Tabs not showing when i open a file

Hi @Emmy, thank you for reaching out! I’m sorry to hear about the trouble you’re experiencing.

To better understand the issue, could you clarify a few things for me?

• When you say “I only see the design file,” where is it opening—directly in the browser, the desktop app, or somewhere else?
• Are you seeing any error messages?
• If possible, could you share a quick screen recording or screenshots of what happens when you open a file? This will help me reproduce the issue on my end and find the best solution for you.

Thank you for your help!

this issue only comes up when i use the desktop app. i see no error messages.

here in the video, no tab is opened when i click on the file, i can see the file opening but it doesnt come up as a tab where i can leave and come back to it later.

Hello, any updates on this issue please?

Hey @Emmy, apologies for the delayed response and thank you for sharing the screen recording—it really helps to see what’s happening.

Let’s try a few steps to troubleshoot the issue:

• Check for Updates and ensure both your operating system and the Figma app are up to date
• Reinstall the desktop app will refresh your setup and make sure you’re running the latest version.

You can also try clearing the desktop app cache:

1. Close the Figma desktop app.
2. Open the Help > Troubleshooting menu in Figma to clear the cache (if you’re using Windows).
3. Alternatively, you can do it manually:
   • Open the Start menu and paste %APPDATA%\Figma, then press Enter.
   • In the folder that appears, delete the DesktopProfile folder.
   • Relaunch the Figma desktop app.

Please let me know if this resolves your issue, happy to get you connected to our support team if the issue persists.

Deleted the folder, issue still persists

Thanks for confirming @Emmy! I’ve created a support ticket on your behalf so our team can look into this for you. Your ticket number is #1184881, and you can use it as a reference for follow-ups.

To help us investigate further and resolve this quickly, could you please download the Figma desktop app debug logs and share them with our support team? These logs will help us better understand what’s happening.

Additionally, could you confirm the model of your PC and the OS version you’re using.

Our support team typically responds within 24 hours, often sooner under normal circumstances. However, we’re currently experiencing a higher volume of inquiries, so there may be a slight delay.

I appreciate your patience, and we’ll do our best to assist you as quickly as possible.
Let me know if you have any additional questions in the meantime!

file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/Figma-debug-59cc0d10f286493f9641b0acfe8abae7.html

My PC model is HP Elitebook 830 G6
OS version Windows 10 Pro, 10.0. 19045 Build 19045

Hey there, I forgot to inform you that I’ve forwarded these information to the support team. I took a look at your ticket and it looks like this is a expected behaviour because you have too many tabs open and the tabs don’t fit in the horizontal view. We have a forum post about this: Desktop Figma app: Too many tabs open, can't view the tabs don't fit in the horizontal view.
As a workaround I’d recommend to close some tabs.

Hey, thanks for sharing this! I forgot to inform you that I’ve forwarded the details to the support team, and upon checking your ticket, it seems like this behavior occurs when there are too many tabs open, and they no longer fit in the horizontal view. This is at this moment an expected behaviour.

There’s a discussion about this in our forum: Desktop Figma app too many tabs open.

As a workaround, closing some unused tabs should help.

Thank you,
Gayani

same for me nothing at the top i can’t switch between tabs now.

Hey @Navjeet_Singh1, thank you for reaching out! From what you’ve described, this might happen when there are too many tabs open, and they no longer fit in the horizontal view.

Are you not seeing any tabs? If possible, could you share a screen recording of the issue? It’ll help me understand better and provide more specific guidance.

In the meantime, one workaround is to close some tabs to make space for the visible ones. There’s also a discussion about this behavior in our forum that might provide some additional context: Desktop Figma app: Too many tabs open, can’t view the tabs don’t fit in the horizontal view.

Let me know if that helps, or if there’s anything else I can assist with!

This looks like a navigation design problem. 

Page parking is a common behaviour and providing an intuitive way of navigating through the sea of tabs is a good design challenge.

It would be great if the design team at Figma can look into some potential solutions. Posting some commonly found patterns from web.

Tab grouping from Chrome:
 

Navigation between overflown tabs (not ideal but an option to show selected tab)

I will try and update this post later with more potential solutions..

Hi @N.A.G.A, I completely agree – managing multiple tabs can definitely be a tricky issue in Figma. I love the idea of tab grouping from Chrome as a potential solution, as well as options to easily navigate through overflowed tabs. These could be great additions for making the interface more user-friendly and intuitive.

It would be great if Figma’s design team could explore these suggestions further! Thanks for sharing your thoughts – I’m sure this could improve the overall experience for everyone using the app with many open tabs.

Looking forward to hearing more updates on this!