Manually Installing Core Catalogs for Home Designer 2026

Reference Number: KB-03224
Last Modified: March 19, 2026

QUESTION

I am unable to download the Core Catalog files for my Home Designer 2026 software. How can I manually install them?   


ANSWER

If you continuously encounter an error when downloading the Core Catalogs while in your Home Designer 2026 program, you may need to follow the steps below to download the necessary library files to your computer and install them manually.

Note: If you're using Home Designer 2025 or a prior version, please access the appropriate resource for your product in the Related Articles section below.

It's recommended to create a folder on your computer, in an easy to access location, such as your Desktop, where you can save these files to. If you do not do so, then they will download to the default file location your web browser is set to, which is typically your Downloads folder.


To download the necessary library files

  1. One-by-one, right-click the following links and choose Save link as (or the appropriate counterpart for your web browser) to save the file to an easy to access location, such as to a new folder on your Desktop. 

    Note: You must be signed in to your Chief Architect online account to save/download the library files linked in this resource. 


  2. Download and save these Core Libraries for Home Designer 2026:



To install the Core Catalogs

  1. Open the Home Designer program if it's not already open. 


  2. Navigate to Library> Import Library from the menu. 


  3. In the Import Library Data dialog that opens, select the first catalog listed, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, select the last catalog listed to group select all of the files, then click Open. 

    Import Library Data dialog where catalogs can be selected for import


  4. Once complete, an Information dialog will display stating "The Library Import has completed successfully. [NUMBER] items have been imported." Click OK. 


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