Figma Keyboard Shortcuts That Actually Speed Up Your Workflow

Figma has hundreds of keyboard shortcuts. Most aren't worth memorizing. This guide covers the ones that meaningfully speed up real design work — the shortcuts that become muscle memory after a week of consistent use.

On Mac, Cmd is the modifier. On Windows/Linux, use Ctrl instead.

Selection and tools

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | V | Move tool (select and move elements) | | K | Scale tool (resize proportionally from center) | | F | Frame tool | | R | Rectangle | | O | Ellipse | | L | Line | | P | Pen tool | | T | Text | | I | Color picker / eyedropper | | Escape | Return to parent / deselect | | Enter | Enter a group or component to select children |

The Scale tool (K) is underused. When you want to resize a frame with all its children proportionally — not stretch it — Scale is the right tool. The Move tool (V) stretches; Scale (K) scales.

Editing and duplicating

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Cmd+D | Duplicate in place | | Alt+drag | Copy element while dragging | | Cmd+G | Group selection | | Cmd+Shift+G | Ungroup | | Cmd+Alt+G | Frame selection (wrap in a frame) | | Cmd+[ | Move layer backward | | Cmd+] | Move layer forward | | Cmd+Shift+[ | Move layer to back | | Cmd+Shift+] | Move layer to front | | Cmd+E | Flatten selection | | Cmd+Shift+H | Flip horizontal | | Cmd+Shift+V | Flip vertical |

Cmd+Alt+G is the faster way to wrap a group in a frame than using the layers panel. Select the elements, press it, and you have a frame ready for Auto Layout.

Alt+drag is the fastest way to create copies. Hold Alt while dragging an element to create a copy at the destination.

Alignment

These work with multiple elements selected:

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Alt+A | Align left edges | | Alt+D | Align right edges | | Alt+W | Align top edges | | Alt+S | Align bottom edges | | Alt+H | Align horizontal centers | | Alt+V | Align vertical centers |

No shortcuts for distribute evenly — use the alignment panel for that. But the edge alignment shortcuts (Alt+A/D/W/S) remove the need to reach for the panel constantly.

Text

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | T | Text tool | | Cmd+B | Bold | | Cmd+I | Italic | | Cmd+U | Underline | | Cmd+Shift+< | Decrease font size | | Cmd+Shift+> | Increase font size |

To edit text: double-click it (while in Move tool) to enter edit mode. Press Escape to exit text editing and return to the Move tool.

View and navigation

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Cmd+\ | Toggle UI (hides panels for full-screen canvas view) | | Space+drag | Pan the canvas | | Cmd+0 | Fit page in view (zoom out to see everything) | | Cmd+1 | Zoom to 100% | | Cmd+2 | Zoom to selection | | Cmd++ | Zoom in | | Cmd+- | Zoom out | | Cmd+Shift+3 | Toggle rulers | | Cmd+Shift+4 | Toggle layout grids | | Cmd+Alt+\ | Toggle multiplayer cursors |

Cmd+\ (hide UI) is the fastest way to get a clean view of your design for screenshots or presentations. Cmd+2 (zoom to selection) is useful when you're jumping between sections of a large file.

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Component and style shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Cmd+Alt+K | Create component | | Cmd+Alt+B | Detach instance from component | | Cmd+Alt+E | Edit main component (from an instance) | | Cmd+/ | Quick actions (search commands, plugins) |

Cmd+/ opens Figma's quick action menu — it's like Spotlight for Figma. Use it to run plugins, apply styles, insert components, and access any command without navigating menus. Type any command and it appears.

Auto Layout

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Shift+A | Add Auto Layout to selection | | Alt+Shift+A | Remove Auto Layout |

After applying Auto Layout, adjust spacing and padding from the right panel. No additional shortcuts for those — the panel is faster for numeric input.

Prototyping

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | Cmd+Alt+Return | Present prototype | | N (in prototype tab) | Start a new connection |

To quickly test a prototype without entering presentation mode, use Cmd+Alt+Return while in the prototype tab to open the preview panel.

A note on learning shortcuts

Don't try to memorize all of these at once. Pick five you don't currently use and focus on those for a week. Once they're automatic, add five more.

The highest-ROI shortcuts for most designers: Cmd+D (duplicate), Shift+A (auto layout), Cmd+\ (hide UI), Cmd+/ (quick actions), and Alt+drag (copy while dragging). Start there.