How to Add Widgets to Notion (2026 Beginner Guide)
Notion does not have a widget gallery. There is no "add widget" button and no app store inside the editor. What Notion does have is the /embed block, and that single block is how every Notion widget you have ever seen gets onto a page.
A Notion widget is just a small web app that lives at a URL. When you embed that URL, Notion renders it as a live frame inside your page — a clock that ticks, a weather card that updates, a to-do list you can check off. Once you understand the /embed block, you can add any widget in about thirty seconds.
This guide walks through the exact steps, then covers the three things beginners get stuck on: copying the right URL, resizing the embed, and figuring out why a widget sometimes shows up blank.
Key Takeaways
- Every Notion widget is added through the
/embedblock — there is no separate widget menu.- You embed a widget by pasting its public URL, not by pasting iframe HTML code.
- If an embed loads blank, it is almost always the wrong URL type or a login-required source, not a Notion bug.
What counts as a "widget" in Notion
A Notion widget is any web page designed to be embedded and displayed inside Notion. The common types are clocks, weather cards, countdown timers, habit and water trackers, calendars, and to-do lists. They run on their own and do not need access to your Notion account.
This is different from a Notion integration (which connects through the API and reads your database) and different from a template (which is a pre-built page layout). A widget is purely visual and self-contained. You give Notion a URL, and Notion shows what is at that URL.
How to add a widget to Notion: the 3 steps
Adding any widget follows the same pattern, no matter which provider it came from.
- Copy the widget's embed URL. On a widget page, this is the link you are given to use in Notion — for example a URL ending in the widget's name. Copy the whole thing.
- In Notion, type
/embedon a new line and select the Embed block from the menu. - Paste the URL into the box that appears and click Embed link.
The widget loads in place and starts running immediately. There is no save step and no configuration screen — if the URL is correct, it just works.
The shortcut: paste and "Create embed"
You can skip the /embed menu entirely. Paste a widget URL directly onto a Notion line and Notion shows a small menu asking what to do with the link. Choose Create embed instead of "Dismiss" or "Bookmark," and you get the same live frame. This is the fastest method once you know the URL is embeddable.
For Notion's own reference on this, see the official Notion embed documentation.
How to copy a widget's embed URL
This is the step that trips up most beginners, because there are two kinds of links and only one of them works.
- Public URL (use this). A plain web address like
https://widgetsfornotion.com/embed/.... Paste this straight into the/embedblock. - Iframe code (do not use this). A block of HTML that starts with
<iframe src="...">. Notion's embed block does not accept raw HTML. If a provider only gives you iframe code, copy just the link inside thesrc="..."quotes and paste that.
On our widgets, the link you copy from the widget page is already the public URL, so you can paste it directly. Each embed guide also has a small helper that builds the exact URL for you.
How to resize and position a widget
Once the embed is on the page, you control its size by dragging:
- Width — hover over the left or right edge of the embed until a grey handle appears, then drag inward or outward.
- Height — drag the handle at the bottom edge up or down.
Most well-built widgets scale to fill whatever box you give them, so a clock looks right both as a small sidebar element and as a full-width banner. To place two widgets side by side, drag one embed block onto the left or right edge of another — Notion creates columns automatically.
A practical tip: set the size on desktop first. Notion remembers the dimensions, and the widget inherits them on every other device.
Do Notion widgets work on mobile?
Yes. Embedded widgets render in the Notion iOS and Android apps because they are standard web frames. The display uses the size you set on desktop, so a widget that fits neatly on a laptop will scale down on a phone.
Two caveats worth knowing:
- A handful of embed sources that require signing in — YouTube and Spotify are the usual ones — behave differently in the mobile app than in a browser. Self-contained widgets like clocks, weather, and trackers do not have this problem.
- If a widget looks cramped on mobile, resize it slightly larger on desktop. Mobile cannot resize embeds, so the desktop dimensions are what you are stuck with.
Why your Notion widget isn't loading (and how to fix it)
If an embed shows a blank box, a spinner, or an error, it is almost always one of these:
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Blank box, nothing renders | You pasted iframe HTML instead of the URL | Copy only the link inside src="..." and re-embed |
| "Bookmark" card instead of a live frame | You chose Bookmark, not Create embed | Delete it, paste again, choose Create embed |
| Works on web, blank in the app | The source requires login (e.g. YouTube, Spotify) | Open that page in the mobile browser, or use a self-contained widget |
| Frozen / not updating | Notion cached the frame | Click outside the block and back, or refresh the page |
| Loads then disappears | Wrong or expired URL | Re-copy the URL from the widget page |
If none of these apply, confirm the URL opens correctly in a normal browser tab first. If it loads there, it will load in Notion.
Where to get widgets to add
You need a widget URL before any of the above matters. Two starting points:
- The widget catalog. Browse all 22 widgets — clocks, weather, to-do lists, timers, trackers, and calendars — each with a copy-ready embed URL. New here? The Sleek Blue Flip Clock is the most popular first widget.
- Service embeds. To embed something you already use — a calendar, a video, a playlist — follow the matching guide: Google Calendar, Spotify, or YouTube. The full guide hub covers Sheets, Forms, Figma, Loom, and more.
Try it now
Here is a live widget. On a desktop, copy its page URL from the Flip Clock page, then follow the three steps above to drop it onto any Notion page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the widget menu in Notion?
There isn't one. Notion has no dedicated widget gallery or "add widget" button. Every widget is added through the /embed block by pasting a URL.
Do I paste the URL or the iframe code?
The URL. Notion's embed block takes a plain web address, not HTML. If a provider gives you <iframe src="..."> code, copy only the link inside the quotes and paste that.
Why does my embed show a bookmark card instead of the widget?
You picked "Create bookmark" instead of "Create embed" from the paste menu. Delete the card, paste the URL again, and choose Create embed (or use /embed first).
Can I add the same widget to more than one page?
Yes. The same widget URL can be embedded on any number of pages, and each copy runs independently. There is no per-embed limit.
Do widgets slow Notion down?
Lightweight widgets — clocks, weather, trackers — have a negligible effect. Each embed is a small frame that loads once. Avoid stacking many heavy embeds on a single page if you notice scroll lag.
Start here: Browse all widgets · Embed guide hub
Related reading
- Best Notion clock widgets in 2026 — once you know how to embed, pick a clock with live previews.
- Best Notion widgets for students in 2026 — a ready-made set of widgets for a study dashboard.
- How to embed Google Calendar in Notion — the same
/embedsteps applied to a live calendar feed.