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How to · any DJ app

Rebuild a DJ library after a crash.

A crash almost never destroys your audio files. What it destroys is the database that holds your playlists, cues, and ratings, and every major DJ app keeps a copy of that database you can restore: rekordbox from File > Library > Restore Library, Serato from its Backups folder, Traktor from Backup > Collection, Engine DJ from the Restore button in its Library settings. Start with the newest backup, then relocate whatever still reads as missing.

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The Vibes library table after a fresh import, with BPM, key, energy, and vibe columns filled in

Import what survived, re-analyze the gaps, export back to your DJ app.

Rebuild a crashed library in any DJ app, step by step.

To recover DJ library data after a crash, work from the newest database backup your app already wrote, then fix the file paths it points at. The steps below cover rekordbox 7, Serato DJ Pro, Traktor Pro and Engine DJ.

01

Copy what survived before you change anything

Close the app first, then copy its data folder to a second drive so a failed repair costs you nothing. Serato keeps _Serato_ in your Music folder plus a Library folder in Application Support > Serato on macOS or AppData > Local > Serato on Windows. Traktor keeps its Root Directory in Documents > Native Instruments. Engine DJ uses Music > Engine Library.

02

Restore the rekordbox library from its backup

In rekordbox, click [Library] in the [File] menu, then [Restore Library], then [OK]. Select the backup data, a .zip or .edb file, and click [Open]. rekordbox replaces the current [Collection], playlists and analysis data with the backup and shows [Collection was restored.] when it finishes. If music files were backed up too, the rekordbox_bak folder has to sit at the same path as the backup data.

03

Put a Serato backup back by hand

Serato has no restore button. It backs the library databases up to the Serato/Library/Backups folder 15 minutes after you open the library, then every 24 hours and whenever the database structure changes, plus on exit if you confirm the prompt. Close Serato, copy the backup file to the original location, delete the old database and its related files, then rename the backup.

04

Import a backup collection into Traktor

Traktor writes a backup of the Track Collection every time you close the program, into Backup > Collection inside the Traktor Root Directory, named like Collection2009y12m31d_22h31m_32s.nml. Right-click Track Collection in the Browser tree, choose Import another Collection, and pick the newest file. Every Traktor update creates a new Root Directory, so check the previous version's folder too.

05

Restore the Engine Library

Open the Engine DJ preferences, go to the Library tab and find Library Backup in the System section. Click Restore to overwrite the current library with the latest backup, then click Yes to confirm. Engine DJ prompts a backup every seven days on exit. Only the database on your computer is covered, so a database on an external drive has to be copied across by hand.

06

Relocate the tracks that still show as missing

A restored database points at file paths that may have moved. In rekordbox, select [Display All Missing Files] from the [File] menu and click [Auto Relocate]. In Serato, use Relocate Lost Files in the Files panel. In Traktor, right-click Track Collection and run Check Consistency, then relocate from the report. In Engine DJ, right-click a red track and choose Auto Relocate All.

07

Pull back what the backup did not cover

Your gig USB is a second copy of part of the library. Connect it, right-click the playlist or folder under [Devices] in rekordbox and select [Import Playlist] or [Import Folder]. For files that are gone from the drive entirely, work through the purchase history in your store accounts and download them again before you rebuild anything on top.

08

Make a clean backup before you add anything

Once the library opens without errors, back it up while it is still small and correct. rekordbox: [File] > [Library] > [Backup Library], and answer yes to music files if you want the audio in there too. Engine DJ: Library Backup, then Backup. Traktor and Serato write theirs on their own, so copy those backup folders to a second drive as well.

The catch

Each of these restores overwrites the current library with the state of the backup, so tags, cues and ratings added since then are gone. Serato keeps only the most recent backups and has no in-app restore, Engine DJ leaves external drive databases out of its backup, and a Traktor backup sits in the Root Directory of the version that wrote it.

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

Rebuild the library once, then push it back into your DJ app.

Vibes reads whatever survived. Point the Import Wizard at your rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, Engine DJ or Apple Music/iTunes Library.xml data, or at a plain folder of files, and Smart Import detects which app it came from. Bulk re-analyze fills in BPM, key, energy curve and section markers for tracks that lost theirs with the database, and the duplicate finder clears the copies a rushed recovery leaves behind. When the library is whole again, export playlists and vibes back to rekordbox, Serato, Traktor or Engine DJ.

See how it works
Import Wizard reads rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, Engine DJ, Apple Music/iTunes Library.xml, or just a folder of files
Bulk re-analyze restores BPM, key, energy and section markers when the old database took them with it
Duplicate finder works on exact, metadata and audio-similarity layers, so a messy recovery gets cleaned up once
Export playlists and vibes back to your DJ app, with optional Camelot key or BPM sub-folders

Organize in Vibes, export to any DJ app.

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.

Start with the database backup your DJ app already made, not with a fresh import. rekordbox restores from [File] > [Library] > [Restore Library]. Engine DJ has a Restore button under Library Backup in its preferences. Traktor imports a backup collection from its Backup folder. Serato is put back by hand from Serato/Library/Backups. Then relocate the missing files and back the result up straight away.
Mostly from download stores and promo pools, as files they own and keep on their own drive. That matters after a crash: anything you bought is still listed in your account history at each store, so a purchased library can be rebuilt track by track. Ripped, gifted and promo-only files are the ones that can go for good, which is why a second copy on another drive is worth the effort.
Usually the database is damaged or the app is looking somewhere new, not the music itself. A hard shutdown in the middle of a write can corrupt the database file. An external drive that mounts under a different name breaks every stored path at once. Traktor also creates a new Root Directory with every update, so the collection you had can be sitting in the previous version's folder.
Two separate things live in two places: the audio files, wherever you put them, and the database that indexes them. Serato uses _Serato_ in your Music folder, plus a Library folder in Application Support > Serato on macOS or AppData > Local > Serato on Windows. Engine DJ uses Music > Engine Library. Traktor uses its Root Directory in Documents > Native Instruments.
In most crashes the files never moved. The app lost the index, so the browser looks empty while the audio is still sitting on the drive. Check the drive is mounted under its usual name, then let the app search: [Auto Relocate] in rekordbox, Relocate Lost Files in Serato, Auto Relocate All in Engine DJ. A watched folder keeps new files findable from then on.
On macOS Catalina and later there is no iTunes at all: the Music app replaced it. rekordbox says its iTunes section applies to Windows and older macOS, and for the Music app you export an XML with File > Library > Export Library, then point rekordbox at that file under Preferences > Advanced > Database > iTunes Library File. More in organizing an Apple Music library for DJing.
Yes, as long as the library file survived. Serato reads it when Show iTunes Library is ticked under Setup > Library + Display, and it needs the iTunes Music Library.XML file, which on Windows only iTunes generates and Apple's Music app does not. Serato recommends iTunes 12.10.11 or earlier on Windows because newer builds removed importing. On macOS the Music app fills the same role.
By default the audio sits in the Music folder in your home folder, with the library index beside it. The file a DJ app actually reads is the XML: rekordbox lets you browse to it under Preferences > Advanced > Database > iTunes Library File, while Serato on Windows can only read the iTunes library from its default location. Point an app at the wrong copy and half the tracks read as missing.
Because the library and the audio are backed up separately. In rekordbox, music files only return if you answered yes when the backup was made and the rekordbox_bak folder sits at the same path as the backup data. The Device library backup stores no audio at all: it copies the same files from your computer or cloud onto the new USB drive, so a file you deleted stays deleted.

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 any DJ app.

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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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Kept current

Last reviewed June 2026.

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