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Question

Slow file despite small memory usage?

Julia57

I can’t share the file due to security reasons, but I have a design library that is only using 20% memory and is approx 16MB (…is that considered large? I have no idea).

We are using almost every feature that Figma has encouraged us to use (variables for typography, numberes, colors, breakpoint modes, color theme modes, all the types of component properties, instance swaps, nested props, etc).

The file is REALLY REALLY slow, it lags when I try to pan around or click stuff. But the memory is low. One time, a plugin dev tried to troubleshoot why his plugin wasn’t working on my component, and he said it was the heaviest component he ever saw. It was just a tab component. Here’s the link to that test file.

Since I can’t share the library file itself, could someone maybe tell me some things I could generally check for, to troubleshoot why the file is so slow? I can’t imagine that Figma would release all these component props and stuff if it would cause the file to become like this. But I don’t know where to start troubleshooting, since the problem is USUALLY that the memory usage is too high. Help would be appreciated!!

3 replies

Celine_D
Figmate
  • Celine_D
  • Community Support
  • 3381 replies
  • May 30, 2024

Hey @Julia57 ,
Sorry for the trouble! Is it happening on browser, desktop app or both?

Sometimes issues in the app may be caused by something stored in the Figma app cache. The restarting step usually helps to make sure that the cache is properly cleared before reinstalling the app.

You can clear the desktop app cache on a Mac and Window by following these steps in our Help Center article: Clear the Figma desktop cache

FYI, every browser has its own active memory limit. This can differ across devices but the general understanding is there’s an active memory limit of 2GB for each tab in a browser.
If you’re working with large files and libraries in Figma you may run into these limits.
To continue to use affected files, you will need to reduce your memory usage. This can involve splitting up large files, removing hidden layers, or reducing large assets.
You can find some tips in our article to reduce memory usage in files: here

If it still doesn’t help, you can share to the Figma support team privately so they can try to replicate and investigate further the root cause in your file. If you are able to, please reach out to us: here

(Be sure to use your Figma email account, a URL link to the file which is affected and add as an Editor: support-share@figma.com, share a quick screen recording demonstrating this issue and precise if this is happen in the browser, desktop app or both) Thanks!

Julia57
  • Julia57
  • Author
  • Active Member
  • 41 replies
  • May 31, 2024

Hi, thanks for the help. I’m only using the app. I already tried clearing the cache in the last few weeks, but it never helped for long. In the end, I found the problem here – it was the typography variables making the file unusable. I removed the typography variables that I could afford to remove, and everything is fine now.

Celine_D
Figmate
  • Celine_D
  • Community Support
  • 3381 replies
  • May 31, 2024

Thanks for letting me know @Julia57 ! If you are still running into issues, please feel free to reach out to the support team here so the team can have a deeper look into this issue. Thank you!

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