Figma Boolean Operations: How Union, Subtract, Intersect and Exclude Work

• Union merges all selected shapes into one outline. The top layer's fill, stroke and effects win.
• Subtract cuts every upper layer out of the bottom layer. The bottom layer's fill, stroke and effects win.
• Intersect keeps only the area where all the shapes overlap. The top layer's style wins.
• Exclude keeps the areas that don't overlap and removes the shared area. The top layer's style wins.

Inside a boolean group you can still change each layer's size, position, rotation and corner radius. You can't change the fill, stroke, effects or opacity of individual layers, because the group has one style.

The layer order is backwards. Subtract always keeps the bottom layer and removes the top ones from it. If the shape you wanted to keep is on top, you'll get the wrong piece or an empty result. Undo, drag the shape you want to keep to the bottom of the selection in the Layers panel, and subtract again.

1. Only one layer is selected. Booleans need at least two supported layers.
2. You've selected a frame or section. Figma doesn't allow booleans on either. Select the shapes inside the frame instead, or ungroup a frame you only used as a container.
3. One of the layers is a component instance. Figma's help page lists shapes, vector paths and text as supported and doesn't mention instances. If the operation won't apply, detach a copy of the instance first (⌥⌘B / Ctrl+Alt+B). The detach instance guide explains what detaching changes.
4. The shortcut is caught by your keyboard layout. Figma's defaults assume US QWERTY. If Alt+Shift shortcuts misfire, set your layout in Main menu → Preferences → Keyboard layout.

1. Draw a circle.
2. Draw a rectangle that covers exactly half of it, and make sure the rectangle is above the circle in the Layers panel.
3. Select both and press ⌥⇧S / Alt+Shift+S. The circle keeps its fill and the covered half is cut away.

The same trick with Intersect keeps the covered half instead. Want a donut? Subtract a smaller centred circle from a larger one.

Text layers work in booleans too, which is how you make knockout lettering. Put a rectangle at the bottom, type a word on top, select both and Subtract. The letters become holes in the rectangle, and whatever sits behind shows through. Intersect does the opposite: it keeps only the parts of the letters that overlap the rectangle, styled like the top layer.

Check the spelling and font before you flatten a result like this. While it's a boolean group you can still move and resize the text layer inside it, but once flattened the letters are plain vector paths.

A boolean group is non-destructive. The original layers stay inside, so you can nudge a cut-out or change a corner radius at any time. Flatten (⌥⇧F / Alt+Shift+F, or right-click → Flatten) merges everything into a single vector and throws the construction away. Keep the group while a design is still moving. Flatten when you hand an icon to a developer or an icon library and want one clean path with no hidden layers.

Right-click the boolean group and choose Ungroup, or press ⇧⌘G / Ctrl+Shift+G. The layers go back to being separate objects with their own styles. This only works while it's still a boolean group. Once you Flatten it (⌥⇧F / Alt+Shift+F), the result becomes one plain vector and only Undo brings the pieces back.

Booleans are also how you get an inverse mask. Subtract the area you want hidden, then use the result as a mask, as described in how to mask in Figma.