Reproduction: Created a dropdown component defined slot areas for dropdown menu ‘the rows’ created a seperate singular component and named it ‘_row’ (so it wouldn’t get published) defined ‘_row’ as the preferred value forr the slot area but when dropdown component published, and pulled into another figma file ‘_row’ doesn’t show up as it’s not a published component. Opinion, if a unpublished component have been defined as a preferred value, it should be available to be picked. I basically do not want to expose a building block to the other designers because it’s never going to be used anywhere else apart from the dropdown window. How it looks when called from another file.How it looks inside the library file.

@Jaycee LewisYeah, I’ve attached a couple ofvideos and images for reference. The steps I took are:Create a slot in the componentAdd the unpublished component as a preferred instanceInsert an instance of the component into another fileGo to add an instance into the slotObserve that the list doesn’t show the hidden componentThis is the case for components that’d previously been working with unpublished components, as well as components created after the issue started happening. I’m on macOS 26.5.2 and the Mac app version of Figma (126.2.10) but it’s the same on the web version too (Safari 26.5.2.).Component setupInstance when trying to add more of the unpublished component to the Slot

Corey_Korhan

New Member

Question

Unpublished components won't show up preferred Slot instances

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
May 8, 2026
9 replies
124 views

Reproduction:

Created a dropdown component
defined slot areas for dropdown menu ‘the rows’
created a seperate singular component and named it ‘_row’ (so it wouldn’t get published)
defined ‘_row’ as the preferred value forr the slot area
but when dropdown component published, and pulled into another figma file ‘_row’ doesn’t show up as it’s not a published component.

Opinion, if a unpublished component have been defined as a preferred value, it should be available to be picked. I basically do not want to expose a building block to the other designers because it’s never going to be used anywhere else apart from the dropdown window.

How it looks when called from another file.

Sarah_Dyer

New Member

I am having this issue now— it used to just work. Not sure which update changed this behavior but now I can’t swap nested instances to other preferred components.

Jaycee Lewis

Figmate

Hey, @Sarah_Dyer 👋 That sounds unexpected. You can share the bug report through our Support Hub or from within Figma by selecting the question mark icon in the bottom-right corner of any page and selecting Contact support — What to share in a bug report to Figma Support

If you have any issues getting that support ticket opened, let me know and I’m happy to help. Talk soon! — Jaycee

Damian_Summersall

New Participant

Was there a resolution to this? I’m having the same issue.

Kingery_Michael

New Participant

same issue here - it used to work, now it’s broken.

Jaycee Lewis

Figmate

Hey hey @Damian_Summersall @Kingery_Michael would either of you be able to grab a current example of this happening along with the steps you took? A screen recording is always best and screenshots that are not zoomed in are great too. It will make it easier to get to support and save all some back and forth. Thanks! — Jaycee

Damian_Summersall

New Participant

@Jaycee Lewis Yeah, I’ve attached a couple of videos and images for reference. The steps I took are:

Create a slot in the component
Add the unpublished component as a preferred instance
Insert an instance of the component into another file
Go to add an instance into the slot
Observe that the list doesn’t show the hidden component

This is the case for components that’d previously been working with unpublished components, as well as components created after the issue started happening. I’m on macOS 26.5.2 and the Mac app version of Figma (126.2.10) but it’s the same on the web version too (Safari 26.5.2.).

Instance when trying to add more of the unpublished component to the Slot

Screen Recording 2026-07-08 at 8.59.06 am.mov

Screen Recording 2026-07-08 at 9.04.31 am.mov

Jaycee Lewis

Figmate

Hey folks. I took this to the team for clarification. This is a current product limitation, but it is on the team's radar. I don't have a timeframe to share just yet, but I do have some guidance to help you move forward:

If you want the component to be selectable from other files, publishing it is currently the best path forward. You can use a naming convention like an underscore prefix to signal "don't use this directly."
If you need to add more of it into a slot elsewhere, duplicating an existing instance already in the file is a great alternative, since that doesn't go through the picker

Hey @Sarah_Dyer @Damian_Summersall @Kingery_Michael does summary this match your experience? The issue is referred instances need to be published to select them from another file, since unpublished components only exist locally in their source file.

I’ll update this thread as soon as I have more news to share. — Jaycee

Kingery_Michael

New Participant

it doesn’t - but maybe we’re using “unpublished” and “hidden” interchangeably.

i want to hide subcomponents from the asset picker for authors, but include them as preferred instances in slots. when i hide them with a . or _ they are not being passed into the slot picker.

Jaycee Lewis

Figmate

Hey @Kingery_Michael 👋 Thank you very much for taking the time to loop back with more details.

A quick test if you have a moment: publish _row without the prefix and confirm it shows up in the slot picker from another file. Then re-add the prefix, republish, and see if it disappear from both places. That toggle shows the prefix = unpublish behavior directly.

To confirm the goal you’re after — published + updatable + resolves cross-file, but suppressed from the Assets panel — isn't supported yet. It's a real and popular request though, and there's an active feature thread tracking exactly this that's worth a +1 for visibility: https://forum.figma.com/suggest-a-feature-11/megathread-preferred-values-and-published-vs-hidden-39794

Please let me know if I misunderstood or if you need any additional help! — Jaycee

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