Use FileDeck with Elementor Free

FileDeck registers native Elementor widgets, so you can build document libraries, inline viewers and search boxes with Elementor’s drag-and-drop editor instead of pasting shortcodes. Elementor (free or Pro) must be installed and active, and every FileDeck widget works with free Elementor.

Finding the widgets

With FileDeck and Elementor both active, edit any page with Elementor and open the widget panel. Search for FileDeck — or for what you’re doing: "pdf viewer", "document library", "search". All the widgets are free.

FileDeck Library

Drops a full document library into your layout. Controls: layout (table, grid, gallery, folders), a Categories picker that lists your real document categories (pick one or several to scope the library — no slugs to remember), a Columns picker listing every available column (picked columns render in FileDeck’s standard order; for a custom order use the columns shortcode attribute), documents per page and sort order. It renders the same library as the [filedeck] shortcode and the Document Library block, so search, sorting, filtering and access control all work identically. Building a sectioned downloads page with one scoped library per heading? There’s a recipe for exactly that.

Widgets saved before the pickers existed keep working — old comma-separated text values render the same library; the controls just become pickers the next time you edit the widget.

FileDeck Document Embed

Embeds a single document as an always-visible inline viewer — the Elementor equivalent of the [filedeck_embed] shortcode. Search your library by title to pick the document, then set:

• Height and width (px or %).
• Viewer engine — site default, browser built-in (no external services), the Microsoft Office viewer, the Google Docs viewer, or Pro’s self-hosted FileDeck viewer.
• Open in a popup (Pro) — a View button opens the document in an overlay that loads only when clicked.
• Download link, full-screen button, title caption.

The embeddable types are the free set — PDFs, images, and pasted Google Docs/Sheets/Slides/Drive links; FileDeck Pro extends the widget to Office documents, audio and video, exactly as it does the inline embed everywhere else.

FileDeck PDF Viewer

The same Document Embed widget under the name people actually search the panel for. If you found this one first: pick your PDF and you’re done — every control above is there.

FileDeck Search

A standalone search box that lands on your library page with the query applied. Controls: placeholder text and the library page URL (empty = your Document Library page).

The Style tab (Pro)

With FileDeck Pro active, the Document Embed widget gains an Elementor Style tab: frame border and radius, frame background, and an accent colour for the controls inside the embed (the FileDeck viewer’s toolbar, the download link, the full-screen button).

Access and protected files

All widgets use FileDeck’s normal rendering path, so document access rules apply exactly as they do elsewhere: restricted documents show a padlock to visitors who cannot view them (except documents assigned to specific people, which are hidden entirely), protected files are served through signed, short-lived URLs, and protected files never render through external viewer services.

FAQ

Do I need Elementor Pro?

No. The FileDeck widgets work with the free version of Elementor.

The FileDeck widgets don’t appear in Elementor.

Check that both FileDeck and Elementor are active, then reload the Elementor editor. If a widget is still missing after updating FileDeck, open a new editor session so Elementor re-scans its widgets.

What about Bricks and Divi?

FileDeck registers native Document Library and Document Embed elements for Bricks, Divi, WPBakery, Avada (Fusion Builder) and Beaver Builder too, with the most-used options as controls; anything further is one [filedeck_embed] shortcode away. See page builders.