Figma Desktop App ↔ Web App: Offline Change Recovery After Failed Upgrade

Interoperability Gap During Upgrade Failure

The Figma desktop app (macOS/Windows) performs background auto-updates while maintaining a local IndexedDB cache for offline editing. When an upgrade fails, the desktop app may become non-launchable, yet the web app at figma.com remains accessible and reflects only the last server-synced state.

Unsynced local edits exist solely in the desktop cache until pushed to Figma's servers. Official guidance recommends reinstalling the desktop app, which clears the local cache and discards any offline-only changes. No documented automated recovery process exists for these unsynced changes, and the interoperability boundary treats the web app as the source of truth.

Unresolved Behavior

A partially applied update could lock the local database in a way that prevents manual extraction of offline changes before reinstall. Version history and branching operate server-side and do not capture desktop-app-only edits until they sync.

What determines whether the local IndexedDB remains readable after a failed upgrade? Can enterprise MDM update channels alter the failure mode such that offline changes become recoverable? Is there any supported mechanism to export offline edits from a non-launchable desktop installation without reinstalling?