In Photoshop, press ] to make the brush bigger and [ to make it smaller. Hold Shift with them to change the hardness instead: Shift+] for harder, Shift+[ for softer.
These work for the tools that use a brush tip, such as the Brush, the Eraser, the Clone Stamp and the healing brushes.
Size by dragging on the canvas
Adobe documents a second way that many people prefer, because you see the size while you change it:
- Windows: hold Alt and the right mouse button, then drag left or right to change the size, and up or down to change the hardness.
- macOS: hold Control+Option and drag in the same directions.
Photoshop draws the brush outline while you drag, so you can match it to the area you are about to paint.
An exact size
Hold the bracket key down to keep resizing. For an exact size, type it in the brush size field in the options bar at the top, or open the Brush Settings panel.
Why the bracket keys do nothing
- Your keyboard layout. On many non-English layouts, [ and ] are not on their own keys. On a German layout, for example, they need AltGr, and on others the key that would be a bracket types a letter. Photoshop then never sees a bracket. Switch to an English layout while you paint, or use the drag method above, which needs no brackets.
- No brush tool is active. The shortcut changes the brush of the current tool; with the Move tool or a selection tool active it does nothing useful. Press B for the Brush tool first.
- The cursor does not show the size. If the size changes but you only see a crosshair, Caps Lock is probably on: for the brush tools Photoshop uses it to toggle between the brush outline and a crosshair. Turn Caps Lock off, or check Edit > Preferences > Cursors.
- A text field has focus. If the cursor is in a number field in the options bar or a panel, the keys type there. Press Esc or click the canvas.
Bigger and smaller from a ring
RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make. When Photoshop is in front, the same hotkey that opens your usual ring opens a Photoshop ring. The gallery has ready-made Photoshop slices such as new layer, deselect, duplicate, transform, levels, hue/saturation, image size, merge visible, fit on screen and export as, but no brush-size slice, because the bracket keys already do it in one press.
If you like the brackets in a ring anyway, for example on a pen tablet without a keyboard nearby, add two Send keys slices: Brush − with the key lbracket and Brush + with the key rbracket. Hold Shift while you click a slice and the ring runs it and stays open, so three clicks make the brush three steps bigger. On a layout without its own bracket keys, try them once; the drag method above is the dependable fallback.
Every Photoshop action in the gallery is on the Photoshop page.
Quick reference
- Bigger / smaller: ] / [
- Harder / softer: Shift+] / Shift+[
- On the canvas (Windows): Alt + right-drag: left/right for size, up/down for hardness
- On the canvas (macOS): Control+Option + drag
- Brush tool: B
RadialDeck is free for two rings, and Pro adds a ring per program such as the Photoshop ring, with a 14-day trial. It is in the Microsoft Store.
Try it in RadialDeck
Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.
or download the installer (.exe)