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.
It would be great if there was a way to switch myself to a read-only mode (temporarily) to avoid accidentally breaking/changing something.
For now, I’ve just been creating a new branch. If I change something on the branch, then I don’t need to worry.
having the same issue, yes please!
Came here to see if there a way to turn off editing. I feel you, bro. Hope they make it easier to turn on and off.
I had a bad experience with Figma. A coworker blamed me for ruining weeks his work after I made a few comments.
How could I have done such a thing? I’m no novice internet user. Upon closer inspection, I saw there were several revisions associated with my account. Somehow, I may have accidentally edited his diagram. Maybe a cat walked across my keyboard while I was afk with the browser tab open?
How it happened, is still a mystery. However, all the blame, pain, and anguish could have been avoided if I had the ability to enter a read-only or comment-only mode. (As I compose this reply, I notice that even this forum response offers a “Switch to read-only mode” feature!)
I aspire to be the cautionary tale that motivates a brighter future where collaborators can suggest improvements on the Figma diagrams of ornery authors without fear of unjustified reprisals.
Oh Graeme! I really feel for you!! This is precisely the type of experience I want to avoid (except instead of a cat, it’s blatantly going to be me who messes it up 
).
I hope Figma can add this read-only feature to avoid this sort of thing in the future! Thanks for sharing your real-life experience.
Please add read only feature!!! It ruins all the product.
I also wish for a possibility to set myself in read/comment only mode as an editor for a file in order to avoid any unintentional changes when inspecting/browsing/looking for any details etc. in my shared library file.
As a developer, I have to use the move tool to inspect elements. I have accidentally moved elements and while there is an undo action I would rather I just be able to switch into a read-only mode.
I have been using read-only / view-only for a long time, then I needed access to a plugin to export something in a certain way. Plugins can’t be run in view-only mode so I was given elevated privileges. Now everything is completely different. I’ve lost the quick access export tab along the top right (next to inspect), how I navigate around the screen to inspect distances between elements is incredibly slow and painful. Not only do I have to re-learn the entire app, but i’m very fearful i’m going to make an accidental change.
Being able to switch between modes is beyond essential. My team has suggested making me an account admin, so that I can promote and demote myself on a per-project basis for when I need to run plugins, but then reverting back afterwards. This is beyond ridiculous
Pretty please? From a developer’s perspective getting a lot of the setups/styles associated with elements or checking their spacing is so much easier in read only mode, but I need edit mode in order to export assets… It would make things so much more user friendly for non-designers to only be in edit mode when absolutely necessary
This would be a life saver, I shudder every time I accidentally screw up a component that our designer made.
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?