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How to · Traktor

Set up a new laptop for Traktor.

Two things travel to the new laptop: your music folder, and the Traktor Root Directory at Users > your name > Documents > Native Instruments > Traktor x.x.x, which holds collection.nml, your playlists, and Traktor Settings.tsi. Then install Traktor from Native Access, right-click Track Collection in the browser tree and choose Import another Collection, and finish with Check Consistency so every track whose path changed gets relocated instead of sitting in the collection as missing.

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The Vibes library table on a freshly set up laptop, showing imported tracks with BPM, key, and vibe columns filled in

A Traktor collection imported into Vibes on the new machine, matched back to the copied files.

Set up a new laptop for Traktor, step by step.

Traktor keeps your Collection, playlists, settings, history, and mappings inside one Root Directory folder, separate from the audio files themselves. Both halves have to reach the new laptop, and Traktor has to be pointed at the audio again once they do.

01

Copy your music files to an external drive

Native Instruments' own transfer instructions use an external hard drive for both halves. Create an empty folder on the drive and copy your whole music folder into it, keeping exactly the folder structure you use today. The structure is what decides how much work step six is: if the tree survives the move intact, relocating is one operation rather than hundreds.

02

Copy the Traktor Root Directory

The Root Directory is the path to your Track Collection, Playlists, Settings, History, and Mappings files. By default it sits at Users > your name > Documents > Native Instruments > Traktor x.x.x on both macOS and Windows. Copy the whole folder to the drive. Inside it you will find collection.nml, Traktor Settings.tsi, and a Backup > Collection folder holding automatic collection backups.

03

Copy the Traktor content folders

Samples, recordings, and Remix Sets live outside the Root Directory, under Users > your name > Music > Traktor: Samples for sample content, Recordings for your mix recordings, and ContentImport for Remix Sets. Copy the ones you actually use to the same drive. Skip this and Traktor opens on the new laptop with your collection intact but empty Remix Decks.

04

Install Traktor through Native Access

Install Native Access on the new laptop, log in with the same Native Instruments account your serial number is tied to, set your download and installation paths, then install Traktor from the Available tab. The license agreement covers installation on two computers and does not allow using both at once, so uninstall Traktor from the old laptop once the move is finished.

05

Launch Traktor once, then turn off startup import

Start Traktor on the new laptop so it creates its own Root Directory, open Preferences > File Management, and switch off Import Music-Folders at Startup. Close Traktor. Now copy your music files and the old Root Directory from the external drive onto the new machine. Leaving startup import on here is how people end up with a half-built duplicate collection.

06

Import the collection

Start Traktor again, right-click Track Collection in the browser tree, and choose Import another Collection. Browse to collection.nml in the Root Directory you copied over and open it. Traktor asks whether to use File tags or Collection tags: choose Collection to apply the titles, artists, and album data stored in the collection to your tracks.

07

Relocate anything Traktor cannot find

The Collection remembers where each track lived on the old machine, so any path that changed comes back as missing. Right-click Track Collection and choose Check Consistency. In the report, open the Missing Tracks tab and click Relocate, then point Traktor at the parent folder of your music. It searches the subfolders and re-links what it finds.

08

Import your settings last

Open Preferences and click Import at the bottom of the window, then choose Traktor Settings.tsi from the copied Root Directory. The import filter dialog lets you pick what comes across. Leave File Load- and Write-Paths unchecked so the new laptop keeps its own directories, and leave Audio Device Settings unchecked so a different audio interface is not overwritten.

The catch

Traktor stores every track by its file path. Move Traktor collection to new computer without the audio files, or into a different folder layout, and the library loads with nothing playable until you run Check Consistency and relocate it. A changed user name or drive letter is enough to break the paths, so plan the folder structure before you copy anything.

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 on the new laptop instead of carrying its old file paths.

Vibes reads a Traktor collection directly. Point the Import Wizard at the collection.nml you copied across and Smart Import detects the app, then pulls in the tracks, playlists, and tags. On the new laptop it analyzes the files themselves for BPM, key, energy, and sections, so what you end up with does not depend on where the old machine kept things. When the library is clean, export playlists and vibes back into Traktor as a folder tree.

See how it works
Import Wizard reads a Traktor collection straight from the copied Root Directory, with Smart Import detecting the app for you
Every file analyzed locally on the new laptop: BPM, key in Camelot, musical or Open Key, energy curve, and section markers
Duplicate finder clears the old and new copies a migration leaves behind, across exact, metadata, and audio-similarity passes
Watched folders keep the new music folder current, and playlists and vibes export back into Traktor as a folder tree

Organize in Vibes, export to Traktor.

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.

Yes. The license agreement allows installation on two computers, three for Maschine and Komplete, as long as you do not use them at the same time. Install Native Access on the new machine, log in with the same account your serial numbers are tied to, and install from the Available tab. If you are at the limit, uninstall from the old machine first. If it died, activate anyway: your activation count is preserved.
For Traktor it is two folders: your music folder, and the Root Directory under Documents > Native Instruments > Traktor x.x.x. Add Music > Traktor if you use samples, recordings, or Remix Sets. Native Instruments moves all of it on an external hard drive. If you also run other DJ apps, each keeps its own database, so handle them separately: Serato, rekordbox.
Not by copying the application across. Traktor installs and registers through Native Access, so on the new laptop you install it fresh and log in with the same account. Your data is a different matter: the collection, playlists, mappings, and settings are ordinary files in the Root Directory, and copying that folder is exactly how the transfer is meant to work.
You can, over a local network share or a direct connection between the two machines, and for a small library that is fine. Native Instruments' transfer instructions use an external hard drive instead, and for a DJ library that is the better call: the copy is easy to verify, it does not depend on both laptops staying awake, and you are left holding a backup when it is done.
For this job you do not need one. Both halves of a Traktor setup are ordinary folders, so a copy to an external drive does the whole thing. Your operating system's built-in migration tool works too, but it only moves files: it does not tell Traktor where they went. Whatever you use, finish with Check Consistency and relocate, then check a handful of tracks actually load.
Not with an ordinary cable between two USB ports. That needs a purpose-built USB transfer cable, or a network connection between the machines. For a library measured in hundreds of gigabytes, an external SSD is usually quicker anyway, and it is the route Native Instruments documents for moving a Traktor collection and its music. It also leaves you with a copy you can keep.
Because the Collection stores each track's file path, and the path changed. A different user name, a different drive letter, or a reshuffled folder tree is enough. Right-click Track Collection, choose Check Consistency, open the Missing Tracks tab, and click Relocate. Point Traktor at the parent folder of your music so it can search the subfolders. Full walkthrough: relocate missing files in Traktor.
Yes, as long as the collection travels with the music. Traktor stores the beatgrid, waveform, and cue points for each track in the Track Collection, which is the collection.nml file in your Root Directory. Copy that folder and import it on the new laptop and the work is intact. Start with an empty collection and re-import only the audio and every grid and cue is gone, along with your playlists.
Not the copying: your files and Root Directory still travel on a drive, and Vibes does not sync between machines. What it does is the part after. It imports the Traktor collection you copied, analyzes the files fresh on the new laptop, clears the duplicates a migration leaves behind, and exports playlists and vibes back into Traktor. See import your library.

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.

Verified against the app

Every step is checked against the current version of Traktor.

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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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