How to · Rekordbox

Show Camelot key in Rekordbox.

Open Preferences in Rekordbox, choose the View category, open the Display Type tab, and set Key display format to Alphanumeric. Every analyzed track then reads as a Camelot code like 8A or 12B, and the Traffic Light control in the browser panel highlights the tracks whose key is compatible with the deck you have selected. You set it once and it holds for the whole collection.

See track analysis

Download trial

$49$79USD one-time purchase. First 250 licenses at this price. 14-day free trial.

Show Camelot key in Rekordbox, step by step.

Rekordbox keys come from its own track analysis, and the app can print them in two notations. Here is how to change key format in Rekordbox 7, get the Key column on screen, and switch on the highlight that marks the compatible tracks.

01

Analyze your tracks with KEY switched on

Rekordbox can only show a key it has detected. Click the settings icon in the upper right to open the Preferences window, select the Analysis category, open the Track Analysis tab, and tick [KEY] in Track Analysis Setting next to [BPM / Grid]. Close the window, right-click the tracks and choose [Analyze Track]. Tracks that were analyzed long ago can be re-analyzed the same way.

02

Switch Key display format to Alphanumeric

The rekordbox Camelot key settings live here. In the Preferences window, select the View category and open the Display Type tab. Set Key display format to [Alphanumeric], which prints codes such as 1A and 2A, rather than [Classic]. In Rekordbox change key to Camelot once and both the track list and the deck follow. There is no shortcut: the default rekordbox keyboard shortcuts cover Performance mode functions only.

03

Add the Key column to the track list

Codes only appear in the browser if the column is on the header. Right-click any column header at the top of the track list and the column list opens. Click [Key] to add it, then drag it left so it sits beside BPM and you can read both in one glance. That is all it takes to show key in Rekordbox.

04

Turn on the Traffic Light highlight

The rekordbox Traffic Light control sits in the browser panel. Switch it on and the app highlights the keys of tracks that are compatible with the key of the track on the selected deck, as long as the Key column is displayed. The range of keys it highlights is set in the Preferences window, View category, Display Type tab, under Traffic Light.

05

Filter the browser by key

Click the icon on the left of the search filter to open the track filter. It refines the list by [BPM], [KEY], [RATING], [COLOR] and My Tag. Tick [KEY], then turn on [MASTER PLAYER] or [MASTER DECK] and the filter takes its value from the track loaded on the master player, so the list narrows to that key while you play.

06

Know which key control does what

Two different things share the word key here. The format you just picked is a display setting and it does not touch the audio. If you want to change key in Rekordbox itself, use the semitone up and down buttons on a Performance mode deck, or the Key Sync button that matches one deck to the other. Double-click the readout to reset it.

The catch

Alphanumeric changes what Rekordbox prints, not what the analysis found. If you select [Display key information on the database], the key is shown exactly as it is recorded on the track instead, so a code another tool wrote into the tag stays in that tool's notation. And a Camelot code is only as good as the detection behind it, so re-analyze anything that looks wrong before you build a set on it.

Find compatible

8A120-136 BPM

The faster way

Camelot codes on every track, and the compatible ones already listed.

Vibes analyzes the files you own and shows the key in Camelot, musical or Open Key notation, next to BPM, an energy value and the track's sections. Find Compatible then does the wheel math for you: pick a track and it lists the harmonic neighbours inside a BPM window you set, half and double time aware. When you export a playlist back to Rekordbox, Vibes can build the folder tree with Camelot key sub-folders, so the grouping survives the trip.

See how it works

Key detected per track and shown as Camelot, musical or Open Key notation

Find Compatible lists the harmonic neighbours inside a BPM window, half and double time aware

Set Designer sorts a set along a key path or an ascending, descending or arc energy curve

Export playlists back to Rekordbox with optional Camelot key sub-folders

Organize in Vibes, export to Rekordbox.

Your playlists, tags, ratings, and cue points travel back to the gear you play on, so nothing you do in Vibes is locked away.

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Three settings, in this order. Analyze the tracks with [KEY] ticked under Preferences, Analysis, Track Analysis Setting. Set Key display format to [Alphanumeric] under Preferences, View, Display Type. Then right-click the track list header and add the Key column. After that every analyzed track reads as a Camelot code, and the deck readout uses the same format. No extra software is needed for any of it.

They are short codes that stand in for musical keys: a number from 1 to 12 plus a letter. A means the key is a minor scale and B means it is major, so 8A and 8B are related but not the same. The point is that you never have to read key names, which is why every camelot wheel dj chart uses them. The notation comes from Mixed In Key, which calls it the Camelot Wheel system.

4A is F minor. The number places the key on the wheel and the letter A marks it as minor, so the safe neighbours are 3A, which is B flat minor, 5A, which is C minor, and 4B, the major key that shares the same notes. In Rekordbox the same track reads as a key name under [Classic] and as 4A under [Alphanumeric]. The full camelot wheel chart has the rest.

Turn on the Traffic Light in the browser panel with the Key column displayed. Rekordbox then highlights the keys that are compatible with the track on the selected deck, and you choose how wide that range goes under Preferences, View, Display Type. For a ranked list instead of a highlight, build a RELATED TRACKS condition on Key. The cross-app version of this setup is our Camelot setup guide.

The key appears once two things are true: the track has been analyzed with [KEY] selected in Track Analysis Setting, and the Key column is on the track list header. Right-click any column header and click [Key] to add it. If the cell is still empty, right-click the track and run [Analyze Track] again. On a deck, the key readout follows the same display format.

A circle of 24 codes, 12 on a minor ring and the same 12 on a major ring, arranged so that neighbouring codes are harmonically close. The camelot wheel rules are short: stay on the same code, move one number up or down, or switch letter at the same number. That is the whole method, and it is why DJs learn to use camelot wheel codes instead of key names. Our camelot wheel explained page walks through the moves.

In practice yes: the rekordbox Camelot wheel is the Alphanumeric display plus the Traffic Light highlight. The codes print as text in the Key column and on the deck, and the compatible ones light up against the loaded track. The Camelot wheel Rekordbox works from is the standard 12 hour layout, so any printed chart matches it. Keep a camelot wheel cheat sheet in the booth if you prefer the picture.

No. Rekordbox detects the key itself and prints it in Camelot once you set [Alphanumeric]. A rekordbox Mixed In Key workflow only earns its place if you want a second detection engine or the extra cue data, and it means analyzing in one app and importing into the other. Our walkthrough covers that import. Otherwise the built-in analysis is enough for most crates.

An empty cell usually means the track was analyzed without [KEY] selected in Track Analysis Setting. Fix the setting, then right-click the track and choose [Analyze Track]. A [?] marks a track analyzed by an older version of Rekordbox, which means its data is old or incomplete: right-click it and choose [Add New Analysis Data]. Analysis Lock skips a track during analysis, so check that too.

The display format is a setting on your computer and it does not travel with the files. Exported tracks carry the key that was detected, but what a CDJ or controller prints next to a title comes from the device settings Rekordbox writes to the USB, under Preferences, DJ System, My Settings, and from the player's own display settings. Other apps have their own switch: see Serato or Engine DJ.

From a Vibes customer

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

Danny

One-time purchase

Get Vibes with a single payment. No subscription.

First 250 licenses at this price, then $79.

Free Trial

14 days • Full access

Full access to all features

No credit card required

Works offline

Download Free Trial

No strings attached

FREE UPDATES FOREVER

$49USD

one-time payment

Includes Vibes Companion Pro

Use on 2 devices (macOS and Windows)

All updates included, free forever

14-day free trial to evaluate

Secure checkout with Stripe

Already have Companion Pro? Upgrade instead

And there's more

Included with every license

Companion Pro comes with Vibes.

Save tracks from Beatport, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, YouTube and more straight into your library. A $19 tool, free with Vibes.

Explore Companion

Vibes Companion saving a track from a music platform into the Vibes library

Methodology

How we keep this honest.

Reviewed by Ben Modigell, founder of Vibes and a working DJ in Cologne.

Verified against the app

Every step is checked against the current version of Rekordbox.

We own our bias

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

Live pricing

The Vibes price shown comes straight from our checkout, never a hardcoded marketing number.

Kept current

Last reviewed June 2026.

Keep exploring

Compare Vibes

DJ apps head to head

Works with your software

Vibes for DJs

Vibes features

How-to guides

Best DJ software

Move between apps

DJ tools

Learn to DJ

DJ directory