How do I open a .fig file without Figma?

You cannot. The format only opens by importing into Figma, which is free with an account. If you just need to view a design, ask the owner for a share link instead.

Is a MATLAB .fig the same as a Figma .fig?

No, they are unrelated formats sharing an extension. A MATLAB figure opens only in MATLAB, and importing one into Figma will simply fail.

File extensions

How to open a .fig file

Figma design file · Design

A .fig file is a Figma design. You open it by importing it into Figma in a browser, which is free with an account. There is no offline viewer, and MATLAB figures also use .fig, which is a different thing entirely.

What a .fig file actually is

Figma is browser-based, so its files normally live in the cloud rather than on disk. A .fig appears when someone exports a project to share or archive it.

The extension is shared with MATLAB figure files, which are unrelated and open only in MATLAB. Check where the file came from before assuming.

Why it will not open

There is no desktop application that opens a .fig standalone. Even the Figma desktop app is a wrapper around the web version, so importing is the only route.

Renaming it to an extension you can open will not help: changing the extension does not convert the file, it only changes what Windows tries to open it with.

Step by step

Windows

01Go to figma.com and sign in. A free account is enough.
02In the file browser, use Import, then select the .fig. It uploads and opens as an editable design.
03If you only need to see the design rather than edit it, ask for a share link instead. That needs no account and no upload.
04If the file came from MATLAB, only MATLAB opens it. The two formats share nothing but three letters.

macOS

01Identical: import at figma.com in any browser.

What usually goes wrong

Importing uploads the file to Figma

Opening a .fig means sending the design to Figma's servers. For client work under an agreement about where data lives, that matters. A share link from the owner avoids the upload entirely.

Programs that open .fig

Our pick, in order. Every one links to the publisher's official download URL and the SHA-256 hash of the installer. Once you have downloaded it, you can check the file against our index before you run it.

If you end up downloading one of these from somewhere other than the publisher, what you can and cannot verify about that is worth two minutes.

FigmaThe Collaborative Interface Design Toolv126.7.10 · 3 hashed installers100

Common questions

How do I open a .fig file without Figma?: You cannot. The format only opens by importing into Figma, which is free with an account. If you just need to view a design, ask the owner for a share link instead.
Is a MATLAB .fig the same as a Figma .fig?: No, they are unrelated formats sharing an extension. A MATLAB figure opens only in MATLAB, and importing one into Figma will simply fail.