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• Create a new file

  Before you start

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any team or plan.

  Applies to both Figma design and FigJam files.

  Anyone with a Figma account can create Figma design or FigJam files in their drafts. Only people with can edit access to a team can create files in that team.

  Figma has two products: Figma design and FigJam. These products appear as different files types in Figma, each with their own set of tools and features.

  • Figma design files are powerful, collaborative environments where you turn your ideas into responsive and interactive designs. Use Figma design files to create and maintain artifacts and assets, when detail and precision are of the utmost importance.
  • FigJam files are online whiteboards, an approachable space where anyone can take part. They tap into the spontaneous, joyful nature of working together. Use FigJam files for meetings, brainstorms, diagrams, and research.

  Compare Figma design and FigJam →

  Create drafts

  Everyone with a Figma account will have their own drafts folder. You can think of your drafts like a sketchbook or notebook, a place where you can explore early ideas and experiment with different concepts.

  Drafts are private to you, only people that you specifically invite to your files will have access to any files in this space. There are no limits on how many files you can create in your drafts.

  There are a few ways to create a new file in your drafts:

  • A

    Visit the link

    Figma design file: type figma.com/new in the address bar or visit https://figma.com/new

    FigJam file: type figma.com/jam in the address bar or visit https://figma.com/jam

  • B

    Drafts folder

    1. Open your drafts in the file browser.
    2. Click New in the top-right corner of the menu bar at the top of the file browser.
    3. Select Design file to create a Figma design file.
    4. Select FigJam file to create a FigJam file.

  Note: At the moment, it's not possible to organize files in your drafts into folders or collections. If you're looking for a way to organize your work, we recommend creating a team. Teams allow you to create projects, which work like folders to group your files in whatever way suits you. Compare teams and plans →

  Create files in a team

  If you have can edit access to a team, you can create new files within the team. This will allow other members of the team to find and view them.

  To create a file in the team, you will need to choose which project the file will live in. If you change your mind at any point, you can move files between projects and teams.

  1. From the file browser, navigate to the team.
  2. Select the project you want to create the file in.
  3. Click New in the top-right corner of the toolbar.
  4. Select Design file to create a Figma design file.
  5. Select FigJam file to create a FigJam file.

  Tip: Make it easier for team members to identify important assets with custom thumbnails. Custom thumbnails are only supported on Figma design files. Set custom file thumbnails →

  Select a FigJam file template

  When you create a new FigJam file via the file browser, Figma will give you the option to create a new file from an existing template.

  1. Use the modal to choose a file template.
  2. You can also change the file's location from the modal. Click Create file in setting. Hover over a team to view the projects in the team, then select the project.
  3. Click Create file to create a new file using your desired template. Click Cancel to return to the file browser without creating a new file.

  Tip: Figma will show you this window for every new FigJam file you create. Uncheck the box next to Show this next time to turn off the new file template picker.

  Note: Organization admins can turn off the template picker for their organization.

  Disable this setting from the file browser by heading to Admin settings > Settings > Other and toggling the New file template picker setting off.

• Create new projects

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any team or plan. You can only create projects in teams.

  Only editors, admins and owners of teams or projects can make changes to projects.

  Projects allow you to group related files together. Team members can access all projects within a team.

  • Starter or Education teams: team members can access projects based on their team-level permissions.
  • Professional or Organization teams: set permissions at a project level and create view-only or invite-only (private) projects. This allows you to give team members permissions on a project that differ from their team-level permissions.

  👀 View-only projects

  By default, only the project owner can edit the view-only project. Team members can only view files in this project, even if they have edit permissions on the team.

  The project owner can allow team members and external collaborators to edit the project by inviting them to the project with edit permissions.

  🔒 Invite-only projects

  Invite-only projects are private projects that aren't available to all members of the team. Team members can only access invite-only projects if they are invited to them.

  This is perfect for projects which need a smaller group of collaborators, or for confidential products or features. For example: a subset of team members that build and maintain the team's design system.

  Learn more about projects →

  Note: You can still publish components from view-only or invite-only projects to a team's libraries. Only people with view access to that file/project can use those styles and components.

  Create projects

  Create a new project from a few places:

  • A

    Team

    Create a new project from the team

    1. Click New project in the menu bar:
  • B

    Left sidebar

    Create a new project in a specific team, regardless of what team or project you're viewing in the file browser.

    1. Hover over the team name in the left sidebar.

    2. Click to create a new project

    3. In the Create new project modal, give the project a memorable name. You can rename a project at any time.

    4. Professional or Organization teams can set different permissions for this project. Click Everyone at team name can edit and choose from:

       • Can edit: default project permissions. team members can access the project based on their team-level permissions.
       • Can view: team members can only view files in this project, even if they have edit permissions on
       • Invite-only: only team members or collaborators you invite to the project will be able to access files in this project. Team members won't see this project listed in the team.

       

       Note: Starter and Education teams can only create can edit projects. Team members can access the project based on their team-level permissions.

    5. Click Create project to create the new project.

    6. Figma will open the project page in the file browser. Click the Add a description link on the project page.

• Move a project

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any plan.

  You might also be looking for how to transfer a project to another company →

  Projects in Figma are organized within teams. Each team has its own members and permissions, so moving a project from one team to another may change who has access to it.

  Only members of the new team and individuals who are invited to the project will have access to it after it has moved.

  Note: Before you can move a project to a different team, you need to:

  • Join both teams
  • Have can edit permissions in both teams

  Check your access in each team by doing the following:

  • Starter or Professional plans: Navigate to each team and click the Members tab. Next to your name, you should see can view or can edit under Team permissions.
  • Organization or Enterprise plans: Click into each team in the file browser. Under the team name, you should see You can edit and manage projects and files. If you see You can view projects and files, you will not be able to move the project.

  Move a project

  1. From the file browser, navigate into the project you’d like to move.
  2. Click the More menu at the top-right of the screen and select Move project.
  3. Choose a new team for the project.

  Tip: While browsing a team, you can also right-click on a project and select Move project from the menu that appears.

• Pin files to projects

  Before you start

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any teams or plans.

  Anyone with can edit access to the project can pin a file to that project.

  Pin important files and current work in progress to the top of your project page. This makes it easy to find and access those files. Use pinned files to:

  • Quickly access files without needing to search through all files in the project
  • Show collaborators where to start with a project
  • Find key files and information related to that project
  • Highlight current work that's ready for review
  • Feature templates, design systems, or UI kits

  Figma will pin a square thumbnail with the file's name, as well as the name of the person who pinned it. It's not possible to adjust how Figma displays pinned files, or change the order they appear in.

  1. Open the project page in the file browser.
  2. Right-click on the file and choose Pin to project
  3. Figma will add the file to the Pinned section at the top of the page.

  

  Want to remove a pinned file? Right-click on the File and select Remove from pinned. You can do this from the pinned location, or the file itself.

• Rename files and projects

  Before you start

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any team or plan

  Anyone can rename their own files in their drafts

  Only team admins or members with edit access can rename team files

  Rename files and projects to explain their purpose or contents. Set a file or project name when you first create it, and update it as the project evolves.

  Files

  Figma names every new file you create as Untitled. You can change this to something that better explains the contents of the file.

  File names don't need to be unique, but unique names make it easier to search for and find the correct file.

  Update the file name from a few places:

  • A

    File browser

    Update the file's name from anywhere the file appears in the file browser.

    1. Right-click the file in the file browser.
    2. Select Rename from the file menu.
  • B

    Editor

    Update the file name when you have it open in the Editor.

    1. Click on an empty spot in the canvas to deselect and layers.
    2. Figma will display the file's location and name in the toolbar.
    3. Click on the existing file name to edit the name.
    4. Click outside of the field or press Enter to apply your changes.

  Projects

  You can update the project name from a couple of places in the file browser:

  • A

    Sidebar

    Update the file's name from anywhere the file appears in the file browser.

    1. Right-click the file in the file browser.
    2. Select Rename from the file menu.
  • B

    Project page

    Update the project name from the project page in the file browser.

    1. Open the project page in the file browser.
    2. Click Project name and select Rename from the project menu.
    3. Edit the project name at the top of the page.
    4. Click outside of the field or press Enter to apply your changes.
• Duplicate or copy files

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any team or plan.

  You need at least view access to a file to duplicate it.

  Want to copy a Community file? Learn how to use files from the Community →

  When you duplicate files, Figma will create a new copy of the original file. This copy doesn't include any comments or version history from the original file.

  Your access to the file or project determines where the copy will live in your file browser:

  • Can view: If you can only view the file, you will be able to send a duplicate copy of the file to your drafts. You can edit it in your drafts, or move it into a team project which you have can edit access to.
  • Can edit: If you have edit access to the file, or the project its located in, Figma will create a copy of that file in its current location. You can edit it there, move it your drafts, or move it to another team or project.

  There are a few places you can duplicate a file. If you don't see any of these options in your file, it means an editor on the file has restricted viewers from copying or exporting the file's contents.

  File browser

  Duplicate the file from anywhere in the file browser.

  1. Right-click on the file in the file browser.
  2. Select Duplicate from the options.
  3. Figma will prefix the new file's name with Copy of, so you can distinguish between the original and the duplicate.

  Note: You can also duplicate files from your deleted files folder. Learn how to duplicate and restore deleted files →

  From an open file

  Duplicate a file when viewing the file in the editor:

  1. Click on an empty spot in the canvas or use the keyboard shortcut to deselect any layers.
  2. Click file name to open the file menu and select Duplicate. If you only have view access to the file or project, you will see Duplicate to drafts here instead:
  3. Figma will create a copy of the file based on your access and the original file's location.

  Browser address bar

  You can also duplicate a file by adding /duplicate to the end of the file. This only works when you are viewing the full file URL.

  If you have a specific frame or layer selected, Figma will add an ID for that node to the URL. For example: ?node-id=21%3A0. You need to remove any node id's before adding /duplicate to the file's URL.

  

• Save a local copy of files

  You can save a local copy of a file in the .fig (Figma design) or .jam (FigJam) formats. This is useful if you want to duplicate files between Figma accounts or teams, or if you want to manually back up your files.

  Figma doesn't include any version history or comments when you save a local copy of a file. When you reimport this file, Figma treats this like a new file and it won't be connected to the original. Any components in the imported file will become new main components. Instances in the imported file will connect to the new main components and will not receive updates from components in the original file.

  Note: The .fig and .jam file formats are proprietary and may change in the future. We recommend against using any third-party tools that ask for .fig or .jam files because they may not be able to properly read these files. If you're building a third-party tool, we recommend accessing files and their contents through one of Figma’s officially supported APIs.

  To save a local copy of a file:

  1. Open the file you want to export.
  2. Click <file menu icon> to open the main menu.
  3. Go to File > Save a local copy to download a copy of the file to your downloads folder.

  To import a local copy of a file:

  1. Open the Figma account you want to import the file to.
  2. Drag the the .fig or .jam file into Figma.
• Delete and restore files

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on Starter, Education, Professional, or Organization plans

  Anyone with can edit access to a file can delete or restore it for all collaborators.

  Anyone with can edit access to a file can delete files forever.

  Anyone with can edit or can view access can duplicate deleted files to drafts.

  When you delete a file, Figma will remove the file from the project for all collaborators. You will now only be able to access the file from your deleted files folder.

  View, restore, and permanently delete files in the Deleted tab of your Drafts. Figma stores deleted files indefinitely, until you or another collaborator deletes them forever.

  Want to delete a project? Delete a project to archive the files in that project. This will delete the project and any files for all collaborators. Learn how to delete projects →

  Delete a file

  Caution: Deleting a file will remove the file for all collaborators, not just yourself. To remove a file from your file browser for just yourself, we recommend you leave the file instead.

  • A

    File browser

    1. Open the project where the file lives.
    2. Right-click on the file to open the file menu.
    3. Select Delete from the options.
    4. Figma will move the file to your Deleted files. This will also remove the file for all collaborators.
  • B

    Editor

    1. With your Figma file open, click on an empty spot in the canvas to deselect any layers.
    2. In the toolbar, click the next to the file name.
    3. Select Delete from the options.
    4. Figma will move the file to your Deleted files. This will also remove the file for all collaborators.

  Find deleted files

  When you delete a file, Figma will remove the file for all collaborators and move it to Deleted files tab. Files remain in the Deleted files folder until restored or deleted forever.

  The Deleted files tab is an archive of all deleted files you had access to. If anyone else deletes a file or project you have access to, the files will also appear here. It's not possible to open a deleted file, but you can restore ↓, duplicate ↓, or permanently delete ↓ deleted files.

  Sort and filter

  Once you are in the Deleted files tab, you can view, sort, and filter any deleted files that you had access to. Here are the available options:

  • A

    Created by

    Use the Created by... to view deleted files by creator. Choose from:

    • Created by Anyone: All deleted files you had access to, including files you created and other collaborators created.
    • Created by You (default): Files you created.
    • Created by Others: Files created by other collaborators.
  • B

    Sort

    Use the drop-down to Sort your results

    • Date deleted (default)
    • Alphabetical
    • Date created
    • Last modified
  • C

    Order

    Choose between Ascending or Descending (default) order.

    Tip! Descending order for dates and last modified means most recent to least recent. Descending alphabetical order means Descending means Z → A → numerical

  • D

    View

    Click List and Grid to switch between views in the file browser.

  

  Note: Search results will not include files in the Deleted tab, or files that have been deleted forever.

  Restore deleted files

  If its original projects still exists, anyone with can edit access can restore a file. This restores the file for anyone who had access to it at the time of deletion.

  This will also keep the permissions, comments, version history, and library connections of the original file.

  1. Click on Drafts in the file browser.
  2. Select the Deleted tab.
  3. Right-click on the file to open the file menu.
  4. Select Restore to restore to the File to its original location.

  Note: If you don't see an option to restore your file, this is because you had can view access to the file.

  

  Duplicate deleted files

  Anyone with access to a file will be able to duplicate a deleted file.

  If you had can view access to a file or if its parent project gets deleted, then you won't be able to restore the file to its original location. Instead, you can make a copy of the file in your Drafts.

  Note: Duplicating a deleted file won't include any of the permissions, comments, version history, or library connections from the original file.

  1. Click Drafts in the sidebar and select the Deleted tab.
  2. Right-click on the file to open the file menu.
  3. Select Duplicate to Drafts to create a copy of the File in your Drafts.
  4. Switch back to the Drafts tab to view and access the file.

  

  Delete files forever

  Caution: This action will permanently delete the file for all collaborators. Proceed with caution.

  Anyone with can edit access to the file can delete the file forever. This action is permanent and can't be undone.

  If you don't see the Delete forever option when interacting with a file, it means you didn't have edit access to the file and you won't be able to delete it forever.

  1. Click on Drafts in the file browser.
  2. Navigate to the Deleted tab.
  3. Right-click on the file to open the file menu.
  4. Select Delete forever from the options.

  

  Note: If you had access to a project that got deleted, only the containing files to which you had explicit permissions on will show up in your Deleted tab.

• Delete projects

  Before you start

  Who can use this feature

  Supported on any team or plan.

  Only Editors, team admins and owners can make changes to projects

  Caution: This action will delete the project for all collaborators and remove the project from the team. It's not possible to restore deleted projects, but you can restore the files within them.

  If you no longer need a project, you can delete it. When you delete a project, Figma will move all the files in that project to the deleted files folder.

  1. 1. Open the project in the file browser.
     2. Click the three dots menu to the right of the screen.
     3. Select Delete project.
     4. Click Delete project to confirm.

  Accidentally deleted a project? We recommend that you:

  1. Restore the deleted files (you can find the Deleted tab in the Drafts folder)
  2. Create a new project in your team
  3. Move those files into the team

  Learn how to delete and restore files →