How to · VirtualDJ

Back up your database in VirtualDJ.

Your cues, virtual folders, play history, and analysis all live in VirtualDJ's database, not in your audio files. Here is where that database sits on disk and how to back it up properly.

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A well-organized library is worth protecting. Here is how to back it up.

Back up your VirtualDJ database, step by step.

VirtualDJ keeps its library data in XML files, with database.xml as the core, plus settings and related files in its home folder. Backing up is mostly a matter of copying the right folder while VirtualDJ is closed.

Find your VirtualDJ home folder

VirtualDJ stores its data in a dedicated home folder: on newer installs it lives in your user profile under AppData Local on Windows or Library/Application Support on Mac, while older installs used a VirtualDJ folder in Documents. Inside you will find database.xml along with settings and support files. If you are unsure where yours is, VirtualDJ's settings include a way to reveal the folder location.

Close VirtualDJ before copying

Quit VirtualDJ completely so the database is written out and not mid-update, then copy the entire VirtualDJ home folder to your backup destination: an external drive, a NAS, or a synced cloud folder. Copying the whole folder rather than database.xml alone also captures settings, history, and related files.

Back up external drive databases too

VirtualDJ keeps a separate database file for tracks stored on removable drives, saved in a VirtualDJ folder on that drive itself so the metadata travels with the music. If part of your collection lives on an external drive, include that drive's VirtualDJ folder in the backup as well.

Make it a habit and test a restore

Re-copy after any serious prep session, and version your backups with dates instead of overwriting one copy. Once, do a test restore: place the backed-up folder on another machine or user account, start VirtualDJ, and confirm your folders, cues, and history are there. An untested backup is a hope, not a backup.

The catch

The database references your audio files by path. A restored database on a machine where the music lives at different paths will list tracks it cannot find until the files are in matching locations, so back up the music itself separately and keep paths consistent.

Mood

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Energy

Aggressive

Peaceful

Rave

Function

Afterhours

Club

Home

Where Vibes fits

Prep data that lives locally, in more than one place

Vibes does not export to VirtualDJ, and it cannot back your VirtualDJ database up; database.xml is yours to copy. Where Vibes fits the same instinct is redundancy of prep: everything Vibes knows about your collection, analysis, ratings, and vibe tags, is stored locally on your machine in its own library, fully offline. DJs who prep in Vibes and also run one of the four supported apps effectively keep their organization in two independent systems.

See how it works

Vibes's library, analysis, and tags live locally on your machine, with no account and no cloud dependency

Files are referenced in place and never modified, so Vibes adds no risk to the collection you are backing up

Re-analysis can rebuild BPM, key, waveforms, and sections from the audio at any time

Exports to Rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, or Engine DJ mean your playlists exist in more than one database

Organize in Vibes, export to VirtualDJ.

Your playlists, tags, ratings, and cue points travel back to the gear you play on, so nothing you do in Vibes is locked away.

Track 001

Artist A

128

Afterhours

Mysterious

Introspective

Track 002

Artist B

124

Cozy Floor

Peaceful

Home

Track 003

Artist C

132

Rave

Aggressive

Festival

Build & Release

Playlists

Vibes

Mood

Aggressive

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Peaceful

Playful

Tense

Function

Arrangement

Sets

Club Night 12/28

NYE Closing Set

Rooftop 01/04

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Copy the whole VirtualDJ home folder, found under AppData Local on newer Windows installs, Library/Application Support on newer Macs, or Documents on older installs, which includes database.xml, your settings, history, and related files, plus the VirtualDJ folder on any external drive that holds music. And remember the database only describes your music; the audio files themselves need their own backup.

VirtualDJ offers online account features that can sync parts of your setup in recent versions, and they are worth enabling. Treat them as a convenience layer rather than the backup itself: a manual copy of the home folder is the restore path you fully control, works offline, and can be versioned by date.

Yes. Install VirtualDJ on the new machine, quit it, and replace its fresh home folder with your backed-up copy. The key detail is file paths: keep your music at equivalent locations, or on an external drive with its own travelling database, so the restored entries still point at files VirtualDJ can find.

Methodology