How to · Serato DJ

Show the Camelot key in Serato DJ.

In Serato DJ Pro, open the Setup screen, go to the Library + Display tab and change Show Key As to the Camelot notation, then right-click any library column header and switch on Key. The column only fills up for tracks analyzed with Set Key checked in the Analysis Settings menu, which is the part most guides leave out. Serato DJ Lite is a different story, and the FAQ below covers it.

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Show the Camelot key in Serato DJ, step by step.

Getting the Serato Camelot key on screen takes three things: key data written to the tracks, the right notation, and a visible Key column. Do them in that order and the numbers appear the moment analysis finishes.

01

Switch on Set Key before you analyze

Open Serato DJ Pro and find the Analyze Files button. Open the Analysis Settings drop-down next to it and check Set Key, which Serato describes as setting a key value while analyzing files. Serato warns that re-analyzing with Set Key checked overwrites any manual key edits, and that locked files are skipped. In Serato DJ Pro 4.0, Analyze on Import is enabled by default.

02

Analyze the tracks

Click Analyze Files to run the whole library, or drag a folder, a crate, or a selection of files onto the button to do a smaller batch. In Serato DJ Pro 4.0 you can also highlight tracks or a crate, right-click, and choose Analyze Files. On Serato DJ Pro 3.3.5 and below you have to disconnect your DJ hardware before analysis will run.

03

Change the notation in Library + Display

Open the Setup screen and click the Library + Display tab. Under Display sits Show Key As, the option Serato documents as selecting which key notation is displayed in your library. Pick the Camelot notation there. With the notation set to Camelot key, Serato shows 8A where it used to show Am, in the library and on the deck's Musical Key readout.

04

Turn on the Key column

Right-click the header of any library column, or click the small triangle at the top right of the library under the search box, to open the list of available columns. Key is on it, along with BPM, Comment, Grouping, and the rest. Tick Key, then drag the header left or right to park it next to BPM where you will actually read it.

05

Sort by key, then by BPM

Click the Key column header to sort your crate by key. Hold CMD on macOS or CTRL on Windows and click the BPM header to assign it as a secondary sort, so tracks group by key and run slowest to fastest inside each group. Click a header a second time to flip between ascending and descending. CTRL or CMD plus SHIFT clears the secondary sort.

06

Keep third-party keys instead of Serato's

If another tool already wrote key tags you trust, Serato's own advice is to uncheck Set Key in the Analysis Settings drop-down so it does not overwrite them, then choose Original Key in the same Library + Display drop-down. Serato then prints the key tag stored on the file rather than its own detection result.

The catch

Show Key As changes how a key is written on screen, not what was detected. If a track's key is simply wrong, switching notation will not fix it: type the correct value into the Key column, or re-analyze that track with Set Key checked.

Find compatible

8A120-136 BPM

The faster way

Wheel numbers on every track, before Serato ever opens.

Vibes analyzes your files and displays key in Camelot, musical, or Open Key notation, so the wheel numbers are there while you are still building the crate. Find Compatible pulls the harmonic Camelot neighbours inside a BPM window, half and double time aware, instead of you scanning a sorted column by eye. When the selection is done, export playlists and vibes back to Serato as a folder tree, with optional Camelot key sub-folders.

See how it works

Key detected on every file and shown as Camelot, musical, or Open Key, whichever you read fastest

Find Compatible returns harmonic Camelot neighbours within a BPM window, half and double time aware

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

Export playlists and vibes back to Serato, with optional Camelot key or BPM sub-folders

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.

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Every key becomes a number from 1 to 12 plus a letter: A for the minor keys on the inner ring, B for the major keys on the outer ring. From any track the safe moves are the same code, one number up, one number down, or the same number with the other letter. Mixed In Key gives 8A to 7A, 9A, or 8B as the worked example. More in the Camelot wheel explained. Once Serato DJ is showing the codes, the printable Camelot chart is quicker to read off the booth wall than off the screen.

2A is E-flat minor, also written D-sharp minor. The same key is 7m in Open Key notation. Its harmonic neighbours are 1A, which is A-flat minor, 3A, which is B-flat minor, and 2B, which is F-sharp major, so any of those three will blend with a 2A track. With Serato set to classical notation you will see Ebm in the Key column instead of 2A.

Serato DJ Lite has a Key column in its list of library columns and an Analyze Key option in its analysis settings. Switch Analyze Key on, run Analyze Files, then add the Key column to the library view. What Lite's manual does not document is a Show Key As setting, which is where Serato DJ Pro switches notation. So Lite gives you a key, not a choice of how it is written.

Usually the tracks were analyzed before Set Key was switched on. Open the Analysis Settings drop-down, check Set Key, then drag the crate or folder onto the Analyze Files button to run it again. Serato skips locked tracks, so clear the lock icon in the status column first. If the column itself is missing, turn it on from the column list. Wrong values are a separate fix.

Key Sync and Key Shift require the Pitch 'n Time DJ expansion, toggled on in the Expansion Packs tab of the Setup screen. Serato also lists four situations where Key Sync stays unavailable: no track loaded, the loaded track has no key tag written to it, no other track with a key is loaded, or no harmonically compatible key exists. A missing key tag is the usual cause.

Yes. Serato's guidance is to uncheck Set Key in the Analysis Settings drop-down so Serato does not overwrite key data already written to the file, then open Setup, Library + Display, and choose Original Key in the notation drop-down. Serato then shows the tag written by the other software rather than its own detection. Full walkthrough: using Mixed In Key with Serato.

No. Vibes is a library prep app. It analyzes your files, displays key in Camelot, musical, or Open Key, groups compatible tracks, and exports playlists and vibes back to Serato. It has no decks, no mixing, and no recording, so the playing still happens in Serato. The point is that the harmonic work is finished before you open a crate in the booth.

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.

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

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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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