How to Make Text Vertical in Figma (3 Easy Ways)

Vertical text is a useful design tool—whether you’re styling Japanese characters, labeling UI elements, or adding a unique visual twist to your layout. In Figma, setting text vertically isn’t just about rotation—it can be done in multiple ways depending on what you need.

In this guide, you’ll learn three simple ways to make text vertical in Figma—using native settings, manual rotation, and auto layout tricks—plus when to use each one.

✅ Method 1: Use the Text Orientation Setting

Figma introduced native vertical text support, which works beautifully for stacked characters.

Steps:

Select your Text object.
In the right-hand sidebar, find the Text section and click the three-dot icon (•••).
Under “Text Orientation,” choose “Vertical.”

That’s it! The text will now flow vertically, with each character stacked from top to bottom in a single column.

💡 Best for: East Asian characters, vertical titles, spine labels, and minimal design elements.

🔁 Method 2: Rotate the Text Box

If you want the text to be read top-to-bottom but still flow left to right, rotating the text box is a quick fix.

Steps:

Select your Text layer.
Hover near the corner until the rotate cursor appears.
Drag to rotate manually, or use the right-hand rotation input (e.g. type -90° or 90°).

💡 Best for: Vertical tab labels, rotated callouts, or layout accents where the direction matters.

🧱 Method 3: Stack Letters with Auto Layout

If you want more control over spacing or want to animate each letter, you can create vertical text using individual characters and Auto Layout.

Steps:

Create a new Frame (F) and set it to Auto Layout → Vertical.
Add one text layer per character (e.g. “F”, “I”, “G”, “M”, “A”).
Adjust padding, spacing, and alignment as needed.

This method gives you full control over spacing, animation, and styling for each character individually.

💡 Best for: Animated type, design systems, or decorative vertical headers.

🧠 Bonus Tip: Combine Vertical Text with Figma Variables

Using Figma Variables with vertical text elements allows you to build reusable components that switch between horizontal and vertical modes—great for responsive design or multilingual layouts.

✅ Final Thoughts

Figma gives you several flexible ways to create vertical text—whether you’re working on multilingual interfaces, creative layouts, or simply want a more dynamic visual style. Use native vertical orientation for clean, stacked type, or rotate and layer characters when you need full control.