How to transfer designs to your embroidery machine (USB, Wi-Fi)

Most home embroidery machines take designs from a USB stick: copy an unzipped file in a format your machine reads onto the top level of the stick, plug it in and pick the design on the screen. Newer Brother and Baby Lock machines can also receive designs over Wi-Fi, from a computer program or, on Brother machines, from Brother's Artspira app, while some older machines use a USB cable to a computer or memory cards. Your manual's file type, file name and folder rules decide whether the machine can see a design.

A design gets from your computer or phone to an embroidery machine in one of four ways: a USB stick, Wi-Fi, a USB cable to a computer, or a memory card. A USB stick is the most common method on current machines. You copy the file onto the stick, plug it into the machine and choose the design on the screen.

The steps are simple, but the rules are strict. The machine only shows files of a type it reads, with a name it can handle, in a place it looks. Brother, Baby Lock, Janome and Singer are named below as examples, and this site is not affiliated with any of them.

Which method does your machine use?

Method	Where you see it	What you need
USB stick	Most current machines	A stick the machine accepts and a readable design file
Wi-Fi with an app	Newer Brother machines	A wireless network and the Artspira app
Wi-Fi with computer software	Some Brother and Baby Lock models	A wireless network and a Windows program
USB cable to a computer	Older Brother models	The cable and a computer
Memory card	Older machines and some multi-needle machines	A card the machine accepts, sometimes a card reader

Look in your manual for “USB”, “wireless LAN” or “card”. Many machines offer only one method. For example, the Brother PE800 takes designs by USB stick only, and the older PE500 uses a cable or cards. The transfer method is also listed on every machine page on this site.

Check the file before you copy it

Most failed transfers come from the file, not the stick.

File type. Brother’s support page lists PES, PHC and DST for the machines it covers, plus PEN files from iBroidery.com on some. Brother warns that other data can make a machine malfunction, so convert other formats with software first. Older models such as the PE500 and PE-700II read only PES and DST. Our file formats overview shows which type each brand uses, and the converting guide shows how.
Zipped files. Brother tells you to unzip a download before copying it to the machine. Many online designs arrive in a zip, often with several formats inside. Copy out only the one your machine reads.
File name. Brother recommends only the letters A to Z, numbers 0 to 9, a dash and an underscore. A name with other characters may not show up at all.
Size. The design must fit the machine’s stitch field. Some machines offer to rotate a design 90 degrees if that makes it fit. Brother also limits stitch counts. Brother’s help page for the “this pattern cannot be used” message lists maximum stitch counts by hoop size: 30,000 for 4 × 4 in (100 × 100 mm), 50,000 for 5 × 7 in (130 × 180 mm), 150,000 for 6 × 10 in (160 × 260 mm) and 300,000 for 7 × 12 in (180 × 300 mm). Which hoop sizes exist varies by model. See why a machine says a design is too big.

How to use a USB stick, step by step

Use a plain stick. Brother says some sticks do not work with its machines. Its page for the Luminaire XP1 says only FAT32 sticks work. If your machine ignores a stick, try another one.
Unzip the download on your computer.
Rename the file if the name has spaces, symbols or accents. Letters, numbers, dashes and underscores are the safe set.
Copy the file to the top level of the stick. This is called the root, and it means not inside any folder. Save designs one at a time. For its iBroidery.com downloads, Brother warns that the “download all” option saves a folder the machine cannot read.
Eject the stick from your computer before you pull it out.
Attach the embroidery unit if your machine asks for it. One Brother troubleshooting page lists a missing unit as a cause of the “cannot be used” message, although other Brother pages say some machines read design files without it.
Plug the stick into the machine’s USB port. Give it a few seconds. Brother’s PR680W page says recognition takes about 5 to 6 seconds.
Open the design list, choose the USB source and tap the design. On Brother and Baby Lock machines, a DST file shows only its file name in the list, with no picture.
Check the preview and colors. A DST file has no thread color data, so those machines use their own default color order. Set the colors yourself.

Keep only the designs you plan to stitch on the stick. Brother’s help page lists too many designs on the media as one cause of a design not showing up.

Folder structure on the stick

Keep it flat. Put each design in the top level and organize your full library on your computer instead.

The machines do not agree about folders. A Brother support page says its machine cannot retrieve a design stored in a folder and tells you to use the root. Brother’s manuals for the PE900, the SE700 and the 4 × 4 in SE600 and SE625 say you can touch a folder key to open a folder on the stick. When one of these machines saves a design to the stick, it puts it in a folder it names “bPocket.”

If you are unsure, the top level is the safe choice. Our USB troubleshooting guide covers the other things that stop a stick from being read.

Wi-Fi: Artspira and computer software

A wireless machine skips the stick. Designs travel over your home network instead.

Set up the machine’s Wi-Fi first. Brother’s manuals say the machine connects to a 2.4 GHz network using the 802.11 b/g/n standards and cannot join a WPA or WPA2 Enterprise network. You need your network name and password, and the machine’s setup wizard walks you through the rest. Baby Lock’s guide for its Flare adds that the computer and machine must be on the same network.

Artspira app. Artspira is Brother’s app for phones and tablets, on iOS and Android. You create or edit designs in it, or import files, then send them to a compatible Brother machine over Wi-Fi. Brother’s list includes the SE700, SE725, PE545, PE900, SE2000, NQ1700E, PR680W and Stellaire XE1 and XE2, and it asks for the latest machine update. A Brother help article says the free version stores up to 20 designs and the paid Artspira+ plan stores up to 100, but it dates those limits to November 2023, so check the app for current terms. It imports PES, PHC, PHX and DST files. On the machine, the pattern retrieval screen lists Artspira as a source. Our Artspira guide covers connection and troubleshooting.

Computer software. Brother’s Design Database Transfer is a Windows program that sends files from your computer to the machine over the network, with no stick. PE-Design 11 or later, which is separate software, can do the same. Baby Lock’s Flare works the same way, with Palette (version 11 or later) or Baby Lock’s own download of Design Database Transfer, which Baby Lock’s page calls free.

Save before you shut down. Brother’s manuals say patterns sent over a wireless network are deleted when the machine is turned off, and one newer manual adds power saving mode. Use the save key to store the pattern in the machine’s memory if you want to keep it.

Wi-Fi is not on every machine. Brother’s PE800 and SE630 are not on the Artspira list and take designs by USB stick, and so do the Janome Memory Craft 550E and its 400E and 500E siblings in our database.

USB cable to a computer (older machines)

A few older Brother machines connect to a computer with a USB cable instead of a stick. Brother’s manuals for the PE500 and the PE-700II describe the same routine.

Plug the cable into the computer and the machine.
A drive called “Removable Disk” appears on the computer.
Copy the design onto that drive. The machine reads it from there.
Press the key on the machine to show the saved patterns and pick one.

The manuals add some rules. Do not make folders on the removable disk, because the machine cannot see designs inside them. Do not unplug the cable while data is copying, and do not copy or delete files while the machine is stitching. The PE-700II manual says the disk can hold only 12 patterns at a time, and patterns not saved to the machine’s memory are lost when it is turned off.

These manuals were written for old versions of Windows. If you are buying a used machine, check Brother’s support page for your model to see if it works with your current computer. Our PE-700II page shows how that model takes designs.

Memory cards and card readers

Cards come in two kinds.

Brother embroidery cards. The PE500 manual says to turn the machine off before putting a card in or taking one out, to use only cards made for that machine, and to expect that cards bought abroad may not work. These cards carry ready-made designs, and Brother describes them as a way to stitch patterns other than the ones built into the machine. For your own files, the PE500 manual describes the USB cable.
Memory cards through a reader. Some larger machines take memory cards through a USB card reader. Brother’s PR680W page lists SD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SmartMedia, MultiMedia and xD cards through a USB reader or writer. Its Luminaire XP1 page says SD and SDHC cards work but SDXC does not. Both pages warn that some media may not work, so keep a second card or stick to try.

When a design still will not show

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Design missing from the list	Wrong file type, odd characters in the name, or the file is in a folder	Convert, rename, move it to the top level
“This pattern cannot be used”	Too big, too many stitches, or zipped	Check the field, then unzip
DST shows no picture in the list	Normal for DST on Brother and Baby Lock machines	Open it and check the preview
Wrong thread colors	DST holds no color data	Set colors on the machine
Wi-Fi design gone	Machine was turned off	Save to memory first

If you need designs to practice with, see where to find machine embroidery designs.

Frequently asked questions

What file type should I put on the USB stick?

The type your machine reads. Brother's support page lists PES, PHC and DST for the machines it covers, and some also take PEN files from iBroidery.com. Janome's Memory Craft 400E, 500E and 550E list JEF, and the Singer SE9180 takes VP3. If your file is another type, convert it with software, because renaming the file does not change what is inside it.

Can I keep designs in folders on the USB stick?

It depends on the model. A Brother support page says its machine does not read folders and tells you to save designs at the top level of the stick, while some Brother manuals show a key for opening folders. The top level is the safest place, so use it unless your manual says otherwise.

Do I need the Artspira app to use Wi-Fi?

No. Brother's wireless machines can also take designs from a computer with Design Database Transfer, a Windows program, or with PE-Design 11 or later, which is separate software. Artspira is a different app, made for phones and tablets.

Can I connect an embroidery machine to my computer with a USB cable?

Some older machines can. Brother's manuals for the PE500 and PE-700II describe a USB cable to a Windows computer, where the machine shows up as a removable disk you copy designs onto. Newer machines mostly use a USB stick or Wi-Fi, and Brother's SE2000 page lists no USB cable in the box.

Why did my design disappear after I turned the machine off?

Designs sent over Wi-Fi are held only temporarily. Brother's manuals say patterns uploaded over a wireless network are deleted when the machine is turned off, so save the design to the machine's memory first.