Guide to FigJam
- FigJam is available on any team or plan
- Use FigJam from anywhere with the FigJam for iPad app
FigJam is an online collaboration tool you and your team can use to brainstorm, develop, and organize ideas. You don't need to have any prior knowledge of design tools to get jamming.
FigJam files are lightweight, inclusive environments where anyone can take part. Think of them as digital whiteboards where you and your team discover, explore, and execute on ideas.
- Brainstorm and explore ideas
- Create decision trees, diagrams, and mind maps
- Run critiques or feedback sessions on designs
- Collect ideas, note feedback, and organize research
- Plan and run meetings, tutorials, or other interactive sessions
- Collaborate and align with project stakeholders all in one place
Copy and paste elements between Figma design and FigJam files to extend your collaboration tools and progress your design process. Work between FigJam and Figma design files →
Create FigJam files
FigJam files are a specific type of file in Figma. You can access them alongside your regular design files in your teams, projects, and drafts.
Create a new FigJam file from any file creation point in the file browser.
Left sidebar
- Open Figma in the file browser.
- Click next to your drafts or a team project in the sidebar.
- Select FigJam file.
File browser
- Open the folder or project in the file browser.
- Click New at the top of the page and select FigJam file.
Link
- Type
figjam.neworfigma.com/jam in the address bar.
Access FigJam-specific file templates to get you started.
You can publish FigJam files to share them with the Community. Publish files to Community →
Explore FigJam files
Board
Unlike design files, FigJam files don't have multiple pages or canvases. Instead, you have one infinite board to explore your ideas.
All boards you create have a white background and a dotted grid. It's not possible to customize the background of a board.
- A
Find settings and perform actions from the menu
Open the file menu to perform a range of actions. Some actions will only available when you have one or more objects selected.
- B
Use the creation tools in the toolbar
Access FigJam-specific tools: marker, stickies, shapes, text, images, and connectors.
- C
Use the meeting tools in the toolbar
Start a timer, run a voting session, or insert a template to your file.
- D
Use audio to chat with your team
Use audio to have live conversations with other collaborators directly in your FigJam files.
Click to start a call.
- E
Spotlight yourself and follow others
Hover over your avatar and click Spotlight me to share your view of the board with everyone in the file.
View the avatars of anyone currently active in the file. Click someone's avatar to observe their actions in the file.
- F
Invite collaborators
Click Share to open the share modal for that file. Invite collaborators, copy a link to the file, or update the file's link sharing settings.
- G
Add comments
Add comments to a jam file in commenting mode. You can @mention collaborators, as well as add emoji to your messages.
- H
Adjust your view settings
- Control the zoom level
- Toggle dot grid
- Toggle snap to grid
- Toggle multiplayer cursors
You can identify FigJam files in the file browser by the on the file card.
Colors
Color is a valuable tool that can be used in FigJam to visually communicate your ideas. FigJam comes with default color palettes depending on the object it is applied to.
You can apply colors to text, shapes, connectors, and stickies. To improve contrast, you'll see less saturated versions of these colors on objects that support text, like shapes and stickies.
Toolbar
With FigJam files there's less focus on precision and polish, and more focus on joyful exploration and collaboration.
Both stickies and shapes support quick create mode, allowing you to add ideas and explore concepts. Learn more about quick create →
- A
Navigation
Pan, zoom, and move around FigJam files like you would in a design file:
- Select tool: Select, move, and order objects →
- Hand tool: Pan and zoom in FigJam files →
- B
Drawing tools
Use the marker tool and highlighter to draw freehand lines and expressive shapes. It's a fun way to add doodles to the board, call attention to something important, or make abstract connections.
Switch between thin and thick versions to make your mark(er). Figma will apply some smoothing to any lines you create with the marker.
Use the eraser tool to remove any drawings if you make a mistake or want to make changes.
- C
Shapes
A curated selection of shapes gives you the tools to build detailed flows and diagrams. Add text to shapes to capture ideas and use connectors to connect them.
There are eight shapes you can access in FigJam files:
- Ellipse (otherwise known as a circle)
- Square
- Rounded rectangle
- Diamond
- Triangle
- Downward-pointing triangle
- Right-facing parallelogram
- Left-facing parallelogram
- Cylinder
- Horizontal cylinder
- File
- Folder
- D
Stickies
Stickies are the virtual equivalent to the sticky notes we all know and love.
Capture your thoughts in stickies and move them around the board to organize your ideas. Unlike their paper counterparts, they grow vertically giving you more space to explore your ideas.
Figma will add your name to any stickies you create, so you can easily keep track of who said what.
Access stickies from the toolbar or the S shortcut in FigJam files.
- E
Widgets, stickers, and more
Browse through many more resources to get the most out of your board.
- F
Text
Text is a crucial element while brainstorming and communicating information to others.
Use the text tool to create titles and headings, add blocks of body text, or quickly jot down ideas.
Add links to text to reference other FigJam or Figma files, direct collaborators to product documentation, or link to external websites.
- G
Connectors and lines
Lines in FigJam let you create paths between shapes and stickies, illustrate order, or annotate something on your board.
Use the connector tool to draw straight lines or elbow connectors between objects.
Every line can be customized with its own color, text, end points, and stroke weight.
- H
Stamps and emotes
The stamp and emote wheels allow you to quickly add your feedback to files. Toggle between stamp and emote mode on the fly.
Select to access short-lived emotes and express your reactions in the moment.
Select to add your stamp of approval or other more permanent sentiments to the board.
- I
Sections
Organize your board with labeled sections to group related objects or guide workshop participants through activities.
- Cluster objects together without having to group them
- Contain objects that can be moved together around the board
- Hide sections of the board that can be revealed when needed
- Link collaborators to a specific section of the board
Collaborative
Emotes, stamps, and high fives
- Anyone on the file can add emotes, including people with view-only access.
- Anyone on the file can use high fives.
- Only people with edit access to the file can add stamps to boards.
Emotes are temporary expressions that are great for live multiplayer experiences. They're energetic reactions that you share with others who are currently active in a file.
Stamps are permanent stickers that you can add to the board. They're great for both live and async collaboration when you want to show your support or impressions.
High fives are a fun way to celebrate achievements, greet others, or capture someone's attention in a file.
Cursor chat
Cursor chat allows you to type live, temporary messages to others in your FigJam file. This is great for quick communication and interactions.
In cursor chat mode, start typing and other collaborators in your file will see what you're typing as you're typing it. There's no action to confirm or send your message. Your cursor displays the message for five seconds after you've finished typing.
Select cursor chat from the emote wheel.
Anyone on the file can connect via cursor chat, including people with view-only access.
Timer
Track time and manage working sessions with the timer in FigJam, whether you're working solo or in a group setting. Anyone in the file can start, pause, add time, and stop the timer.
To access the timer modal, click in the upper right corner of your FigJam file and select Timer from the dropdown.
Comment
Comments are a great addition to collaboration in FigJam - they work like comments in Figma design files and prototypes.
Select comments in the collaborator menu, or press the C key to enter commenting mode.
Use comments to give feedback, ask questions, or leave notes throughout the board. You can @mention collaborators, as well as add emoji to your messages.
If you've worked in Figma, you may recognize some tools and features in FigJam. While some of these features work the same, others have functionality that's curated to that product.
Spotlight
Gather everyone around you to facilitate a design crit, meeting, or just share your ideas with spotlight.
When you spotlight yourself, all collaborators viewing a file are notified you’ve requested they follow you. Collaborators in a file have the option to ignore your request. Once they accept your invitation to follow, they’re shown your view of the file’s board or canvas. This comes in handy when using audio conversations for running meetings and workshops in FigJam and Figma design.
Learn how to step in the spotlight →
Keyboard shortcuts
View Figjam keyboard shortcuts in the shortcuts panel:
- Click in the bottom-right.
- Select Keyboard shortcuts.
- Select headings to view related shortcuts.
