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How to · Serato DJ

Back up your library in Serato DJ.

Your library is three folders: the _Serato_ folder in Music that holds your crates, cue points, and database, the Library folder in Application Support that holds crate order and history sessions, and the folder with your audio files. Quit Serato DJ Pro, copy all three to an external drive, and you can put the whole library back on any machine.

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The Vibes library table with BPM, key, energy, and vibe columns after a Serato import

Crates and tags imported into Vibes: a second copy of the structure, outside the Serato database.

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

Below is how to backup Serato library to external hard drive storage, restore it on another machine, and check the result, using Finder or File Explorer plus the Files panel.

01

Clear out corrupt files first

Broken files should not ride along into a backup. After analysis, Serato marks corrupt files with a broken disc or lightning bolt icon; hover it for the reason. Re-encode what is worth keeping. How to delete corrupt files in Serato DJ: select the track and press control plus shift plus delete, command instead of control on macOS, which also sends the file to the trash.

02

Quit the app and find the three folders

Close Serato before you copy anything, or you back up a database that is still being written. On macOS they are Music > _Serato_ and, holding Option, Go > Library > Application Support > Serato > Library. On Windows they are Music > _Serato_ and AppData > Local > Serato > Library. There is no setting to change Serato library location: those paths are fixed.

03

Copy all three to the external drive

With the drive connected, copy the _Serato_ folder, the Library folder, and one tidy folder holding every audio file. If the drive already has a _Serato_ folder, merge the two rather than replacing it, or you lose the crates for the tracks on that drive. Every .crate file lives in the Subcrates folder inside _Serato_, the folder you need to transfer Serato crates to external hard drive backups.

04

Check every drive, and the format

Serato writes a second _Serato_ folder at the root of any drive you added music from, so copying the Music folder alone misses crates. Connect each drive and copy its folder too. Format matters: use exFAT, FAT32, or Mac OS Extended. NTFS is read only on macOS, so tags and cue points never save back, which is behind a lot of Serato issues that look like data loss.

05

Let the app keep its own copies too

Serato backup library on exit is the prompt you see when you quit: accept it and a _Serato_Backup folder appears next to _Serato_. Only one is kept, and each backup overwrites the last. Separately, Serato copies the library databases to the Serato/Library/Backups folder about 15 minutes after you open the library, then every 24 hours and whenever the database structure changes.

06

Switch on Protect Library

A backup does not help against a slip you copy over the next day. Serato Protect Library, in Setup under Library + Display, locks the library against accidental track and crate deletion and freezes crate names and file tags. Serato documents it as a 3.3.5 and below feature on the Library + Display page while still describing it in the 4.0 crates guide, so check your own Setup screen.

07

Restore the folders on a new machine

Reverse the copy with the app closed. Rename the existing _Serato_ and Library folders first, for example to _Serato_OLD, then move your backup copies into place. This is also how to transfer Serato crates to new computer setups, and it is the honest answer to how to fix Serato library damage after a crash: swap in a known-good folder instead of rebuilding by hand.

08

Rescan and relocate before you trust it

Open Serato, turn off Show iTunes Library under Setup > Library + Display, then click Files and click Rescan ID3 Tags. Your tracks flag as missing, which is expected. Still in the Files panel, drag the folder holding your music onto the Relocate Lost Files button. Check a few cue points afterwards: if they survived, the database came across intact.

The catch

Serato has no restore command. The Serato music library tools that matter here live in Finder and File Explorer, not in the app, and the common advice about how to reset Serato library by deleting the database throws away every crate that is not already copied somewhere else.

DJ Software
Rekordbox
Rekordbox
Import XML or Database
Serato
Serato
Import Library Database
Traktor
Traktor
Import NML Collection
Engine
Engine
Import Engine Database
File System
Local Folder
Scan directory
Audio Files
Select files

The faster way

Keep the structure in a second place a broken database cannot touch.

Vibes imports your Serato library with the Import Wizard, and Smart Import detects the app for you, so crates, BPM, key, and existing tags come across in one pass. Your DJ crate organization then lives in a second local library, and one export writes the whole tree back into Serato as folders, with optional Camelot key or BPM sub-folders. It is a copy of the structure, not of the audio, so keep copying your music folder as well.

See how it works
Smart Import reads your Serato crates, BPM, key, and tags from Genre, Mood, or Grouping fields
Export playlists and vibes back to Serato as a folder tree, with optional Camelot key or BPM sub-folders
Auto-Tagging and Vibe Sort rebuild a structure faster than dragging crates back one by one
Duplicate finder and watched folders keep the restored library clean as new files land

Organize in Vibes, export to Serato 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 by Artist A

Track 001

Artist A

128
3A
Track 002 by Artist B

Track 002

Artist B

124
5B
Track 003 by Artist C

Track 003

Artist C

132
8A
Vibes App
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.

Quit the app, then copy three things to another drive: the _Serato_ folder from your Music folder, the Library folder from Application Support > Serato on macOS or AppData > Local > Serato on Windows, and the folder holding your audio files. There is no Save button in the software, so how to save Serato library really comes down to quitting cleanly and copying those folders on a schedule you actually keep.
On macOS it sits at Users > [your name] > Music > _Serato_, and on Windows at Users > [your name] > Music > _Serato_. Serato also writes a separate _Serato_ folder at the root of any external drive you have added music from. Preferences, history sessions, and crate order live apart from that, in the Library folder under Application Support > Serato on macOS or AppData > Local > Serato on Windows.
By hand, because the software has no restore option. Close it, rename the existing _Serato_ folder in Music to something like _Serato_OLD, then put your backup copy in its place and do the same with the Library folder. To restore Serato crates from backup only, copy across just the Subcrates folder, which holds every .crate file. Open the app and check the crate list before you change anything else.
Back up the three folders, plug the drive into the new machine, and put each one back in its matching location with the software closed. Then open it, click Files, run Rescan ID3 Tags, and drag your music folder onto Relocate Lost Files so every track points at its new path. Never rename the audio files during the move, because tracks are matched by filename. Two machines needs the same routine both ways.
Serato not loading tracks after a move usually means the file paths broke, not that anything was deleted. The entries flag as missing and show a File Not Found message, while the audio is still on disk: check the Location column to see where the software expects each file. Point it back at the real folder with Relocate Lost Files. Crates you deleted by accident come back from the Subcrates folder in your backup.
Turn off Show iTunes Library under Setup > Library + Display first, or relocation can create duplicate entries. Click the Files button to open the Files panel, browse to the folder your music now lives in, and drag that folder onto the Relocate Lost Files button. The bigger the folder, the longer the scan. Tracks renamed as well as moved will not match. Full walkthrough.
Connect the stick, select your tracks in the library, and drag them onto the drive in the Files panel, choosing Copy when the prompt appears. Copy your _Serato_ folder across as well, merging if one is already there. The drive keeps its own _Serato_ folder holding the crate and cue point data for the tracks on it. Smart crates cannot be transferred to a portable library. Crates to USB.
For a single crate, open the Files panel, click the crate, and drag it onto the USB drive in that panel. Choose Copy at the prompt, wait for the progress bar under the panel, then eject the drive normally. Plug it into another computer running the software and the crate appears with its audio. There is no standalone mode: unlike Rekordbox or Engine DJ, nothing on the stick plays without a laptop.
In the Recording folder inside _Serato_, so Music > _Serato_ > Recording on both macOS and Windows. Change it with the Rec Location button in the recording panel, which also shows the free space on the drive you pick. A take you never named and saved lands in the Recording temp folder instead. Recordings are excluded from the automatic library backups, so copy that folder yourself if the mixes matter.
Almost always the Subcrates folder inside the restored _Serato_ folder is missing or was overwritten, since every .crate file lives there. Copy that folder across again with the app closed. Serato crates not staying in order is a different thing: the 4.0 crate list has a Crate Sort control, and while it is set to Alphabetical or Date Added you cannot drag crates into a custom order. More on crates.

From a Vibes customer

The import worked perfectly. Have created several sets now and my life is so much easier
Danny

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Methodology

How we keep this honest.

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Every step is checked against the current version of Serato DJ.

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We make Vibes. We show the native way first and honestly, then where Vibes genuinely helps, and we say when it does not.

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Last reviewed June 2026.

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