Override auto layout direction on the instances

Hey @Sowed_Castelli, thanks for asking!

This is definitely something that our team here in the community has mentioned before and continually ask for from our product teams, but an official feature request timeline has not been implemented yet.

If/when that happens, we’ll be sure to make an official announcement.

Add me to the “this seems so valuable it’s silly” pile. Being able to change flow direction would drastically simplify the component set needed to cover all screen sizes and layouts, and even tightly match a bunch of existing HTML/CSS paradigms. Win win!

+1 to the “this seems so valuable it’s silly”. Building out a set of components and was shocked to see you can’t change the auto layout direction on an instance.

Would love this! So much nicer to just have one component (with one reference for content) that works on both desktop and mobile desisn 😦

+1 with the added request to be able to also specify flow direction through component properties and variables.

All together, this could be a huge unlock towards fully responsive components, allowing control of the flow of instance content at three levels of specificity:

• At the system/page/screen level via responsive variable modes
• At the component level via explicit component properties
• At the individual instance level via overrides

+1

This would cut the amount of components we need in half.

+1
It is important to be able to change the auto layout direction in an instance of a component, as it usually goes downwards on tablet and mobile and no longer to the right.

+1M
This function would lighten a lot our workflow too. Additionally, having to detach to change Autolayout direction is a big risk of inconsistencies. Please improve this feature 🙏 🥺

+1 vote for this feature. It will save much effort and make the variable much lighter

Keeping this thread alive, please add this feature

+1
Would make for an amazing variable mode as well.

+1
It would help a lot.

I also think this is the best option. I can understand the block on the overwrite. It changes the essence of the component. On the other hand, making a variant of each component with the other layout direction is also laborious. I would say, @Figma_Moderation, reopen this ticket and let people vote on it again. This one is still relevant.

Add this feature please.

+1, must have feature.

100% add this. This would also mean when content is chosen at the end design point, that changes would carry through if you then changed the layout choice

No news about this yet? only focus on pricing or what?

👍 +1, must have feature. 👍

would love to have this feature please so we don’t need to have multiple different designs for different breakpoints! 

Hey all,

I too would love this feature, BUT in the meantime I have found some sort of workaround : I work with child elements instead of the parent component.

So if you have FRAME 1 with 3 blocs (frame 2,3 & 4) (left to right) in desktop, you cannot copy FRAME 1 in your mobile view and change the layout. So instead create the components at the second level : FRAME 2,3 & 4 become components, and it is those frames that you copy in your mobile view.

At least you will be able to edit the content itself and have it replicated accross your breakpoints.

Still waiting for this feature in 2025.

Would also like to see this feature implemented. I have create variants for this which is cluttering my design system.

This is absolute MUST! It would enable us to anyone to setup fully responsive designs using variables!! Please!!!

Same here, would make our design system so much easier to manage.

It’s crazy that this ticket has been open for 3 years and there has been no movement.

Having auto-layout direction control on a child instance is one of the main reason we continue reattaching components! An override option will have a very positive effect on design consistency and workflow efficiency.