Fit Copy to a Tight Space with Figma's Shorten Tool

What This Does

A button label or empty-state message that reads fine in a doc often overflows the moment it lands in the actual layout. Figma's Shorten tool rewrites a selected text layer to fit its available space while keeping the meaning intact, instead of you counting characters by hand and rewriting the string three times.

Before You Start

• You have a text layer in Figma that's overflowing or close to it
• Your seat is on a paid Figma plan, since Shorten is one of Figma's paid-plan AI content tools. Check figma.com/pricing to confirm which tier your team has
• You know roughly how much shorter the text needs to be, even if it's just "shorter than this"

Steps

1. Find the AI feature

Click the text layer that's overflowing to select it, then open Actions in the toolbar (sparkles icon, or Cmd+K / Ctrl+K). Look for the text-rewriting tools there, Shorten sits alongside Rewrite and Translate as one of Figma's text content options.

2. Tell it what you need

Select Shorten. Figma reads the text box's current dimensions and rewrites the copy to fit without you specifying a character count. If the result is still too generic or misses the point, you can typically re-run it or nudge the wording by hand afterward.

3. Review and use the result

Read the shortened version against the original meaning, not just the character count. A shortened error message that's technically accurate but confusing to a real user is worse than the long version. Adjust anything that lost necessary context in the trim.

Real Example

Scenario: A button in your mobile checkout flow reads "Continue to shipping information" and it's wrapping to two lines on smaller screens.

What you type/do: Select the button's text layer, open Actions, and click Shorten.

What you get: A tighter label like "Continue to shipping" that fits on one line without losing what the button does. You still check it reads naturally in context before moving on.

Tips

• Use this after your layout is mostly settled. Shortening text before spacing is final just means you'll do it again once things shift.
• It works layer by layer, so batch a handful of tight labels in one pass rather than fixing them one at a time as you notice them.
• Keep an eye on voice. A generic shortening pass can flatten a brand's specific tone, so read the result out loud before it ships.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.