Where apps hide your files

Photoshop brushes, .abr files and the Presets folder

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Photoshop records your loaded brushes in a preferences file, keeps saved sets in a version-named Presets folder, and ships its stock brushes inside the app. Here is where each lives, how to import and export .abr files, and how to carry brushes to a new version or Mac.

The locations

Photoshop keeps brushes in two places that matter, plus one you should leave alone. The brushes currently loaded in your Brushes panel are a file in the version's settings folder:

~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings/Brushes.psp

Adobe's preference-file reference describes Brushes.psp as the list of all the brushes loaded in the Brushes panel. Brush sets you save as files go, by default, in the version-named Presets folder:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Presets/

Adobe's presets help gives that as the Mac default for saving and loading presets. Replace [version] with your release, for example Adobe Photoshop 2025. The brushes that ship with Photoshop are separate: Adobe says shipped presets live in the Photoshop program folder, under /Applications/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Presets.

To see which version folders exist on your Mac:

ls ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe | grep -i photoshop
ls ~/Library/Preferences | grep -i photoshop

Photoshop is not installed on the Mac used for this guide. A leftover, empty Adobe Photoshop 2021 folder in ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe confirms the naming pattern; the rest comes from Adobe's documentation.

Open the folders

Finder hides ~/Library. Choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste a path from above, or open the Adobe folder from Terminal:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Adobe

A Mac that has run several releases has several version folders, so check the version name before deciding a brush is missing.

The brushes file is the one at risk

Adobe's brush help carries a warning worth reading twice: preset brushes are stored in the Preferences file, and if that file is deleted, reset or damaged, your brushes are lost. Saving them as a brush library is what makes them permanent.

That changes what is safe. Resetting Photoshop's preferences, or deleting the Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings folder as a fix, wipes any brush you have not exported. Export first (next section), then reset.

Add a downloaded brush pack

A brush pack is an .abr file. Adobe's current steps:

1. Open Photoshop and choose Window > Brushes.
2. Double-click the downloaded .abr file while Photoshop is open, or choose Import Brushes from the Brushes panel menu and pick the file.
3. The brushes appear in the Brushes panel.

Get More Brushes in the same panel menu opens Adobe's free brush packs. Importing loads the brushes into Photoshop, which records them in Brushes.psp. Adobe does not say it copies the .abr file anywhere, so keep the original download somewhere you will remember.

Save your own brushes as a file

Select the brushes or group in the Brushes panel, then choose Export Selected Brushes from the panel menu and save the .abr file. Adobe also describes reaching the same command by right-clicking the brush or group; community answers say the right-click version is sometimes greyed out, in which case use the panel menu.

The Preset Manager (Edit > Presets > Preset Manager) is not the place for brushes any more. Adobe's presets help now describes it as the tool for saving and loading Contours and Tools presets.

Move brushes to a new version or a new Mac

Adobe describes these routes, in order of preference.

1. Automatic migration. By default, updating through the Creative Cloud app migrates presets, settings and preferences, and the first launch of a new version offers to migrate presets from the most recent version on the Mac. If you declined, choose Edit > Presets > Migrate Presets later. Brushes are on Adobe's list of migrated presets.
2. Export/Import Presets. For another computer, choose Edit > Presets > Export/Import Presets, then Export Presets, move the items into the Presets To Export column, click Export Presets and pick a folder you can carry across. On the new Mac, open the same command, choose Import Presets, select items or click Add All (use Select Import Folder if the files are not in the default place) and click Import Presets.
3. Copy the settings files. Adobe lists files you can copy between installations, including Brushes.psp, Gradients.psp, Patterns.psp, Styles.psp and ToolPresets.psp, from ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings on the old install to the same path on the new one. Quit Photoshop on both, keep a copy of any file you overwrite, then open Photoshop and check the Brushes panel.

Preset Syncing through Creative Cloud is not an option now: Adobe discontinued it with Photoshop 25.0, the September 2023 release.

What is safe to remove

Do not delete anything in the program folder under /Applications; it holds the stock presets and belongs to the app. An .abr file you saved or downloaded is only a copy of a set, so removing one is reversible if you still have another copy. To remove brushes from the panel, use the Brushes panel (select them and delete), not the folder, since the panel list lives in Brushes.psp. Quit Photoshop before moving or renaming anything in these folders, and use Finder's Trash rather than Terminal.

Why brushes seem to vanish after an upgrade

Each yearly release gets its own Settings and Presets folders. If you skipped the migration prompt, the new version starts with only the stock brushes while your old ones are still in the previous version's Brushes.psp. Run Migrate Presets, or import your exported .abr file.

Why a normal search misses them

Both folders are inside ~/Library, which Finder hides and which Spotlight and Finder searches leave out. Brush files are also named after the pack or its creator, not after the brush you remember.

Finding a brush set again

Typing .abr into Everywhere lists every brush file on the Mac, from exported sets to forgotten downloads, and adding part of the pack name, such as watercolor, narrows it. Type Brushes.psp to see one settings file per Photoshop version. ⌘↵ reveals a file in Finder. Application Support and Preferences are in the normal scan; Downloads and Documents are covered once Everywhere has Full Disk Access. It matches file names only, not the brushes inside a pack.

Common questions

Where are Photoshop brushes stored on a Mac?

The brushes loaded in your Brushes panel are listed in ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings/Brushes.psp. Saved sets default to ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Presets, and the stock brushes are in the Photoshop folder under /Applications.

How do I install an .abr brush file in Photoshop?

With Photoshop open, double-click the .abr file, or choose Import Brushes from the Brushes panel menu (Window > Brushes) and pick the file.

How do I move my Photoshop brushes to a new Mac?

Use Edit > Presets > Export/Import Presets: export on the old Mac, carry the folder across, then import on the new one. Exporting your brushes as an .abr file with Export Selected Brushes also works.

Will resetting Photoshop preferences delete my brushes?

It can. Adobe says preset brushes are stored in the preferences file and are lost if it is deleted, reset or damaged, so export them with Export Selected Brushes first.