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Question

Font variable doesn't visually update across pages unless text is interacted with

  • June 19, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 24 views

Genrole_Caspe

Description

When I update a font family variable in my design system (e.g., changing FontPrimary in the brand collection), the text on some pages doesn't visually reflect the new font. The change does apply, but the new font only renders after I double click or otherwise interact with the text. Until then, the old font appears on canvas.

This issue seems to affect styles that use font variables indirectly through alias collections and text styles.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create a font family variable in a brand collection (e.g., FontPrimary = DM Sans).

  2. Reference this font variable in an alias collection that defines type scales.

  3. Apply those variables via Text Styles across multiple pages in the file.

  4. Change the value of FontPrimary to a different font (e.g., Inter).

  5. Observe: some pages update correctly, but others still show the old font.

  6. Double click on text on the affected pages — it instantly updates to the correct new font.

Expected Behavior

All text styles using the updated variable should immediately re-render with the new font across the file.

Actual Behavior

Only text on the current page updates. Other pages retain the old font visually until the text is interacted with (e.g., double-clicked).

Additional Info

  • The text styles are not detached or overridden.

  • Variable references are correctly set and functional.

  • Zooming or switching pages doesn’t reliably trigger re-render.

  • Occurs in files with multiple pages using text styles and variable-linked fonts.

1 reply

Tom Reem
Figmate
  • Figmate
  • 163 replies
  • June 23, 2025

Hi ​@Genrole_Caspe, welcome to Figma Forum and thanks for laying this out! 🙏🏻

 

Sorry to hear you're running into this — definitely shouldn’t be happening. I tried to recreate the issue on my end but wasn’t able to at first. That said, here are a couple of quick checks that might help:

  • Confirm your environment: Are you using the browser version or the Desktop App? And are you on the latest version (125.4.9)?
  • Clear your cache: How to clear Figma cache

 

If the issue persists after checking those, it’d be great to take a closer look at the file. To get going on that, you can reach out to our Product Support team and include the following:

  • a link to this Forum thread for context
  • a full-size screen recording showing the issue (if possible)
  • a link to the affected file
  • edit access granted to support-share@figma.com.

 

Let us know how it goes — happy to keep digging in.


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