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Lucas_Orellanos
Lucas_Orellanos
New Participant
July 10, 2023

A shortcut to open the "Local variables" window

  • July 10, 2023
  • 15 replies
  • 3638 views

Hello everyone!

I think having a shortcut to open/close the local variables would be very helpful.
For example in cases where I’m prototyping and need to access the local variables to ensure the accuracy of the variable names or values that I’m assigning in the interactions.
Currently, if I want to do this, I have to switch between the prototype panel to the design panel in order to open the local variables, check them and then go back to prototype.

Note:
I am aware that it is possible to keep the local variables window open, but this often leads to numerous bugs in the prototype. For example, when it is open, I am unable to drag the prototype interactions to reorder them.

    15 replies

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    Peter Pedaci
    Peter Pedaci
    New Member
    March 12, 2025

    This is so needed! 

    There used to be a menu-bar command ‘Toggle Variables’ that I had assigned a shortcut to but it seems to have vanished with the latest updates. Please bring it back or introduce your own shortcut.

    It would also be worth thinking about arranging the variables panel differently, as it is now, as a floating window it becomes hard to manage once you have more than a dozen variables and/or 2+ modes.

    As much as I like the browser-app approach of Figma, the fact that you cannot make use of a secondary screen for UI elements is a seriously crippling limitation.

      Federico_Fala
      Federico_Fala
      New Participant
      April 15, 2025

      ‘Toggle Variables’ is still available in FigmaLogo > View > Panels > Toggle variables however assigning a shortcut on mac with app shortcuts from the system settings will not work.

       

       

        DmitriyScalo
        DmitriyScalo
        New Member
        January 15, 2026

        ‘Toggle Variables’ is still available in FigmaLogo > View > Panels > Toggle variables however assigning a shortcut on mac with app shortcuts from the system settings will not work.

         

         

        Use other shortcut, cmd+shift+option+v e.g., it will be work

          AKSEL
          AKSEL
          New Member
          February 11, 2026

          On macOS:

          System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts → Create a new shortcut → Select Figma for the application → Menu title: “View->Panels->Toggle Variables” → Select a preferred shortcut that isn’t used already by figma (personal favorite CMD+§) → Done.

            Ana Faustino
            Ana Faustino
            New Member
            February 18, 2026

            On Windows (PT-PT keyboard layout), the shortcut does not exist. I must open this window through the panel or sidebar button every time, which means deselecting everything so that the button even shows on the page sidebar.

            Some other notes:

            • Pressing “Esc” closes this window while you’re actually editing something on the UI -- this is extremely annoying when you are editing variables and need to keep them constantly open to see the effects on the UI. This happens every time I press “Esc”, even if the last click was outside of the window.
            • The Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V shortcuts also typically don’t work. They grab from the variables window and duplicate variables instead of the assets I’m working on in the UI, even if the last click to copy/paste was outside of the window (e.g. copying text from a button).

            This entire workflow needs heavy improvements overall. It’s been a year since this functionality was added.

             

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