brush locations

[Nature Light]

I am totally confounded by brush management.  Using Photoshop 24.4.1 and Windows 10 Pro 64 bit.  On my C drive, program files, Adobe I find folders for Adobe Photoshop 2021, Adobe Photoshop 2022, and Photoshop 2023.  In the 2021 folder>presets>brushes there are 130 abr files but not all of them show up in the brushes panel in PS!  Some do, some don't.  In the folder Adobe Photoshop 2022 there is no preset, hence no brush folder.  In the Photoshop 2023 folder under presets>brushes there are only 2 abr files, only one of which shows up in the brush panel in PS.  I'd like to simply install all the 130 brushes but my experience is that this can lead to multiple copies of the same brush in PS.  It is not smart enough to say "whoa, you already have that brush" or if it is, I'm not smart enough to find a help page to tell me how.  I can find no way to do a count on how many brushes are actually loaded in the brush panel so there may be more or less than that 130.  I can also find no way to search for duplicate brushes, nor easily delete more than one at a time. 

The fundamental question then is, where should all the abr files be stored?   Then, is there any EASY way to compare brushed already installed in PS to the list of abr files in whatever folder they should be in?

Thanks. 

[J E L · Accepted solution]

Hi @Nature Light, thanks for your question on brush management. I agree it can be confusing, and there are lots of experts who know way more than I do! I went about it (most likely) the long way. First, I did a global search for all my .abr files (*.abr). I copied all of these files to a brand-new folder in a different directory.

Next, I imported my brushes (the .abr files) through the panel in Photoshop by navigating to that new folder I made. I created and organized my brushes into new folders in my panel and deleted whatever was loaded before. This way, I knew that I had all my brushes loaded. AFAIK, there isn't a way to auto search for duplicates since brushes are not “individually” named brush files, but rather folders of brushes themselves, unless you save them directly as a new brush preset. I hope some of this is helpful and not even more confusing!

[Nature Light]

Many thanks.  I did the global search for abr also but stopped short of your next steps.  I thought that would indeed be the way to go but wanted to see if I got any other insights here first.  I'm going to mark your answer as correct though because it is a way to solve it.

[J E L]

Great, and I also hope others can chime in with more insights. I did this when I got a new computer last year and needed to transfer all my brushes. Having my own dedicated system folder outside of Adobe programs to store all my brush files (and actions and swatches and patterns, etc.) is how I keep up with it from version-to-version and project to project.

[Flemgooz1]

Hi Nature Light,
The answer below although well intended is more confusing than the question. Gloabal search What?? Why have the file disappeared in the first place. As if the directory folder for Presets is not remote enough in some far of reaches of File Explorer, when you find it, it is empty. Why does anyone have to do a global search and create new folders, or is this simply some sort of scam to frustrate users. well its quite brilliant really. must be thousands of users going thru the same wild goose chase.
Its becoming too frightening to do any updates. maybe Adobe hates its users?