Roles in Figma
Who can use this feature
Roles are supported on the Professional, Organization, and Enterprise plans.
Figma has two products: Figma design and FigJam. Everyone on a paid plan (Professional, Organization, or Enterprise) will have a role on each product.
A person's role determines their billing status; if they’re included in your billing. It also controls what activities they can do in design or FigJam files. There are three roles: viewer, viewer-restricted, and editor.
On an organization plan (Organization and Enterprise), a person’s team, project, and file permissions also affect their access.
Who can manage roles
Only admins can manage roles for other members and guests.
- Professional plan: team admins can manage roles and permissions.
- Organization plan: only organization admins can manage roles. Team admins manage team-level permissions.
- Enterprise plan: organization admins can manage roles for anyone in the organization. Workspace admins manage roles for people in workspaces they manage. Team admins manage team-level permissions.
Note: On the Enterprise plan, organization admins can choose the default role for each product. Otherwise, anyone new to a team on the Professional plan or an organization, has an introductory viewer role.
Types of roles
Viewer
Viewer is an introductory role that removes barriers to collaboration for new members and guests. Figma doesn't include viewers in the organization's billing.
Viewers can upgrade themselves to a paid editor role by performing an upgrade action. Admins don't need to approve these upgrades:
- Share a file from their drafts to the organization
- Make an edit to a team or organization file when it is shared with can edit permissions (Professional and Organization plans)
- Click Edit file to edit a file (Enterprise plan only)
- Join a team that doesn't have any editors
- Create a file within a team project
This allows people to get the access they need without requiring approval. Figma only includes them in the organization’s billing when they signal their intent and take an explicit edit action.
Note: As this is a provisional role, it's not possible to set someone's role back to viewer after they are upgraded.
To restrict a member or guest's ability to upgrade themselves, admins can downgrade them to a viewer-restricted role.
Viewer-restricted
Viewer-restricted members and guests can only take some actions within an organization. Figma doesn't include anyone with a viewer-restricted role in the organization's billing.
Admins have explicit control over if and when they get an editor seat. People with viewer-restricted roles can’t upgrade themselves to an editor role.
These members and guests need to request an editor upgrade if they want to edit on Figma design or FigJam. Admins can approve or ignore their request to upgrade them to a paid editor seat on that product.
Caution: Downgrading a member or guest to viewer-restricted won't remove their edit permissions on teams, files, or projects. While they won't be able to edit files, they can still perform other file and project-level actions. Team permissions →
Editor
Editors are billable members and guests that have edit access to at least one team, file, or project. Despite their billing status, editors don't have edit access to the entire organization, just the resources they have can edit
permissions on.
Figma includes anyone with an editor role in the organization's billing. Both members and guests can have editor roles.
Admins can review and manage roles of any editors. They can also downgrade roles before confirming or finalizing billing.
Viewer versus viewer-restricted?
When you add people to a team or organization, Figma gives them an introductory viewer role. Viewers can upgrade themselves to an editor role by performing an upgrade action.
People with a Viewer-restricted role have explicitly restricted access. Viewer-restricted users need to request an upgrade, which can be approved by an admin.
Activities
Some activities are restricted to specific roles. We’ve broken these down into general activities, and activities in Figma design and FigJam files.
General
Action |
Viewer | Viewer - restricted | Editor |
---|---|---|---|
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Upgrade action | Drafts only | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | Can create team, but not any files in that team | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Upgrade action | Requires admin approval | ✓ | |
Upgrade action | ✕ | ✓ | |
Invite people to teams, projects, or files |
✓ | With can view access only | ✓ |
✓ | Can view only | Can view by default | |
Can view or can edit | Can view only | ✓ | |
Access secret teams (by invite only) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Upgrade action | ✕ | ✓ | |
In drafts | In drafts | ✓ | |
In drafts | In drafts | ✓ | |
Upgrade action | ✕ | ✓ |
Figma design files
Action |
Viewer | Viewer-restricted | Editor |
---|---|---|---|
Open and view design files |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Move, edit, or delete layers |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Edit design and prototype properties |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
In drafts only | In drafts only | ✓ | |
in drafts only | In drafts only | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
View the version history of a file, then duplicate or share links to specific versions |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create and name file versions, or restore previous versions of a file |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
Save a local copy as .fig (see note below) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Copy frames, components, and layers (see note below) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Export frames, layers, and assets in design files (see note below) |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Move and adjust layers on the canvas |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Create branches (Organization and Enterprise only) |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
Note: Editors can choose whether to allow viewers to copy, share, or export from a file. This is set for each file individually. If you're a viewer or viewer-restricted member and can't copy from a file, it usually means this setting has been disabled.
FigJam files
Action |
Viewer | Viewer - restricted | Editor |
---|---|---|---|
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Copy objects on the board |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Follow along in observation mode |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
Create stickies, shapes, connectors, and text |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
In drafts | In drafts | ✓ | |
In drafts | In drafts | ✓ | |
Insert code blocks, widgets, or media (Images, GIFs, videos, links) |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ | |
Run plugins in FigJam files |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
View the version history of a file, then duplicate or share links to specific versions |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Create and name file versions, or restore previous versions of a file |
✕ | ✕ | ✓ |