The Layer List

In the layer list, you’ll find your open documents, pages, Frames, and layers. You can reorder and rename them directly from here.

Useful Shortcuts

Documents

At the top of the layer list, you’ll find all currently open documents. This makes it easy to switch between them or create new ones. You can collapse this section into a dropdown menu for a more compact view. You can create a new document by clicking the add button Plus circle at the top of Document section in the Inspector, or by pressing ⌘N.

Pages

Below the document list, you’ll see the Pages section. Here you can view, rename, or create pages for the active document. You can also collapse this section into a dropdown.

You can use as many Pages as you like in your document. They’re handy for organizing your work, for example to create a new page for each iteration, or to split complex designs into multiple pages by dedicating a page to each area. Using multiple pages can also help to improve the Mac app’s performance with complex documents.

To create a new Page, click on the add button Plus circle at the top of the Pages section in the layer list. Click on the Page you want in the layer list to navigate to it, or press Fn↑ or Fn↓ to jump between them.

You can drag Pages to change their order. Once you’ve created pages, you can drag frames or layers within the layer list from one Page to another in the Pages section.

Layers

The layer list helps you quickly locate and organize content on your canvas — especially in complex documents with multiple frames, groups, and Symbols. The list is fully searchable, so we recommend giving layers meaningful names.

To rename a frame or layer:

• Double-click its name and rename it
• Select it and press ⌘R
• Or use the Command Bar and search for rename.

You can select layers directly from the list, which also highlights them on the canvas. To expand nested content — such as groups, Symbols , or combined shapes — click the icon next to a layer’s name. Hold ⌥ while clicking to expand all nested layers at once.

If you’ve used boolean operations to create combined shapes, they’ll appear grouped in the layer list for easier editing. Symbols appear with a purple icon, and you can expand them to view the layers inside.

Selection

Layers on the Canvas display a distinct selection box based on their properties and hierarchy. Top-level frames or layers show a solid outline when selected, while nested frames or layers display a dotted outline around their parent.

Note the difference in the corner selection handles. This tells you that the layer within the Symbol instance can only be resized by editing the Symbol Source.

Layer list icons

The layer list displays icons that correspond to the type and form of the layer on the Canvas — for example, a rectangle shape will appear in miniature in front of the layer name in the list. The order of the list determines how the layers appear on the Canvas.

Symbols appear in purple. Hidden layers appear in light grey. When layers, groups or combined shapes have a Text Style or Layer Style applied to them they will also appear in the Symbol highlight color.

Hiding and locking layers

To hide a layer, hover over its name in the layer list and click the eye icon that appears. If the eye icon next to a layer has a line through it before you hover it, the layer is already hidden. You can also use ⇧⌘H to toggle hiding and showing layers.

To lock a layer, hold ⌥, hover over it in the layer list and click the padlock icon . Click the padlock icon to unlock it. Alternatively, you can also press ⇧⌘L to toggle the lock on and off for one or more selected layers.

To prevent unwanted edits, you can’t select a locked layer directly on the canvas. Select it in the layer list first to move or edit it.

Searching the layer list

If you have a document with lots of layers, you can use the search bar at the bottom of the layer list to find a specific layer type. You can also use the search bar to find a layer by name.

Focus mode

Focus mode filters the layer list to show only the layers related to what you’re working on. When it’s enabled, the layer list displays only the layers within the top-level frame of your current selection. If there isn’t a top-level frame, we’ll show all layers on the page. You can toggle focus mode using the icon at the bottom of the layer list or via View > Sidebar > Focus Layer List in the menu.