Figma Layers Panel and Selection (beginner guide)

Navigate the hierarchy and develop confident selection habits. Here’s how to do it in Figma on macOS, step by step — part of the free Figma beginner curriculum.

Lesson 3 of the Figma curriculum. Before this: Shapes and the Frame Tool. Next up: Auto Layout.

What you’ll do

• Open the left Navigation panel and identify the File tab and Assets tab
• Read the Layers panel — parent, child, top-level frame
• Expand and collapse frames in the Layers panel
• Click a layer on the canvas to select; Command-click to deep-select inside a frame
• Use Tab and Shift Tab to move between siblings in the Layers panel
• Escape or Shift Enter to move selection up to the parent
• Rename a layer by double-clicking its name in the Layers panel
• Minimize the whole UI with Shift \ to focus on the canvas

Do it hands-free with Skilly

Reading steps is one thing; doing them while the menus are in front of you is another. Skilly is a voice-first tutor for macOS: you ask out loud — “where’s the layers panel?” — and it answers while moving your cursor to the exact button, watching your actual Figma window. It’s the same Figma curriculum these lessons come from, taught live instead of read. Free to start.

Keep going

This is one stage of the full Figma beginner curriculum. Previous: Shapes and the Frame Tool. Continue with Auto Layout.