Unable to view "Change Variable Mode" icon in layer panel

Dear Reaz,

Make sure, you have set prior created variable to an element of that specific page. Once you assign any variable to an element, the icon will appear.

Hey Thanks Zhorzhik,

Below is FYR

Hello!
I had the same issue and I tried to set every element with a different mode then the icon shows up.

I have the same problem. I do not see the “Change Variable Mode” icon in the layer panel after the creation of variable. I have applied variables to a frame and set 2 mode, but I do not see an icon next to the layer panel.

This is because you may be using figma free version. I am also facing this same issue due to free version. I am also facing single mode in creation of variable. When i click on plus button to add second mode it require pay for 12$. We request from figma team please allow at-least two mode to free figma plan. 4 mode for paid plan.

When i click on plus button to add second mode it require pay for 12$.

Hi, I have the same issue. I have a professional license. I can see the icon on page level, and I can create several modes, but I can’t see it on the layer level. I have updated, restarted and reloaded Figma. Have anybody found a solution to this?

Does not work on layer level

Now it works, not sure what did the trick though. I tried publishing all new variables. I also tried to put mode on more collections (both primitives and tokens collection) etc, so maybe something of that did the trick, not sure.

I was having the same problem of not seeing the mode selector in the layers module. I had two collections, primitives and tokens. The mode was only set on the tokens but I was using primitives so naturally the mode selector didn’t show up.

I have been running into the same issue. I have a pro license and my file is in a team project folder, so that is not the issue. When I create variables with modes, I am able to set the page to the mode but if I add a section frame, the layers box in the design tab does not offer the variable icon. I have had success by creating the section then closing Figma and reopening it, the variables icon then showed up in the layers box. While this has worked some of the time, it still doesn’t work most of the time. My guess is that it is a Beta bug but if there is a known reason why this is the case or I am doing something wrong, I’d love to know. Here is a link to an example file where this situation is occurring. https://www.figma.com/file/yT49Qt0bCQFyNJDhF5Srwl/Variables-Training?type=design&node-id=0%3A1&mode=design&t=8p0LN3VRBhBkhz8G-1

Do you mean that when a section is selected that does not contain nested layers, in the Design panel under Layer section you cannot set variable modes? So in this case, everything works as expected, since there is not a single layer in this section in which you can change the variable modes.

Thank you for that clarification. It totally makes sense now why the option was not showing up yet.

Hello, I have the same issue. Some elements on the same page can see the “Change Variable Mode” icon in the layer panel, but some can’t. Even when the “Change Variable Mode” icon shows up, it cannot select the selectors inside the mode.

I have set up two collections, but I can only view one collection at a time after I click the “Change Variable Mode” icon.

Here is an image I made a few weeks ago, when I was able to choose the selectors from the mode. Thank you for your help.

Is the variable bound to the “Purple/600” style fill?

Your collection has only one mode.

I have the same issue too. 😦

It is a new fiature and it is very glitchy because of that

I’ve found that if a component doesnt want to show modes changing icon in Layer block — then I must assign at least one to the component properties, f.e. boolean to its visibility (if I dont have to hide it dynamically) then the mode icon appears.

Whats more interesting — when I clear the boolean set by variable — the set mode icon vanishes but IF I’ve chosen the mode for this component other than (Auto) — it keeps this parameter (it is seen in layers panel on the left) though there is no button in interface to change it…

Similar to someone else in this thread, the tokens option for Layers wasn’t showing up for me until I made both primitives and tokens. I’m trying to get everything to resize (padding, gaps, and width) when moving the design from say a desktop frame to an iPad frame.

As you can see, I’m not seeing the tokens option for a blank frame, which I find odd. But I do see it when I have a frame that has designs in it.

Here are my primitive and token settings for what I’m trying to achieve.

Is this getting fixed at some point? The thread is over a year old and I still have this issue with no solution.

I have the same problem and it’s 2024, I don’t understand how to fix it

Hi all, in case you don’t realize it that you’ve wrongly applied colors on the design to Primitive rather than to token because the UI/UX on Figma itself is a bit confusing and as a low-vision person, I’ve wrongly chosen it too even though I used it and worked well before that.

There was a case where the Primitive colours were on the top of the Token (on Fill>Libraries) while on other pages the Token is on the top, and the Title of Primitive/Token is a bit similar hierarchically to the categories title (color, spacing) just in case this is your problem too. Of course, it is fixed now after applied to the token.