No. 3M lists brick among the surfaces its Command products are not designed for, and that’s the manufacturer’s own guidance rather than someone’s opinion.
If you’ve found articles saying otherwise, that’s worth explaining, because a few of the pages ranking for this question do say yes. And the more useful part is what does work, because the no-drill answer for brick turns out to be better for renters than adhesive would have been.
Why brick defeats adhesive
Command’s adhesive works by making continuous contact across the whole face of the strip. It needs a surface that’s smooth, sealed, and clean.
Brick is none of those things. It’s porous, so the surface has microscopic voids where there’s simply nothing to bond to. It’s textured, so even a strip pressed hard only touches the high points. And it sheds. Run a clean cloth over an unsealed brick, and you’ll get dust on the cloth; then do it again and get more. The adhesive doesn’t bond to the wall; it bonds to a thin layer of loose material that then comes away.
That’s why brick isn’t a marginal case where a bigger hook might cope. It’s a surface the product cannot grip.
Why some articles say it works
Three reasons, and they’re worth separating because one of them might apply to you.
The brick is painted or sealed. Painted brick behaves like a wall, not like brick. If the paint has filled the texture and left a smooth surface, adhesive can hold. This is probably what people mean when they say it worked for them. The catch is that adhesive removal on painted brick pulls paint, and painted brick is awkward to touch up.
It held for a while. Adhesive on brick often holds for days or weeks before letting go. That’s long enough for someone to publish a post saying it works and not long enough to be useful.
They’re describing a different product. Some articles conflate Command with other adhesive brands. Velcro Brand’s Extreme range, for instance, does explicitly claim rough surfaces including brick, concrete, and stone, and is rated to around 15 lb (6.8kg). That’s a genuine option, but it isn’t Command, and the two get used interchangeably in a lot of writing.
What actually works: brick clips
This is the answer most articles bury, and it’s the good one.
A brick clip is a small metal clamp that hooks over the top edge of a brick and grips it mechanically. No adhesive at all. Standard clips hold around 20 lb (9kg), and heavier steel brick hangers go to about 30 lb (13.6kg).
Compare that to the largest Command utility hook at 6.8kg on a surface it’s rated for, and the mechanical option isn’t a compromise. It’s several times stronger.
The one thing to check before buying. Brick clips need an exposed lip to grip. Typically they want a brick between 2¼ and 2¾ inches (57–70mm) tall, with at least ⅛ inch (3mm) of the brick face standing proud of the mortar, and a small gap between courses for the clip to slide into.
That rules out flush-pointed brickwork, where the mortar sits level with the brick face and there’s no lip at all. Look at your wall side-on before you order. If the mortar is recessed and you can feel the edge of each brick with a fingernail, clips will work. If the wall feels like one flat plane, they won’t.
Why this is better news than it sounds
For a renter, brick clips are the ideal fastening, and it’s worth being explicit about why.
They leave nothing behind. No adhesive residue, no lifted paint, no filled holes. You slide the clip off when you leave and the wall is exactly as you found it. Adhesive, even where it works, always carries some risk of taking finish with it.
They also hold more, and they’re reusable across moves.
So the answer to “do Command hooks work on brick” is no, but the answer to “can I hang things on brick in a rental” is yes, more easily than on a painted wall.
What about drilling into the mortar?
You’ll see this suggested: drill the mortar rather than the brick, because mortar is softer and repointing a hole is easier than repairing brick.
It’s sound advice for someone who owns the building. For a renter, it’s still drilling, still needs permission, and still leaves a hole that has to be made good. If you’re going to ask your landlord anyway, ask about the mortar specifically, because a landlord who’d refuse holes in brick may well agree to mortar.
The short version
Command products don’t work on unsealed brick, and no amount of surface preparation changes that. On painted or sealed brick, they can hold, with the usual risk to the paint on removal.
For raw exposed brick, use brick clips. Check your wall has a lip to grip first, and buy one clip more than you think you need so you can spread a load across two bricks rather than testing the limit of one.
More renter-friendly fixings: renter-friendly solutions
Surface guidance from 3M’s Command FAQs. Brick clip capacities vary by manufacturer, so check the rating on the pack.