Finding Missing Library components/styles

Are you sure its an effect style? Like is this a fill style (color?)

Oh!! 🤔 Good question. Maybe what I’m seeing (in the screenshot above) is actually an Effect style? Is that what you’re asking?

If it is an Effect, can I change the code snippet to find effects instead of fills?

The snippet you linked is specifically looking for effect style names. You can change that bit to fillStyleId or textStyleId to find the names of those style types instead

Ohhhh! I see what you mean, thanks for pointing that out. Appreciate it.

As a workaround, Style Organiser helps to locate linked styles on the board. This is particularly good if your Library is made of local components, as remote styles are highlighted.

The plugin is Style Organiser (by SHOPEE SINGAPORE PRIVATE LIMITED)

Hi All, I’ve tried to hunt down a missing set of components that triggers the missing library feature as well, and have not tracked it down yet. In my case these were components that I moved to two different locations. While that should not be a problem now in Figma, I constantly have to “Review/Dismiss” updates that never happened in my component library. We should be able to track “orphans” and get a way to deal with them I think. Cheers.

Hmm no results still, weird.

“Orphans” is a good word for them. I like that.

I tried all kinds of plugins that were mentioned above and I still couldn’t find where these “rogue styles” are. I’m using a design token generator and it included the rogue styles. A bit annoying if I have to manually remove them from the codes.

+1 - the way it currently works is tedious at the most. Finding missing elements isn’t an easy task and replacing them is impossible. Force matching them with another existing component/style would do it for me. I have 3 missing colours which I can’t find which drives me crazy. All plugins tried - no success, these 3 colours keep popping up.

+100 for this topic. We run a pretty tight design workflow and haven’t modified our design system file with our primitives/design tokens in months. We opened them last week and all of a sudden there’s a “Missing library” error with three rogue styles. We can’t find these if our lives depended on it. Now, every single design file we create has this same issue because it originates in our design tokens design system file. This is so annoying and frustrating because we can’t resolve it. We’ve tried all the style organizer plugins and nothing has allowed us to resolve the issue.

It seems like a pretty easy Figma update to add the ability to select the elements which possess the style from the missing library.

GIVEN the user is viewing the Missing Library modal
AND one or more styles in the Missing Library
WHEN the user hovers over one of the missing styles
THEN the crosshair icon should appear to the right of the style name
AND WHEN the user clicks the crosshair
THEN the app should select all design elements which possess missing style

Get your other team members to vote on this post so we get more traffic and attention on it. 😊

Yes, Figma, please sort this out. 🙏 It would help us to keep the file clean and organized.

The double click functionality that makes localize in the document the missing style component (even the hidden ones) might be a good idea. The moment the user localizes it in the document, he/she can delete it or replace it easily, imo.

Besides, if one style or component is missing and there is no suggestion that matches the name with any style or component from the library the user has have selected, it might be very helpful to offer the possibility to replace it with any style/component the user wants to select from that library.

Hope we can have a doable solution soon about this.
Thank you, everyone

+1
Ghost style tend to pop up a lot when using swap libraries to update design systems. There are some I can’t seem to find even looking everywhere…

I had the same Problem and found a solution for my specific case. The missing library error appeared in a design file which already uses a number of different libraries.

Step 1: Create the missing style as a local style (exact same name as the missing one) in the design file where the error appears.

Step 2: Create the exact same style again (exact same name as the missing one) in a (prefereably already linked) library. Then publish the changes.

Step 3: Go back to the design file and update the library changes.

Step 4: Replace the element using the local style with the style from the library.

Step 5: Open the Asset → Libraries view (where the error normally appears). Select the library where you have created the new style with the upper right dropdown. You should now be able to swap the library for the missing style.

Step 6: You can now delete the local style and/or the style in the library file if you don’t need that style.

The missing library error should now be gone.

Great idea! That workaround solved my ghost styles issues (although I don’t know if there are still somewhere in my file…)

Thanks Florian!

Some questions, and thanks for the suggestion! I’ll have to try it out later:

1. Step 2 - You’re making this duplicate style in another file, yes? For example, making this duplicate style in your main library?
2. Step 3 - “Go back to the design file…” Do you mean the one with the new local style, or the main library file?

1. Yes. In the end you need to have the same style in two different locations. In the file where the missing library error appears and in a different file which is linked as library.

2. Back to the design file in which the missing library error is shown.

The multi-step workaround is very time consuming if you have tens of styles missing.
Looks like these libraries linking related features have multiple serious bugs and it’s overlooked by Figma planning team. Figma may be too big now and focusing more on adding new features rather than making existing features better.

@Florian_Bredl Thank you so much! It does solve my bothering “Ghost” library issue.

To be honest it’s an edge case and doesn’t impact productivity or workflow. It’s fair to not be a high priority issue.

Hi everyone, I’m also having a problem with this too. Long story short I have a design system file containing several pages which I am currently working on. In my library it is saying I am missing 3 colour styles. These styles originate from another design system and I know exactly where they are located in this other system. My guess is they somehow got copied over from this other design system to the one I am working on right now. The problem is I cannot find these ‘rogue’ colour styles in my design system even after scouring every single page and element. Figma doesn’t have a ‘find’ option so I cannot find these styles easily. Does anyone know how to get around this issue? All I can think of right now is the solution @Florian_Bredl came up with whereby I replicate these ‘broken’ styles in my design systems current colour library and publish them so I can stop the missing colour styles message. However, this isn’t really the best solution in my opinion because I don’t need these colour styles and what is even more concerning is I don’t know where they are. Any thoughts would be appreciated as this is driving me insane!

I had a lot of those in many files too. Usually, I’ve found those missing styles used in hidden layers. After cleaning them there are no more missing ones 🙂

I also use w few plugins to search & replace styles:

• https://figmamanager.com/
• Unused-Styles-Remover or Hidden-Styles-Remover
• Great Figma Style Organizer which helps to merge and replace color styles and/or replace values with a style (color or type)
• and obviously Figma’s native Swap Library feature

Those used in various configurations helped me clean all missing styles in my files and especially in my libraries.

I stay away from plugins like those. They tend to break things that can cause large sweeping changes. I’ll check out the Hidden Styles Remover at least.

Yep - Seems obvious.