Abstract The tribosorption of hydrogen into granular silicon carbide was studied under shaking in the pressure range of 0.04–1 Torr at room temperature. The sorption was observed when the frequencies of the vibration were 10.0 and 13.3 Hz, but was not observed when they were 0 and 6.7 Hz. The rate of tribosorption evaluated from the change in the pressure of gas had its maximum value when the sample was shaken for 20–40 h. It was found that this tribosorption could be attributed to an absorption to the solid and could be treated as a diffusion process. The time dependence of the diffusion coefficient showed a behavior similar to that of the lattice defect. It is suggested that the chemical properties of hydrogen and the activation of the solid play important roles in the tribosorption process.