Have the same problem. Can’t understand why this is the most simple user experience ever with the most complicated UI/permissions that flows on down into other issues like default sign ups or sign ins needed. I just don’t get it. If you share a prototype of a presentation for example, the end-user should simply be able to open it to a default 100% on their screen in-browser. End of story.
Key thing is to look at the sharing URL, the prototype starts with:
https://www.figma.com/proto/…
Links to the editor view start with
https://www.figma.com/file/…
EDIT: Still ranting, but obviously now the shared link is standard for everyone in your organization if you have a company account. With the option “Anyone with a link” instead of “Anyone at yourcomapany with this link” it works like intended.
Rant:
WTF is this? I was able to share prototypes like everyone intends here and now this. What is wrong with you people? I’m sitting at a client here and was just sending out links, of course no one has a Figma account, bc they DIDN’T NEED TO IN THE PAST!!!
Hello, has this issue been fixed? I am still not able to share the prototype publicly
Hey All,
As mentioned above, we’re not able to consistently reproduce this as a bug. Sharing a prototype without having to log in is working as expected on our end.
Again, if all of your share settings are correct, please send a file link directly to our support team via this form for help: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Be sure to use your Figma account email and share it with support-share@figma.com, so we can take a closer look.
I was having the same issue, but I discovered what the problem is which is explained here:
https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360040531773-Share-files-and-prototypes
So essentially you need to:
- Click the play button to open the prototype.
- Click the “Share Prototype” button.
- Click the “Copy link” button.
- You have a workable link to your prototype now.
Hi!
Im having the same issue in 2024. Trying to do some unmoderated tests and getting people saying that need an account to view the prototypes and getting an error that there are no prototypes to view.
Hi there,
I’m having the same issue with any prototype I create. Whenever I send the link to another device to check how it works I am prompted to sign in. It doesn’t matter which link I use to share the prototype. I tried emailing the email address above and get a bounce back. Surely ther eis a solution to this now a year later?
Update: I think the problem was that I also have the Figma app on my device and it was attempting to launch that. Deleting the app seems to have solved the issue.
Hey there, i have the same issue here. Can you lookout to fix this please ? My clients don’t have Figma account of course…
Hi,
I’ve noticed that people who are reporting the problem (i’m one of them) use a business Figma account provided by their organization. Prototype share settings might be different from the personal accounts. For instance, I can’t share the prototype with “Anyone with the link” because it’s disabled by Admin. Instead I can only share it within the organization.
Figma offers an alternative way to share a prototype by sending an invite via email. However, in order to use it a recipient must to have a Figma account. This defeats the purpose of using the prototype function as users who don’t have a Figma account can’t use it.
This is a very frustrating gap in Figma functionality. This is especially true for UX Researches who rely on Figma for usability studies.
I am also experiencing this same issue. I just contacted support.
If I set it to “can view” instead of “can view prototypes” then it doesn’t prompt for a login, but that’s not what I want to share.
I will update here once I hear back from support. I linked this thread as well.
UPDATE and FIX
As @Michael_Taggart mentioned above, the following should work:
- Present your prototype first. IMPORTANT!
- In the presentation window, at the top right you’ll see “Share Prototype”. Click that
- Then click the “Copy link” at the top of the small modal
If you click the “Share” button in Figma while designing and choose that “Copy link” it will not work. Apparently that’s sharing a link to edit the file, not view the prototypes. (even though both the “Share” and “Share Prototype” buttons bring up the same modal.
I just sent my links as you proposed here https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/requests/new using my Figma account email and I shared it with support-share@figma.com:
From the first one I just got email with some links to articles, all that I already know.
From the email address support-share I got this answer:
" Hello,
We’re writing to let you know that the group you tried to contact (support-share) may not exist, or you may not have permission to post messages to the group. A few more details on why you weren’t able to post:
** You might have spelled or formatted the group name incorrectly.*
** The owner of the group may have removed this group.*
** You may need to join the group before receiving permission to post.*
** This group may not be open to posting.*
If you have questions related to this or any other Google Group, visit the Help Center at https://support.google.com/a/figma.com/bin/topic.py?topic=25838.
Thanks,
figma.com admins"
I don’t get it, what group should I join to get the answer.
Has anyone solved this problem?
It doesn’t seem right. Could you share the case number so we can check?
Thanks,
Toku
Ran into this issue this morning. Insanely frustrating.
Scenario:
- I can’t view the prototype via a share link in Safari
- I can in Chrome (likely because I’m a Figma user logged into chrome?)
- Coworker can not see it in chrome
- this was working fine earlier in the week.
The specific issue is this 401 error we get with trying to access prototype/view:
24
162
26.0 MB
2.29 MB
28
1.21s
Summary
URL: https://www.figma.com/api/files/[GUID]/prototype/view
Status: 401 Unauthorized
Source: Network
Any suggestions?
I’ve tried copying the prototype into new pages and even new Figma files but all end up with the same problem.
UPDATE:
Quick update…it does appear that asking users to use private/incognito mode resolves this issue. Clumsy workaround but at least we can get to the prototype. Maybe this is a clue that may help the Figma team debug this issue.
We are still struggling to replicate this, so could you reach out to our support team?
I can’t share anything. create a new file in new project and still it asks to log in when shared “anyone with the link”. What a sorry support can’t do anything and don’t know how to diagnose issue.
Hey @RonMan, sorry for the trouble and confusion!
My reply from February is outdated. Have you tried all the workarounds that were suggested by the community after my previous reply above?
UPDATE:
Quick update…it does appear that asking users to use private/incognito mode resolves this issue. Clumsy workaround but at least we can get to the prototype.
Most of these solutions were also suggested by the support team. Depending on your account type, OS, and app/browser/device you’re using, any one of these workarounds should help!