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Zoe Wei
Zoe Wei
New Member
June 29, 2026
Solved

Auto Layout flow doesn’t seem to be working in the secondary components.

Hey, after today’s update, the Auto Layout flow doesn’t seem to be working in the secondary components anymore.

Is anyone else experiencing the same issue? : ( 

 

 

    AlicePackard
    AlicePackardSolution
    Power Member
    June 30, 2026

    The best solution I can think of is to make a variant property on the main component with options for the various auto layout directions that you need (eg “vertical”, “horizontal”).

    Alternatively, you could put those text layers into a Slot. The slot will afford you more styling freedom in instances! But you'd want to keep the text layers wrapped in a an auto layout frame within the slot so you can still adjust its direction.

    I could see a future where Figma opens up auto layout direction as an overridable attribute… but I think it’d be a big challenge, and could cause other issues. Eg changing from horizontal to grid opens up a ton of new decisions at the instance level.

    I write about building excellent Figma components on my blog: https://alicepackarddesign.com/blog
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    3 replies

    AlicePackard
    AlicePackard
    Power Member
    June 30, 2026

    Hey ​@Zoe Wei, first, thanks for the annotated screenshot! And also for including the entire Figma interface. There’s a lot of useful information in there that helps me understand your set up.

    This looks like expected behavior to me. In your screenshot, you have an instance of a component named “Main.” It has never been possible to change the auto layout type, or direction, on instances—at least to my knowledge.

    If I’m misunderstanding what the issue is, do let me know!

    I write about building excellent Figma components on my blog: https://alicepackarddesign.com/blog
    Zoe Wei
    Zoe WeiAuthor
    New Member
    June 30, 2026

    For some reason….I remembered that it was possible to change the Auto Layout flow on nested component instances. But if that functionality isn't available, I completely understand. Thanks for clarifying!

    Do anyone know if this is something that might be supported in the future? It would be really helpful to avoid having to detach the nested component instance from the main component just to change the Auto Layout flow.

    AlicePackard
    AlicePackardSolution
    Power Member
    June 30, 2026

    The best solution I can think of is to make a variant property on the main component with options for the various auto layout directions that you need (eg “vertical”, “horizontal”).

    Alternatively, you could put those text layers into a Slot. The slot will afford you more styling freedom in instances! But you'd want to keep the text layers wrapped in a an auto layout frame within the slot so you can still adjust its direction.

    I could see a future where Figma opens up auto layout direction as an overridable attribute… but I think it’d be a big challenge, and could cause other issues. Eg changing from horizontal to grid opens up a ton of new decisions at the instance level.

    I write about building excellent Figma components on my blog: https://alicepackarddesign.com/blog
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