diff --git a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/components/PageLayoutGridLayout.tsx b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/components/PageLayoutGridLayout.tsx
index ccc98aefa9..5382e897ed 100644
--- a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/components/PageLayoutGridLayout.tsx
+++ b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/components/PageLayoutGridLayout.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import { useNavigatePageLayoutCommandMenu } from '@/command-menu/pages/page-layout/hooks/useNavigatePageLayoutCommandMenu';
-import { CommandMenuPages } from '@/command-menu/types/CommandMenuPages';
 import { PageLayoutGridLayoutDragSelector } from '@/page-layout/components/PageLayoutGridLayoutDragSelector';
 import { PageLayoutGridOverlay } from '@/page-layout/components/PageLayoutGridOverlay';
 import { EMPTY_LAYOUT } from '@/page-layout/constants/EmptyLayout';
@@ -75,8 +73,6 @@ export const PageLayoutGridLayout = () => {
 
   const activeTabId = useRecoilComponentValue(activeTabIdComponentState);
 
-  const { navigatePageLayoutCommandMenu } = useNavigatePageLayoutCommandMenu();
-
   const { currentPageLayout } = useCurrentPageLayout();
 
   if (!isDefined(activeTabId) || !isDefined(currentPageLayout)) {
@@ -128,14 +124,7 @@ export const PageLayoutGridLayout = () => {
         >
           {isLayoutEmpty ? (
             <div key="empty-placeholder" data-select-disable="true">
-              <WidgetPlaceholder
-                onClick={() => {
-                  navigatePageLayoutCommandMenu({
-                    commandMenuPage:
-                      CommandMenuPages.PageLayoutWidgetTypeSelect,
-                  });
-                }}
-              />
+              <WidgetPlaceholder />
             </div>
           ) : (
             activeTabWidgets?.map((widget) => (
diff --git a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetHeader.tsx b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetHeader.tsx
index 035e8ccf25..627b072966 100644
--- a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetHeader.tsx
+++ b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetHeader.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ const StyledHeader = styled.div`
   align-items: center;
   display: flex;
   gap: ${({ theme }) => theme.spacing(2)};
+  height: ${({ theme }) => theme.spacing(6)};
+  flex-shrink: 0;
 `;
 
 const StyledDragHandleButton = styled(IconButton)`
diff --git a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetPlaceholder.tsx b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetPlaceholder.tsx
index 1ebe2a77df..2f2346bc85 100644
--- a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetPlaceholder.tsx
+++ b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetPlaceholder.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
+import { useNavigatePageLayoutCommandMenu } from '@/command-menu/pages/page-layout/hooks/useNavigatePageLayoutCommandMenu';
+import { CommandMenuPages } from '@/command-menu/types/CommandMenuPages';
+import { useSetIsDashboardInEditMode } from '@/dashboards/hooks/useSetDashboardInEditMode';
+import { PageLayoutComponentInstanceContext } from '@/page-layout/states/contexts/PageLayoutComponentInstanceContext';
+import { isPageLayoutInEditModeComponentState } from '@/page-layout/states/isPageLayoutInEditModeComponentState';
 import { WidgetContainer } from '@/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetContainer';
 import { WidgetHeader } from '@/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetHeader';
+import { useAvailableComponentInstanceIdOrThrow } from '@/ui/utilities/state/component-state/hooks/useAvailableComponentInstanceIdOrThrow';
+import { useRecoilComponentValue } from '@/ui/utilities/state/component-state/hooks/useRecoilComponentValue';
+import { t } from '@lingui/core/macro';
+import { Trans } from '@lingui/react/macro';
 import {
   AnimatedPlaceholder,
   AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyContainer,
@@ -9,14 +18,36 @@ import {
   EMPTY_PLACEHOLDER_TRANSITION_PROPS,
 } from 'twenty-ui/layout';
 
-type WidgetPlaceholderProps = {
-  onClick: () => void;
-};
+export const WidgetPlaceholder = () => {
+  const pageLayoutId = useAvailableComponentInstanceIdOrThrow(
+    PageLayoutComponentInstanceContext,
+  );
+
+  const isPageLayoutInEditMode = useRecoilComponentValue(
+    isPageLayoutInEditModeComponentState,
+  );
+
+  const { setIsDashboardInEditMode } =
+    useSetIsDashboardInEditMode(pageLayoutId);
+
+  const { navigatePageLayoutCommandMenu } = useNavigatePageLayoutCommandMenu();
+
+  const handleClick = () => {
+    if (!isPageLayoutInEditMode) {
+      setIsDashboardInEditMode(true);
+    }
+    navigatePageLayoutCommandMenu({
+      commandMenuPage: CommandMenuPages.PageLayoutWidgetTypeSelect,
+    });
+  };
 
-export const WidgetPlaceholder = ({ onClick }: WidgetPlaceholderProps) => {
   return (
-    <WidgetContainer onClick={onClick}>
-      <WidgetHeader isInEditMode={true} title="Add Widget" isEmpty />
+    <WidgetContainer onClick={handleClick}>
+      <WidgetHeader
+        isInEditMode={isPageLayoutInEditMode}
+        title={t`Add Widget`}
+        isEmpty
+      />
       <AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyContainer
         // eslint-disable-next-line react/jsx-props-no-spreading
         {...EMPTY_PLACEHOLDER_TRANSITION_PROPS}
@@ -24,10 +55,10 @@ export const WidgetPlaceholder = ({ onClick }: WidgetPlaceholderProps) => {
         <AnimatedPlaceholder type="noWidgets" />
         <AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyTextContainer>
           <AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyTitle>
-            No widgets yet
+            <Trans>No widgets yet</Trans>
           </AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyTitle>
           <AnimatedPlaceholderEmptySubTitle>
-            Click to add your first widget
+            <Trans>Click to add your first widget</Trans>
           </AnimatedPlaceholderEmptySubTitle>
         </AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyTextContainer>
       </AnimatedPlaceholderEmptyContainer>
diff --git a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/__stories__/WidgetPlaceholder.stories.tsx b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/__stories__/WidgetPlaceholder.stories.tsx
index 7ca3242803..9474cf7224 100644
--- a/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/__stories__/WidgetPlaceholder.stories.tsx
+++ b/packages/twenty-front/src/modules/page-layout/widgets/components/__stories__/WidgetPlaceholder.stories.tsx
@@ -1,48 +1,55 @@
+import { isAppWaitingForFreshObjectMetadataState } from '@/object-metadata/states/isAppWaitingForFreshObjectMetadataState';
+import { objectMetadataItemsState } from '@/object-metadata/states/objectMetadataItemsState';
 import { PageLayoutTestWrapper } from '@/page-layout/hooks/__tests__/PageLayoutTestWrapper';
 import { WidgetPlaceholder } from '@/page-layout/widgets/components/WidgetPlaceholder';
 import { type Meta, type StoryObj } from '@storybook/react';
+import { type MutableSnapshot } from 'recoil';
 import { ComponentDecorator } from 'twenty-ui/testing';
+import { I18nFrontDecorator } from '~/testing/decorators/I18nFrontDecorator';
+import { generatedMockObjectMetadataItems } from '~/testing/utils/generatedMockObjectMetadataItems';
 
 const meta: Meta<typeof WidgetPlaceholder> = {
   title: 'Modules/PageLayout/Widgets/WidgetPlaceholder',
   component: WidgetPlaceholder,
   decorators: [
-    (Story) => (
-      <PageLayoutTestWrapper>
-        <Story />
-      </PageLayoutTestWrapper>
-    ),
+    (Story) => {
+      const initializeState = (snapshot: MutableSnapshot) => {
+        snapshot.set(
+          objectMetadataItemsState,
+          generatedMockObjectMetadataItems,
+        );
+        snapshot.set(isAppWaitingForFreshObjectMetadataState, false);
+      };
+
+      return (
+        <PageLayoutTestWrapper initializeState={initializeState}>
+          <Story />
+        </PageLayoutTestWrapper>
+      );
+    },
     ComponentDecorator,
+    I18nFrontDecorator,
   ],
   parameters: {
     layout: 'centered',
     docs: {
       description: {
         component:
-          'A placeholder widget that appears when no widgets are present. Shows an empty state with a call-to-action to add the first widget.',
+          'A self-contained placeholder widget that appears when no widgets are present. Automatically enables edit mode when clicked and opens the widget type selection command menu.',
       },
     },
   },
-  argTypes: {
-    onClick: {
-      action: 'onClick',
-      description:
-        'Callback function triggered when the placeholder is clicked',
-    },
-  },
 };
 
 export default meta;
 type Story = StoryObj<typeof WidgetPlaceholder>;
 
 export const Default: Story = {
-  args: {
-    onClick: () => {},
-  },
   parameters: {
     docs: {
       description: {
-        story: 'Default widget placeholder state.',
+        story:
+          'Default widget placeholder state. Click to trigger the add widget flow.',
       },
     },
   },