Procreate Brushes Not Importing? Every Fix I Know

You downloaded a lovely brush set, you tapped the file, and... nothing. Or the file is sitting there greyed out and unclickable. Brushes refusing to import is the single most common Procreate question I get, and the good news is that nearly every case comes down to one of the fixes below. Start at the top and work down.

1. The file is greyed out in the Files app

A greyed-out file usually is not a brush file at all: it is a zip that the brushes arrived inside. Tap the zip once and it unpacks into a folder beside it; open that folder and you will find the real .brush or .brushset file, which taps and imports normally. If it is greyed out with a little cloud icon instead, the file is still in iCloud: tap once to download it to the iPad, then tap again to import.

2. Tapping the file does nothing

Press and hold the file instead, choose Share, and pick Procreate from the app list. That route works even when a plain tap opens a useless preview.

3. The brushes imported but you cannot find them

They are almost certainly in a set called Imported, right down at the bottom of your Brush Library list. Single .brush files always land there. You can also swipe down in the Brush Library to reveal a search bar and type part of the brush's name.

4. Procreate says the file is not compatible

Brush sets made in a newer version of Procreate will not import into an older one. Open the App Store, search Procreate, and update the app; then try the import again. This one catches out iPads that have automatic updates switched off.

5. The download came from Google Drive or Dropbox

Cloud apps sometimes preview the brush file instead of handing it over. In the Drive or Dropbox app, use the three-dot menu on the file, choose Open in or Export, and pick Procreate. If that fails, save the file to the Files app first and import from there.

6. The file seems broken

Downloads do occasionally corrupt, especially over patchy wifi. Delete the file and download it again from the original link; a fresh copy fixes more cases than you would expect.

7. Someone sent the brushes from their iPad

Ask them to AirDrop the set. AirDropped .brushset files open straight into Procreate with no Files app involved, which skips most of the problems above.

Still stuck?

The full installing routine, from download to drawing, is in How to Install Procreate Brushes on Your iPad. And if you want a safe file to practise the import with, any brush from my free Procreate brushes page will do the job: they are all plain .brush files that behave themselves.