Table widget

A Table keeps records on your desk: one row for each thing you are tracking, such as an order, a lead, a booking or a task, and one column for each fact about it. Every column has a type, such as Short text, Number, Checkbox, Date or Single select, so the values stay tidy and can be counted, filtered and charted.

You can see the same rows as a grid, a list, cards, a Kanban board, a calendar or a Gantt chart, filter and group them, fill them with AI, and import them from a file. Charts, Metrics and Stat cards read their numbers from tables, so a table is where a dashboard starts.

More about this widget Coming soon

Before you start

• The Table widget is on every plan.
• You need a desk open to add one.
• The table's assistant, which proposes columns and rows, uses AI: PlexiDesk credits while you are signed in, or your own Anthropic key. See AI credits and where your AI runs Coming soon. Everything else works without AI.

Add a table

1. Open the desk you want it on.
2. Click Add widget in the centre of the header.
3. Click Table.

The Add widget menu groups widgets into columns by what they are for. Table is in the Numbers & data column. You can also type table in the search box at the top of the menu and press Enter.

Faster ways to add one

• Press T. On an open desk, click an empty part of the desk so that nothing is selected and you are not typing, then press T. The Add widget menu shows this key in grey beside Table. See Add widgets with a single key.
• Use the command palette. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type table and choose Add Table.
• Use the tool rail. In the tool rail's Add widget picker, Table is under Tools.

A new table opens at 680 × 440, named Untitled table. It has two columns, Name (Short text) and Done (Checkbox), and no rows yet. Until you add some, it says No rows yet and points you to Add row and the AI button.

Name your table

Rename the widget and the table takes the same name: double-click the name on the title bar, or click the pencil, type the new name and press Enter.

The parts of a table

From top to bottom:

• The view switcher. Table, List, Cards, Kanban, Calendar and Gantt. Click one to see the same rows a different way; switching never changes the data. See Six views of every table.
• The Filter and Group bar. Filter shows only the rows you want, in every view. Group gathers rows under headings by a column's values in the Table view. At the right end, the bar shows how many rows there are, or how many match out of the total, such as 12 of 40 rows, while a filter is on. See Filter and group table rows.
• The column headers. Each header shows the column's type icon and name. Click a header to rename the column, change its type, edit a select column's options or delete the column. Drag the grip at its left to move the column, and drag its right edge to resize it. Right-click a header to insert a column to the left or right. The + at the end of the header row adds a column. See Table columns and field types.
• The rows. Click a cell to type in it. At the start of each row is a bin button to delete the row, and, when no filter or grouping is on, a grip you can drag to move the row.
• Add row at the bottom adds an empty row.

The table has two AI buttons where you are working: a sparkle beside the + at the end of the header row (its tooltip says Ask AI for columns), and an AI button beside Add row (its tooltip says Generate rows with AI). Both open the table's assistant for columns and rows.

Column types

When you add a column, you pick its type. You can change it later.

See Table columns and field types for how to set each one up.

Add and change rows

1. Click Add row at the bottom of the table. An empty row appears at the end.
2. Click a cell and type, tick, or pick a value, depending on the column's type.
3. Move to the next cell with Tab, or click it.

To delete a row, click the bin at its start. A message at the bottom of the window offers Undo for a few seconds; after that, press ⌘ Z on a Mac or Ctrl Z on Windows. See Undo and redo.

In the Table view you can also move around with the arrow keys, select a block of cells, and copy and paste between the table and a spreadsheet. See Move around a table and copy cells.

Fill a table with AI

The table's assistant proposes columns, then rows, from a description, and nothing is added until you approve it.

1. Open the assistant: right-click the table's title bar and choose Generate columns and rows with AI….
2. Describe what you need, for example "10 venues for a team offsite in Melbourne, with capacity and price per head". You can mention desks and widgets with @.
3. Choose how many rows: a number from 1 to 20, or tick As many as needed.
4. Click Draft, or press ⌘ Enter on a Mac or Ctrl Enter on Windows.
5. If the assistant proposes new columns, approve them with Add and the number of columns, or click Skip.
6. Review the rows it drafted, then click Add and the number of rows, Regenerate for another draft, or Discard.

The AI button (the sparkle) at the start of the table's title bar opens the same assistant.

See Build a table with AI for every option.

Import from a file

To bring rows in from a CSV, JSON or Excel file:

1. Right-click the table's title bar and choose Import CSV, JSON or Excel….
2. Choose a .csv, .json, .xls or .xlsx file.
3. In Import into table, choose where each column in the file goes: an existing column, Create new column, or Skip this column.
4. Choose whether to Match rows on a column, so matching rows are updated, or Append all as new rows.
5. Click Import and the number of rows.

See Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table.

Right-click menus

On the title bar, a table adds these to the menu every widget has:

• Import CSV, JSON or Excel…
• Generate columns and rows with AI… While the assistant is open, this reads Hide the AI assistant.
• Add row

On a cell, you get Add row, and under More actions, Duplicate row and Delete row for the row you clicked. AI Assist and Create & link start from the text in that cell: for example, you can make a new sticky note from it, linked to the table.

See Right-click menus, AI Assist: rewrite, summarise and translate text and Link widgets and set up wires.

Use a table's numbers elsewhere

A table's rows can feed other widgets on any desk in your workspace:

• A Chart draws them as bars, lines, areas, a pie or a KPI.
• A Metrics widget shows a few headline numbers from them.
• A Stat card shows one number, its change and its trend line.

These update when the table's rows change. See Connect a number to a table and Build a dashboard on a desk from a table.

Take data out

To use a table's data somewhere else, copy it:

1. In the Table view, click the first cell you want.
2. Hold Shift and click the last cell, or drag across the cells.
3. Press ⌘ C on a Mac or Ctrl C on Windows.

The cells are copied as tab-separated text, which pastes neatly into a spreadsheet, including a Spreadsheet widget. See Move around a table and copy cells.

Sharing

• Share the table. Right-click the title bar and choose Share... to make a link to the table. The link carries the table's columns and its first 200 rows. See Share a widget, document or file Coming soon.
• Live view. When you publish a live view of a desk, a table shows as a table of up to 500 rows. See Publish a live view of a desk.

Table or Spreadsheet?

Use a Table when each row is one thing with the same set of facts, and you want views, filters, grouping, AI-filled rows, or charts and numbers that read it. Use a Spreadsheet when you need cells and formulas, such as a budget or a forecast. See Spreadsheet widget and Numbers and data widgets.

Good uses

• A sales tracker. Deal name, value (Number), stage (Single select), close date (Date) and won (Checkbox). Use the Kanban view by stage, and a Chart and a Stat card beside it.
• Event planning. Venues, suppliers or guests, with a Date column for the Calendar view.
• A content calendar. Title, owner, status and publish date, seen as a calendar.
• A project plan. Tasks with start and end dates, seen in the Gantt view.
• Research. Ask the assistant for a starting list of options with the facts you need, then check and edit them.

Common questions

How do I rename a table? Rename the widget: double-click its name on the title bar. The table takes the new name.

I pressed T and nothing happened. The key works only on an open desk when you are not typing and no widget is selected. Click an empty part of the desk and press T again. If you changed the key or turned it off, check Keyboard shortcuts (⌘ / on a Mac, Ctrl / on Windows). See Add widgets with a single key.

I cannot drag a row to move it. Rows can be moved by dragging only in the Table view with no filter and no grouping on. Turn off the filter and grouping first.

A view says it needs a column. Kanban needs a Single select column, whose options become its lanes. Calendar needs a Date column. Gantt needs two Date columns, such as Start and End. Add the column, then switch views again. See Six views of every table.

Why do I see "No rows match the current filter"? A filter is hiding every row. Click Filter and change or remove the filter. See Filter and group table rows.

Can a chart read a spreadsheet instead? No. Charts, Metrics and Stat cards read tables. Import the data into a table first.

Related tasks

• Six views of every table
• Table columns and field types
• Filter and group table rows
• Build a table with AI
• Import CSV, JSON or Excel into a table
• Move around a table and copy cells
• Connect a number to a table
• Chart widget