Figma Snapping Not Working (or Snapping Too Much)

Figma has three snap settings and no single master switch. Turn off the ones that get in your way:

1. Open a Figma Design file and click the Figma logo to open the Main menu.
2. Go to Preferences.
3. Untick Snap to objects to stop layers snapping to the edges and centres of other layers.
4. Untick Snap to pixel grid to stop positions and sizes rounding to whole pixels. This is the setting people mean by "snap to grid".
5. Untick Snap to geometry if points jump to other points while you edit a vector.

The same settings are in the Actions menu: press ⌘K / Ctrl+K and type "snap". Snap to pixel grid is also in the Zoom/view options menu, which opens when you click the zoom percentage in the toolbar, and it toggles with ⌘⇧' on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+' on Windows.

Figma doesn't document a separate setting for snapping to layout guides (columns, rows or a uniform grid). Holding Control while you drag pauses object snapping for that move. If your layout guides aren't visible in the first place, see Figma layout grid not showing.

• Snap to geometry only applies in vector edit mode, when you're editing points and paths.
• Snap to objects snaps to the centres and outer edges of other layers.
• Snap to pixel grid rounds positions and sizes to whole pixels. It works even when the pixel grid isn't visible.

These preferences apply to all your Figma Design files. You can also toggle Snap to pixel grid from the Zoom/view options menu or with the shortcut below.

Holding Control pauses snapping as you drag. For the pixel grid it only works in vector edit mode while zoomed in. Note it's Control on Mac, not ⌘.

If you turned Snap to pixel grid off and a frame still lands on whole numbers, that's by design. Frames, sections and components always snap to the pixel grid. Designers have asked Figma to change this on the forum. The workarounds:

• Group the layers instead of framing them, since groups aren't forced to whole pixels.
• Type the exact decimal value into the X, Y, W or H field in the right sidebar.

If you're not sure whether you need a frame or a group, frames vs groups explains what each one can do.

Go to Main menu → Preferences → Nudge amount… and set the small and big nudge. The defaults are 1 and 10. Arrow keys move the selection by the small nudge, and Shift + arrow by the big one. If your spacing system is built on 8, setting the big nudge to 8 lets you move layers one step at a time.

Snapping works alongside the other alignment aids. Rulers and guides covers dragging guides onto the canvas and measuring distances, and Figma grid shortcuts covers the pixel grid, which only shows at 400% zoom or higher. The full list of keys is in Figma keyboard shortcuts.