Files and documents widgets

The files and documents widgets bring the material for a piece of work onto its desk: the brief as a PDF, the reference pictures, the shared folder, the report you are writing and the deck you will present. There are five of them:

The Spreadsheet widget, which puts a PlexiiSheets spreadsheet on a desk, is with the numbers widgets. See Spreadsheet widget.

Before you start

• Every widget in this group is on every plan.
• You need a desk open. The Add widget button appears in the header only while a desk is open.
• Writing with AI inside a Document or Slides widget needs 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 Coming soon.

Add one to a desk

1. Open the desk.
2. Click Add widget in the centre of the header.
3. Click Gallery, File or link, Drive (folder), Document or Slides.

The Add widget menu groups widgets into columns by what they are for. These five are in the Files & documents column, in this order: Gallery, File or link, Drive (folder), Document and Slides. You can also type in the search box at the top of the menu, for example folder or slides, and press Enter to add the first match.

The new widget appears beside the widget you touched last, or in the middle of your view. None of these five has a quick-add key by default, so the grey key column in the menu is blank beside them.

Other ways to add one

• Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Add object > Files, then the widget. It is placed where you clicked.
• Use the command palette. Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type the widget's name and choose, for example, Add Gallery or Add Drive (folder).
• Drop files from your computer onto the desk. Each file becomes its own File or link widget, as described below.

See Add a widget to a desk for every way to add widgets.

Documents and decks: create, import or place

Document and Slides work differently from the other three. When you add one from the Add widget menu or the right-click menu, a small window opens first, titled Add document or Add slides. It offers three choices:

• Create new starts a blank document or deck in the editor. A new document is called "Untitled document".
• Import a file opens a file chooser so you can bring in a Word file (Import a Word .docx) or a PowerPoint file (Import a PowerPoint .pptx). The new file takes the name of the one you imported.
• Place an existing one lists the documents or decks you already have. Type in the search box to narrow the list, then click one to put it on the desk.

To close the window without adding anything, click the close button or click outside it.

Whichever you choose, the widget shows a file from Office: the same document or deck you see there, not a copy. Edits you make on the desk are saved to that file, and you will see them when you open it in Office. Removing the widget from the desk takes it off the desk only; the file stays in Office.

To put a file you already have onto a desk from Office instead, see Put a document, spreadsheet or deck on a desk Coming soon.

Drop files from your computer

You can drag files straight from Finder or File Explorer onto an open desk.

1. Select one or more files on your computer.
2. Drag them onto an empty part of the desk and let go.

Each file becomes its own File or link widget at the spot where you dropped it, named after the file. Several files are placed in a slight cascade so they do not sit exactly on top of each other. Each file is copied into your workspace, so the widget keeps working if you later move or delete the original.

A file larger than 50 MB is marked Over 50 MB — stays on this device. It works normally on the computer where you added it, but its contents are not copied to your other devices; they see its name and type only. See Sync your work across devices.

Dropping a Word or PowerPoint file onto the desk adds it as a File or link widget that opens in your computer's default app. To edit it in PlexiiDocs or PlexiiSlides, add a Document or Slides widget and choose Import a file instead.

For links, browser tabs and connected apps, see Drop files, links and apps onto a desk.

Which one should I use?

• One file you want to look at or open: File or link.
• Several pictures to compare or browse: Gallery.
• A folder whose contents change, or where new files should be saved: Drive (folder).
• Something you are writing: Document.
• A presentation: Slides.
• A live web page you want to use, not just link to: a Browser widget. See Browser widget.

AI and these widgets

Document and Slides have AI of their own inside the editor: you can draft text, rewrite a selection or generate slides. See Document widget and Slides widget.

Every widget's title bar has an AI button (the sparkle). On Gallery, Document and Slides, it opens the Plexii panel with that widget attached, so you can ask Plexii about it. On File or link and Drive (folder), it opens the Plexii panel, where you can ask your question. See Use a widget's AI button.

Articles in this section

• Gallery widget: keep a set of pictures together and view any of them large.
• File or link widget: one file or one web link, with a preview.
• Drive (folder) widget: a folder from Files, listed on the desk, that saves what you add into it.
• Document widget: write in PlexiiDocs on the desk.
• Slides widget: build and present a PlexiiSlides deck on the desk.
• Put a document, spreadsheet or deck on a desk Coming soon: bring files from Office onto a desk.

Related tasks

• Add a widget to a desk
• Drop files, links and apps onto a desk
• Files: your folders and files Coming soon
• The controls on every widget