Figma Hacks and Shortcuts You Didn't Know About

This is gonna be a guide to bookmark for anyone who uses Figma! The ultimate design tool, Figma is the new talk of the town, no matter if you are a designer, UI/UX expert or frontend developer.

But you might feel like there's still more to find out. I must admit, you are correct!

Figma is full of unexplored features that can turn you into a full-fledged designing powerhouse.

So, this blog will simplify some amazing tricks and quick ways you may not have discovered yet in Figma. Now, without further ado, let’s improve your abilities in Figma and amaze your design peers (or simply feel like a professional yourself).

Mastering Navigation and View

Having confusion within your Figma document? Bid farewell to never-ending scrolling and zooming! Figma includes intelligent built-in shortcuts to help you navigate your design like an expert.

Jump to Specific Frames

Instead of searching for the frames manually, use key shortcuts to quickly access the "Go to Frame."

Dialog: ⌘ + Option + G (Mac) or Ctrl + Alt + G (Windows).

Enter the name of the frame, and there you have it! You are present.

Zoom Like a Boss

To get rid of the clumsy zoom feature, you may:

• Press and hold ⌘ (Command) (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) while pressing the + or - key to adjust zoom levels.
• And to zoom even more quickly, press ⌘ (Command) on a Mac or Ctrl on Windows and use your mouse wheel to scroll.

Navigate with Keyboard Arrows

Here is an easy way to easily navigate through your design. Utilize the directional keys to move in various directions: left, right, up, and down. Merge this with the zoom shortcuts mentioned earlier for complete control.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts in the Smartest Way

Mastering Figma's keyboard shortcuts will help you save time and become a more efficient designer.

Here are some hacks that will enhance your workflow:

• To get a duplicate of an item, just choose it and press ⌘ (Command) + D (Mac) or Ctrl + D (Windows) to create an exact duplicate next to the original.
• Using the keyboard shortcuts, you may perfectly align the layout easily.
• Select multiple elements and use the arrow keys to move them closer together. Also if you want additional control, then just press and hold the Shift key and at the same time adjust for precise placement at the pixel level.
• To bring a layer closer to the front, press ⌘ (Command) + [ on a Mac or Ctrl + [ on Windows. Or if you want to push a layer further back, press ⌘ (Command) + ] on a Mac or Ctrl + ] on Windows.
• Dealing with an intricate design can become overpowering. Easily show and hide layers by pressing ⌘ (Command) + Shift + H on a Mac or Ctrl + Shift + H on Windows. This helps maintain a tidy layers panel and allows you to concentrate on particular sections.

Tame Your Layers Like a Pro

If you're not cautious, Figma layers can easily become a disorderly jumble. Don't fret; keyboard shortcuts are here to save the day as your hero for managing layers. Here’s how you explore deeply nested layers:

• Press Enter (Mac) or Return (Windows) to enter a group or frame, and press Shift + Enter (Mac) or Shift + Return (Windows) to exit back out.
• If you want to access particular layers, click on them while holding down ⌘ (Command) on a Mac or Ctrl on Windows. And to deselect a layer just Press and click the same key once more.
• Renaming a layer can also be done quicker than by double-clicking its name. Choose the layer and hit F2 (on the majority of keyboards). This immediately activates the rename mode, saving you valuable clicks.
• Looking to easily organize multiple layers at once? Press ⌘ (Command) + G (Mac) or Ctrl + G (Windows) after choosing all of them. Disappeared! The group formed immediately.

Make Use of Components

Figma components serve as the foundational elements of a properly structured design system. After you become proficient at making and utilizing components, you can organize your work process and maintain uniformity in your designs.

However, Figma's capabilities extend even more with plugins. These impactful extensions give you an edge to use Figma’s capabilities, turning you into a design master.

Picture making a button once and seeing it immediately and automatically change in your design. That is the enchantment of components! Components guarantee uniformity, reduce time spent, and let you easily implement changes.

Figma's collection of plugins is a valuable resource with a multitude of tools to improve your design workflow. For instance, If you need placeholder text, user flows, or compressed assets, there's a plugin available for all those tasks! You may dig deeper by checking out the plugin repository and uncover valuable tools that can simplify your experience with Figma.

Must-Have Plugins for Figma

Figma has the potential to become even stronger with the addition of plugins. These convenient plugins/add-ons provide additional features and capabilities.

Let's check out some plugins that may help you in the future.

Content Reel

The content reel incorporates life-like content into your designs. This allows you to create random user avatars, placeholder text, and placeholder images quickly and easily. No more wasting time looking for stock images or writing placeholder text.

Component Collector

Component Collector lets you add hundreds of high-quality Figma components with a single click. Simply get “Componen" and paste it directly into Figma. It's free to try, and the sign-up process is a breeze with no password required.

Autoflow

Autoflow is the best and easiest Figma plugin for creating quick user flows. With Autoflow, you can design user flows in no time by simply creating shapes and connecting them within Figma.

Zeplin

Cooperation is essential! Zeplin makes it easy to create style guides and handoff designs with detailed specs, facilitating communication between designers and developers. Developers can find all necessary resources in one convenient location, streamlining the development process for all involved.

Copy & Paste Like a Pro

Sharing design elements across different Figma files may occasionally seem like a tedious task. But here’s a hack!

Figma lets you copy anything and paste it anywhere you want, even from one file to another. There is no need to be concerned about styles or components being lost during translation. Figma ensures a smooth transfer of everything, which saves time and maintains design consistency across projects.

Smooth Exporting and Handoff

Figma extends beyond design alone. It manages your entire design directories and assists you in transferring your designs for development!

By clicking once, you can produce details for inspection. This essentially provides developers with a preview of the code used in your design elements.

Key Takeaways!

• Navigating Figma becomes easy by mastering keyboard shortcuts for accessing frames, zooming, and utilizing arrow keys.
• Keyboard shortcuts make your design tasks more efficient. From copying items to achieving precise positioning and organizing layer hierarchy, they will help you save a significant amount of time.
• Control your layers by using shortcuts to easily navigate through nested layers, select and deselect quickly, rename instantly, and group multiple layers in no time.
• Utilize the component's potential to establish an orderly design system. Design a button one time and make sure it updates in all locations, saving time and guaranteeing uniformity.
• Explore Figma's plugin library to enhance your productivity, such as creating filler content and incorporating stunning visuals.

"In vision, the designer sees the thing which ought to be, not the thing which is."

- Saul Bass

Signing off for now, but I will surely have some more guides for you guys in the future! Happy Designing…