“In the desk” or “on the desk” if I want to mean all items that are in the drawers desk + on the desktop.

Can you give me all items in/on the desk? What preposition should I use?

Question

“In the desk” or “on the desk” if I want to mean all items that are in the drawers desk + on the desktop.

Can you give me all items in/on the desk? What preposition should I use?

Answer

Use "on" the desk to describe items that have been placed upon the top surface.

If items are within the drawers, why not just say "in the desk drawer", "in the right drawer of the desk", "in the top drawer of the desk", etc. to be clear?

Answer

Why not ask the person to clear or empty the desk?