Why you need to back up Clip Studio assets

Clip Studio Paint stores your custom brushes, materials, 3D models, and other assets in folders on your computer. If your hard drive fails, you reinstall Windows or macOS, or you switch to a new machine, those assets disappear unless you have saved them separately. A backup takes 10 to 30 minutes depending on how many assets you have, and it means you can restore everything in minutes instead of rebuilding from scratch.

Clip Studio also syncs some assets to the cloud through your Celsys account, but that sync is not automatic for everything — custom brushes you create locally, for example, may not upload unless you export them manually. Backing up locally gives you full control and a copy that works even if Celsys's servers are down.

Key Takeaways

  • Clip Studio stores assets in a specific folder on your computer that you can copy to an external drive or cloud storage.
  • The asset folder location differs between Windows and macOS, and between Clip Studio versions, so you need to find yours first.
  • You can back up the entire folder or export individual asset packs through Clip Studio's menu, depending on what you need.
  • Restoring assets means copying the backup folder back to the original location or importing exported packs through the software.

Finding your Clip Studio asset folder on Windows

Open File Explorer and paste this path into the address bar: %APPDATA%\Celsys\ClipStudio. Press Enter. You should see a folder called "Material" — this is where Clip Studio stores brushes, patterns, 3D models, and other custom assets.

If you do not see the Material folder, check that you have hidden files visible. In File Explorer, go to View (top menu) and turn on "Hidden items". Then try the path again. If the Celsys folder does not exist at all, you may not have created any custom assets yet, or Clip Studio may be installed in a non-standard location — check your Clip Studio installation folder directly and look for a "Material" subfolder inside it.

Finding your Clip Studio asset folder on macOS

Open Finder and press Command+Shift+G to open the "Go to Folder" dialog. Paste this path: ~/Library/Application Support/Celsys/ClipStudio. Press Go. You should see the Material folder inside.

If the path does not work, make sure your Library folder is visible. By default, macOS hides it. In Finder, go to Preferences (Command+comma), click Advanced, and turn on "Show Library Folder". Then try the path again.

Copying your assets to an external drive or cloud storage

Once you have found your Material folder, right-click it and select Copy. Navigate to an external drive (a USB stick, external hard drive, or a folder synced to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox) and paste it there. Rename the copied folder to something clear like "ClipStudio_Backup_[Today's Date]" so you know when you made it.

This method backs up everything at once — all your brushes, patterns, 3D models, and other materials. The folder can be several gigabytes if you have a lot of assets, so make sure your destination has enough space. If you are using cloud storage, the first sync may take a while depending on your internet speed.

Exporting individual asset packs from Clip Studio

If you only want to back up specific brushes or materials rather than everything, you can export them directly from Clip Studio. Open the software and go to File > Export > Material. Select the brushes or materials you want to save, choose a destination folder, and click Export. Clip Studio creates a .clip file that you can move to your backup location.

This method is useful if you have created a few custom brushes you are proud of and want to share them with someone else, or if you want to keep only your most-used assets in a smaller backup file. You can import these .clip files back into Clip Studio later by going to File > Import > Material and selecting the file.

Restoring your assets after a reinstall or new computer

If you have reinstalled Clip Studio or moved to a new machine, copy your backup Material folder back to the same location where you found it. On Windows, that is %APPDATA%\Celsys\ClipStudio. On macOS, it is ~/Library/Application Support/Celsys/ClipStudio. Close Clip Studio completely before you copy the folder, then restart the software. Your assets should appear in the Material panel.

If you backed up individual .clip files instead, open Clip Studio and go to File > Import > Material. Select your backup files one at a time and import them. This method takes longer if you have many files, but it gives you control over which assets you restore.

Keeping backups current

Set a reminder to back up your assets every few months, or whenever you have created a batch of new brushes or materials you want to keep. You can automate this by setting up your Material folder to sync with a cloud service like Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox — just point the sync folder to your ClipStudio/Material directory. This way, every time you create a new brush, it backs up automatically.

Keep at least two backups in different locations: one on an external drive at home and one in cloud storage. This protects you against both hardware failure and accidental deletion. If your computer fails, you can restore from the cloud backup immediately. If you accidentally delete something from the cloud, you still have the external drive copy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move my Clip Studio assets to a different computer?

Yes. Copy your Material folder backup to the same location on the new computer (after installing Clip Studio), or import individual .clip files through File > Import > Material. Your assets will work on the new machine as long as you are using the same version of Clip Studio or a newer one.

What if I do not see a Material folder in the Celsys directory?

You may not have created any custom assets yet. Clip Studio only creates the Material folder when you first save a custom brush or material. If you have created assets but still do not see the folder, check that hidden files are visible in your file manager, or search your computer for "ClipStudio" to find where it is installed.

Do I need to back up my Clip Studio projects too?

Projects (your actual artwork files) are separate from assets. Back them up the same way — copy the folder where you save your .clip files to an external drive or cloud storage. Many people keep projects in a cloud folder for automatic backup and assets on an external drive for speed.

Will my backed-up assets work if I upgrade Clip Studio?

Usually yes. Clip Studio maintains backward compatibility with older asset formats. However, test one or two brushes after upgrading to make sure they work as expected. If an asset does not load, you can recreate it or contact Celsys support with the file.

How much space do Clip Studio assets usually take up?

It varies widely. A few hundred custom brushes might be 500 MB to 1 GB. If you have downloaded many material packs from the Clip Studio store, your Material folder could be several gigabytes. Check the folder size before backing up to make sure your destination has enough space.