What Is the Figma Auto Layout Shortcut?

Shift+A isn't the only way in. You can also click the button next to Auto layout in the right sidebar, or right-click the selection and choose Add auto layout. All three do the same thing. Once the frame exists, set the direction, gap and padding in the sidebar; the full walkthrough is in how to use auto layout in Figma.

Select the auto layout frame and press ⌥⇧A (Mac) or Alt+Shift+A (Windows). Gap and padding no longer apply. Neither do Fill container and Hug contents, which only exist with auto layout.

Suggest auto layout looks at your selection, works out which objects belong together, and can create several nested auto layout frames in one go. It's useful on an old screen built with loose layers. On a complex design Figma recommends running it in batches, a section at a time, so you can check each result.

No. Figma's help center doesn't list a key for it. Select the child and click Ignore auto layout in the right sidebar instead. On Mac you can also hold Control while you drag an object into an auto layout frame to drop it in with absolute position. The help page prints a different modifier for Windows that we couldn't confirm, so check it in the app. More on overlapping children in absolute position in Figma.

Figma's default shortcuts assume a US QWERTY keyboard. If you type on AZERTY, QWERTZ or another layout, a modifier combo can land on the wrong key. Open the shortcuts panel with Ctrl+Shift+?, go to the Layout tab and pick your keyboard, or set it in Main menu → Preferences → Keyboard layout. Figma shows a warning when the setting doesn't match your system keyboard.