens **Set up with AI** to draft to-dos. |
| **Make a checklist** or **Remove checkboxes** | Adds a box to every line, or removes them all. |
| **AI Assist** | Rewrites, summarises or translates the text. |
| **Create & link** | Makes a new widget linked to this one, or copies the text into a Note, Markdown or Page. |
| **Organise** > **Recolor** | Changes the sticky's colour. |
| **Share** | **Copy text**, or **Share...** the sticky. |

For the rest of the menu, see [Right-click menus](https://plexiidesk.com/help/right-click-menus).

## Good uses

- A "Top 3 today" list you tick through during the day.
- Questions to raise at the next meeting, kept on the desk they are about.
- A reminder linked to the widget it concerns: right-click that widget and choose **Create & link** > **Sticky**.
- Colour by owner or by status, so a busy desk reads at a glance.

## Common questions

### My sticky shows asterisks and brackets instead of formatting

You are still typing on it. Click anywhere outside the sticky and it shows the formatted text.

### I clicked a box and the sticky went back to typing

Click the box itself. Clicking the words beside it opens the sticky for typing.

### How long can a sticky be?

It grows taller as you write. Very long text scrolls inside it. For longer writing, a [Note](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-note) or a [Markdown](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown) widget is more comfortable.

### Can I turn a sticky into a Note?

Right-click the title bar and choose **Create & link** > **Note** under **Copy into**. You get a Note with the same text, linked to the sticky. If you no longer need the sticky, delete it.

## Related tasks

- [Write and capture widgets](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widgets-write-and-capture)
- [Note widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-note)
- [Markdown widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-markdown)
- [Add a widget to a desk](https://plexiidesk.com/help/add-a-widget)
- [The controls on every widget](https://plexiidesk.com/help/widget-title-bar)