How to · Engine DJ

Back up your library in Engine DJ.

Your Engine DJ database holds years of cue points, playlists, and analysis. Here is how to copy it somewhere safe, and why your prep work deserves a second layer of protection.

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Vibes desktop app showing a DJ library ready for prep

Vibes stores your vibe tags and set history separately from Engine DJ, so your prep survives a database rebuild.

Back up your library in Engine DJ, step by step.

Engine DJ keeps its database in a known folder on your drive. Copying that folder to an external drive or cloud storage is all you need to protect your cue points, playlists, and analysis data.

Locate the Engine DJ database folder

On macOS the database lives at ~/Music/Engine Library. On Windows it is typically at C:\Users\YourName\Music\Engine Library. Inside that folder, the actual SQLite database files are stored in a subfolder called Database2. The key files are m.db (track metadata: titles, artists, genres, playlists, crates) and p.db (analyzed performance data: cue points, beat grids, and waveform analysis). You will also see sm.db and sp.db, which are Serato-compatibility shells with no user data. Copy the entire Engine Library folder, never individual subfolders or .db files.

Quit Engine DJ before copying

Always close Engine DJ fully before copying the database. Copying while the app has the database open risks writing a partial or locked file, which may not restore correctly.

Copy the entire Engine Library folder

Drag the whole Engine Library folder to an external drive, a NAS, or a cloud sync folder such as Dropbox or iCloud Drive. You must copy the entire folder: the Database2 subfolder, artwork cache, and any other supporting files must all stay together for the library to restore correctly. Alternatively, use the built-in backup tool in Preferences, under the Library tab, scroll to the System section and click Library Backup, for a one-click local snapshot. Note that the built-in backup only covers your computer's library and not external drive databases.

Verify and repeat on a schedule

Open the backup location and confirm the folder size matches the original. Set a recurring reminder to re-run this copy after any major session where you add tracks, edit cue points, or restructure playlists.

The catch

The native backup is a manual copy job with no versioning, so if your database becomes corrupt before you notice, the last known-good backup is the only safety net you have.

Mood

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Energy

Aggressive

Peaceful

Rave

Function

Afterhours

Club

Home

Where Vibes fits

Your vibe tags and sets are backed up by design.

Vibes stores your categories, vibe tags, and Set Designer history in its own database, separate from Engine DJ. If you ever need to wipe and rebuild your Engine DJ library, your organizational work in Vibes is already intact and ready to re-export.

See how it works

Vibe tags, categories, and Combinations live in Vibes, not inside Engine DJ, so they survive any database rebuild

Re-export to Engine DJ any time: Vibes writes directly into m.db and restores your playlists, cue points, and metadata

Set Designer history and Track Pairs are stored in Vibes, giving you a permanent record of every set you have built

Import your Engine DJ library into Vibes first to capture existing playlists as a starting point before you reorganize

Organize in Vibes, export to Engine DJ.

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.

No. Vibes protects the organizational layer: your vibe tags, categories, Set Designer history, and Combinations. It does not back up your Engine DJ cue points or analysis data. You still need to copy the Engine Library folder to cover those.

The folder contains m.db (the main database with all your playlists, cue points, and track metadata), analysis files, and cached artwork. Copy the whole folder as a unit, not just the database file on its own.

Yes, as long as your audio files are still in the same locations. Vibes matches tracks by file path, so restoring Engine DJ from a backup and then re-exporting from Vibes will re-apply your vibe playlists and metadata to the restored database.

Methodology