Learn how to create and manage variants in Figma to build flexible, scalable component libraries. Variants allow you to group and organize similar components into a single container, simplifying your design system.
Design all the different versions of the component you need. For example, for a button, you might create separate components for its default, hover, and disabled states.
Select all the individual components you want to combine. You can do this by clicking and dragging a selection box around them or by holding Shift and clicking each one.
With the components selected, navigate to the Design panel on the right sidebar. Click the Combine as Variants button. Figma will group them into a single component set with a purple dashed border.
In the Design panel, you'll see a 'Variants' section. Figma may automatically create properties based on your layer names. You can rename properties (e.g., 'State', 'Size') and their values (e.g., 'Default', 'Hover') to make them clear.
Drag an instance of your new variant component from the Assets panel onto your canvas. You can now switch between different variants using the dropdown menus in the Design panel.
Pro Tips for Managing Figma Variants
Name your components with slashes (e.g., `button/state=hover/size=small`) before combining. Figma will use this naming convention to automatically create properties and values for you.
For properties that only have two states, like showing or hiding an icon, use values like `true`/`false` or `on`/`off`. This creates a simple toggle switch in the properties panel.
To add a new variant to an existing set, select the component set and click the purple + icon that appears on its border. Then, design your new state.
Variants drastically reduce the clutter in your Assets panel. Instead of seeing dozens of individual button components, you'll see just one, making your design system much cleaner.
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