Janome Embroidery Files Not Showing on Your Machine? Here’s How to Fix It

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Janome Machines

My Designs Are Unzipped on My Computer, but Nothing Shows on My Machine

This is one of the most common questions we receive from Janome users:

“I’ve unzipped my embroidery designs and can see them on my computer, but when I put the USB into my Janome machine, nothing appears.”

The good news?
In almost all cases, this is not a faulty design — it’s usually a USB setup or file placement issue. Janome machines can be quite particular about how and where files are stored.

Let’s walk through the checks step by step.

Step 1: Check You Have the Correct File Format

Janome embroidery machines require the JEF format.

Before going any further, please double-check that:

You downloaded the JEF files
You are not trying to load another format (such as PES, DST, or EXP)

Step 2: Check You Have Unzipped the files

Only unxipped/extracted files will show on your machine

Step 3: Check Your Hoop Size Settings

Before loading your design, make sure you have selected the hoop size you are using in your machine’s settings before attaching the hoop.

If the correct hoop size is not selected:

Your machine may not display the design at all, or
It may tell you that a larger hoop is required, even when the design fits your hoop

You can’t always rely on the machine to automatically choose the correct hoop size for you — this step must often be set manually.

If you’re unsure how to select or change the hoop size on your machine, please refer to the user manual for your specific Janome model.

Step 4: Format the USB Stick Using Your Janome Machine

This step is very important.

For Janome machines, the USB should be formatted in the embroidery machine itself, not just on your computer.

What to do:

Insert a new or empty USB stick into your Janome embroidery machine
Use the machine’s format USB option
Do not remove the USB or turn the power off while this is happening

When the machine finishes formatting, it will automatically create:

A folder called EMB
A sub-folder inside it called Embf

If these folders are not created, the machine will not see your designs.

Step 5: Transfer Designs to the Correct Folder

Once your USB has been formatted by the machine:

Insert the USB into your computer
Open the USB and confirm you can see the EMB folder
- If you cannot see it, reformat the USB in the machine again
Open the Embf folder inside the EMB folder
Copy your unzipped JEF design files into the Embf folder

Important:
Your designs must go inside the Embf folder, not beside it and not inside another sub-folder.

Step 6: Try One Design at a Time

Some Janome machines are very sensitive to how many files are loaded at once.

If you’re having trouble:

Try copying just one JEF design into the Embf folder
Eject the USB safely
Insert it back into the embroidery machine and check again

Many customers find their machine will read files correctly once they limit the USB to one design at a time.

File Name Length Can Also Cause Issues

We create and name all of our design files ourselves, and over the years we’ve learned that file name length and formatting can sometimes be an issue on Janome machines.

Some older design sets may not follow the ideal short and simple file-naming format. We’ve had instances where an older design set included long file names or spaces, and those files did not show on certain Janome machines — even though everything else was correct.

Once we changed the file names to be shorter and without spaces or special characters, the files worked perfectly.

If you do come across a design that you suspect may be affected by this, please don’t hesitate to email us at help@kreativekiwi.com
and we’ll happily fix the file naming issue for you.