Switch to read-only mode

This is one of my favorite features of Google Docs – setting myself to View mode. I can get by hitting H to switch to Hand Tool and move around, but it’s tedious doing that every single time I open a doc, not to mention I can’t click on/open comment bubbles. Many of our docs have 1-2 Designers actively working on it, several Product Folks providing feedback, and half a dozen Developers (+ Tech Lead asking questions). By default, only the Designers should be moving stuff around.

As an engineer, I often find myself needing to make changes to control names and other elements within Figma files. However, I am always hesitant to make changes to any layout information. Additionally, I have noticed that navigating between editing mode, exporting, and viewing can be a bit cumbersome and lead to a poor user experience.
It would be great if Figma could take into account that it’s not just a tool for designers, but also for engineers like myself who require different functionalities. Specifically, having the option to make read-only changes to certain elements would be incredibly helpful for our workflow. This would allow us to make the necessary adjustments without worrying about accidentally disrupting the overall layout. I hope Figma will continue to expand its offerings to meet the needs of all types of users.

This is very important feature. It makes work more safely and protects you from meking unexpected changes. Also editor mode has a lot of visible grids, I wold like to make them invisible too. As alternative can be additional tool, named “View”. Using it you will not make changes to elements.

I get nervous having edit-access to a Figma file sometimes, especially as an engineer. I don’t want to accidentally make a change to something in the file.

I have same feeling when I edit important files on our Figma organization. This is what I searching for a long time and I hope Figma team implement it soon.

Thanks for sharing the idea @Sam_Walsh1

This would be really valuable. We have some team members who will typically only be in view-only mode but sometimes need to be able to make quick edits

Solution!

If you have edit access, use the “Share” menu and you can create a view-only link that you can use yourself.

One trick to make read-only possible:

You can use 2 Figma accounts open on two different browser windows (e.g. 2 separate Chrome account windows).

Open a browser where you’re logged in with one account for editing. Open another browser window and log in to the Figma with an account that has read-only access.

You can use the one browser window when you need to edit, and the other when you only need to read.

@Figma_Support Any update on this? Any intention to add read-only mode, or some other means of limiting accidental changes?

This is also made worse by the fact that Figma still doesn’t have the ability to lock the main/master branch of Figma files so that modifications can only be made via branch contribution (Add protection to main branch)

Agreed and found this thread by searching for the same. Seems like an essential feature from my point of view, any update Figma?

Also looking for read only toggle. Before having edit access (which I do need sometimes), I would use the Z key shortcut to zoom in on specific areas. Now that I have edit access, no matter what tool I have selected, it types a Z out?