How to · Traktor Pro

Manage playlists and folders in Traktor Pro.

Traktor's NML-based playlist tree gives you full control over how your library is organized for performance. Pair it with Vibes and your entire vibe, set, and combination hierarchy lands in Traktor automatically.

Discover Vibes

First 500 licenses at $49. Be the first to know when we launch.

Vibes vibe overview showing tagged tracks ready to export into Traktor Pro

Tag tracks by feel in Vibes, then export a complete playlist hierarchy directly into your Traktor NML.

Manage playlists and folders in Traktor Pro, step by step.

Traktor Pro 4 stores your entire library structure in an NML file. You can build and reorganize playlists and playlist folders directly inside the Browser Tree at any time.

Create a playlist folder

In the Browser Tree on the left, right-click the Playlists folder and choose 'Create Folder.' Name the folder to represent a broad category such as a genre, event type, or energy level. You can add additional folders inside to build a deeper hierarchy.

Add a playlist inside the folder

Right-click the folder you just created and choose 'Create Playlist.' Give it a descriptive name like 'Peak Time House' or 'Warm-Up.' Playlists organized inside folders keep your sidebar manageable when you have dozens of collections.

Populate the playlist

Drag tracks from the Track Collection or from a browser search result directly onto the playlist name in the Browser Tree. You can also right-click any track and choose 'Add to Playlist' to pick the destination from a list. Reorder tracks inside the playlist by dragging rows up or down.

Save and back up your NML

Traktor automatically creates a timestamped backup of your collection each time you close the app, stored in the Backup folder inside Traktor's root folder (Documents > Native Instruments > Traktor x.x.x > Backup). For a manual export, right-click 'Track Collection' in the Browser Tree and choose 'Export the Collection' to save a copy to a location of your choice. Keep a backup before any major reorganization.

The catch

Building a structured playlist hierarchy inside Traktor by hand is time-consuming: you create folders one at a time, populate each playlist manually, and any re-tagging or reorganization means repeating the whole process.

Mood

Euphoric

Melancholic

Mysterious

Energy

Aggressive

Peaceful

Rave

Function

Afterhours

Club

Home

The faster way

Let Vibes write your Traktor playlist hierarchy for you.

Vibes exports directly into your Traktor NML file, creating a playlist for every vibe you have tagged, every set you have built in Set Designer, and every Combination auto-detected from shared vibes. One export, a fully structured playlist tree.

See how it works

Exports a playlist per vibe (energy, mood, role) into Traktor NML automatically

Writes each Set Designer set as its own Traktor playlist, ordered and ready

Adds Combination playlists for tracks that share multiple vibes (e.g. House + Peak Time)

Optional BPM-range or Camelot-key subfolders subdivide each playlist for faster browsing

Organize in Vibes, export to Traktor Pro.

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 is a prep and library tool, not a performance app. You still use Traktor Pro for mixing and DJing live. What Vibes replaces is the manual work of building the playlist structure: it writes organized playlists and folders into your NML so you arrive in Traktor with everything already sorted.

Vibes writes its own playlists into your NML file. Any playlists you created manually inside Traktor are preserved. It is still good practice to back up your NML before running a large export.

Yes. The Vibes export settings let you choose which vibes, sets, and combinations are included, and you can enable optional BPM-range or Camelot-key subfolder subdivision per playlist group. This keeps your Traktor sidebar tidy rather than flooding it with every tag.

Methodology