Copy/Move variable groups into other collections

Moving does not seem to exist. If I copy and paste a variable to another collection I have to reassign the variable from the new collection to any of the inputs where the original copied variable is being applied.

I agree with @Matthew_Ryan about “launched”. We clearly need at least one new request thread.

For my own part, I’m looking for a way to move one or more variable collections from one library to another such that the assignments remain intact.
This would essentially mirror the functionality of moving (cutting/pasting) components from one library to another.

As a user, this seems like an obvious need. I wished for it within 24 hours of the beta release of variables. Almost immediately after creating a variable set in a specific design document, I realized that I’d want the affected components and their new variables to be moved into a global library where they could be used by all designs in our design system.

This can be done for the components, but the variables would always have to be recreated and then reassigned. I’ve lost days trying to do this. It’s not just a matter of manually recreating the variables, but also the debugging involved in trying to figure out where all those variables were used.

Until this is a real feature, my only recourse is to create ALL variable sets in a single, global styles library that is available to all designs.

Its so frustrating to see Figma team launching half cooked feature and announcing it as done!
This feature is so buggy i would be ashamed to release it. where was the QA team on this feature?

My thoughts exactly. Right now I’m reassigning the variables for the needs of my other files and files from other colleagues, but it seems a too manual approach in my view. 

This is not “launched”, not the way anyone actually needs it.

That would definitely make organizing variables much easier! Being able to duplicate or move groups between collections would save a lot of time.

Try this:

https://youtu.be/dva9pBoXoHM?si=dWLI2PJ99h6m7YXD

+1 this is not yet fixed so please remove the [launched] tag. 

False flag. This is NOT LAUNCHED!

Still can’t move variables at all!

Requesting this feature too. Feeling the pain! Hope it comes soon.

still awaiting a resolution. I appreciate your dev team’s continued efforts; I’m sure their eyes must be tired from keeping such a close watch on this for so long.

Not really lunched: Currently, variable groups cannot be moved without losing all variable links. Based on the thread title, I expected the ability to move variable groups to other collections while retaining their corresponding variable links. This feature would be very useful, as the optimal collection structure sometimes only becomes apparent during the development process. Consequently, making adjustments is currently limited, or it becomes very time-consuming to reassign all variable links when the collection structure is changed.

+1 We need this feature.

Ran into this issue today, and pretty surprised there’s this much support for so long without resolution - the variables manager is woefully underdeveloped for how critical it is to core workflows.

I have a set of color variables that I need to expand heavily - these need to be grouped/categorized differently, so I need to move that set over to a new collection, and keep the links already created in some hundreds of files. This is simply impossible at the moment.

to be clear: copy is not sufficient at all, move is required

We also need to be able to move (not copy) variables between collections while retaining the links. Surprised to see this isn’t a feature, even inside of a single file.

Why does this say “Launched?” This is annoying and silly. This should be basic, standard functionality. And to say “launched?” Is just a waste of everyone’s time who is trying to find an answer.

I thought the figma team undestand the designers. This ‘launch’ proves me wrong. I dont care about copying the values. As its been stated here multiple times we want to MOVE the variables we arleady have retainign the links that already exist. Its hard to plan the structure you’ll be happy with beforehand and we need ways to correct ourselves along the way. 

Why cant we still move variables between collections?

It says launched but isn’t launched. We really need this in order to remap our token structure without having to remap all of our tokens and then to every component. PLEASE come out with this soon. 🙏

This feature would be really welcome! 

I hope whoever is moderating this understands how triggering it is to see “LAUNCHED” on this post’s title when it so blatantly isn’t launched.

If you’re not going to provide any sort of insight into when we’ll actually get what so many of us need, at least don’t try to gaslight us into thinking it exists.

Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to weigh in here.

I wanted to acknowledge that, while some related improvements have shipped, the specific ability to copy or move variable groups between collections isn’t available yet in the way many here on this thread are expecting. I’m sorry for the confusion caused, and I appreciate you calling out the the label on the title.

Based on this feedback, I’ve updated the post title to remove the “launched” status so this discussion and feature state are represented more accurately. I will also share the latest workflow concerns raised here with the product team so they have updated visibility into the requested functionality — and why it matters.

Thanks for continuing to push for what you need. We’ll keep tracking this, and I’ll share updates here as soon as there’s new information to pass along.