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How to · Rekordbox

Learn how to use Rekordbox.

Rekordbox has two halves: EXPORT mode, where you import music files, analyze them for BPM, key and beatgrid, and sort them into playlists, and PERFORMANCE mode, where you load those tracks onto decks and mix. Work in that order every time: install and sign in, import, analyze, playlist, then either mix on screen or drag the playlist onto a USB stick for the club's players. Below is how to use Rekordbox 7 step by step, plus the plan and hardware rules that decide what you can actually do.

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A DJ library in Vibes with BPM, key, energy and vibe columns filled in, ready to export

Prep the library first. Rekordbox is where you load the decks.

Get started in Rekordbox, step by step.

This is how to use Rekordbox for beginners: one sitting, from a fresh install to a playlist you can hand to a club player. The screens are version 7. If you still use Rekordbox 6, it can stay installed next to version 7, though only one of the two runs at a time.

01

Install it and create an AlphaTheta account

Download the installer from rekordbox.com, agree to the licence, and run it with administrator rights. To use Rekordbox on Mac, open Applications, the rekordbox 7 folder, then rekordbox.app; on Windows, use the desktop shortcut. The first launch asks you to create an AlphaTheta account, confirm it by email, and sign in.

02

Import your music into Collection

Click EXPORT in the upper left, then File > Import > Import Track for single files or Import Folder for a whole folder. Dragging files in works too. Everything lands in Collection. Streaming sits in the same Media Browser tree: to use TIDAL with Rekordbox, click the TIDAL icon and log in, but note that streaming tracks are blocked from USB EXPORT.

03

Let analysis run before anything else

Analysis is what makes sync, waveforms and cues work. With Preferences > Analysis > Track Analysis > Auto Analysis set to Enable, files are analyzed as they land. Otherwise select tracks, right-click and choose Analyze Track. Use high precision BeatGrid analysis is slower but more accurate, which is worth it on live or hand-played material.

04

Build playlists and folders

Click the plus icon on the right of Playlists in the tree view, type a name, press Enter. Open Collection, show the playlist in the sub browser, and drag tracks in. Playlist folders group them, and an Intelligent Playlist fills itself from filter rules instead. This tree is exactly what your USB stick and the club player will show.

05

Set up audio, then load a deck

Open Preferences > Audio and pick your speakers or audio interface under Audio. Switch to PERFORMANCE in the upper left and drag a track onto deck 1. To monitor, click CUE in the mixer panel for that deck, set MIX in the headphones panel to the middle and bring LEVEL up from zero.

06

Mix your first two tracks

Load a second track on deck 2. Click MASTER on the deck already playing, then BEAT SYNC on the other one, and Rekordbox matches its BPM and beat positions using the grid from step three. Bring the second channel in with the channel fader and crossfader. MT, short for Master Tempo, keeps the key steady while the tempo moves.

07

Try the sampler, Automix and stems

To use SAMPLER in Rekordbox, open the sampler deck from the global section and drag a track into one of its 16 slots, four banks deep. To use Automix, Rekordbox plays a playlist for you: drop one into the Automix window and start it. If you want to use stems, Rekordbox splits a playing track once the STEMS function is on in Preferences > Extensions.

08

Export a playlist to a USB stick

Back in EXPORT mode, plug the stick in and it appears under Devices, which is where you use Rekordbox with USB sticks. Drag a playlist onto it and Rekordbox copies the files with their cues, grids and waveforms. Format the stick FAT32, or exFAT only for the newer players that support it, because NTFS is not supported. Eject it from Rekordbox before pulling it out.

The catch

Rekordbox is free to download, but the Free plan is mostly an EXPORT mode plan: library, analysis, playlists and USB export. Controlling PERFORMANCE mode needs either a Hardware Unlock device or a paid plan, and the plan table lists DVS and STEMS as paid, so to use Track Separation on Rekordbox you need a subscription. Each free account gets one 30-day trial of the paid functions.

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

Where Vibes fits

The library part, done before you open Rekordbox.

Vibes has no decks, no mixer and no recorder, and it never talks to your controller: playing and mixing stay in Rekordbox. What it takes over is the slow half of step two through four. Smart Import reads your existing rekordbox library, an iTunes Library.xml or plain folders, Vibes analyzes every track, Auto-Tagging sorts them into vibes, and the result exports back to Rekordbox as a playlist folder tree.

See how it works
Import Wizard and Smart Import detect a rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, Engine DJ or Apple Music library, or read plain folders
Analysis gives BPM, Camelot or musical key, an energy curve and sections: intro, buildup, drop, breakdown, outro
Auto-Tagging and Vibe Sort tag tracks into vibes; Find Compatible shows harmonic neighbours inside a BPM window
Export sends playlists and vibes back to rekordbox, with optional key or BPM sub-folders; playback stays in Rekordbox

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.

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.

Download it from rekordbox.com, install it, and create the AlphaTheta account it asks for on the first launch. Then work in one direction: import your files into Collection, let analysis finish, group tracks into playlists, and only then open a deck. Beginners who skip analysis get unreliable sync and empty waveforms later, so do it first. Analyzing tracks in Rekordbox covers that step on its own.
Three ways, all in EXPORT mode: File > Import > Import Track for single files, File > Import > Import Folder for a folder, or drag files straight from Finder or Explorer into Collection. Rekordbox loads MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless and FLAC. Tracks from a streaming service appear separately in the Media Browser tree and behave differently. Next step: organize your library.
Yes. On Windows, tick the iTunes checkbox under Preferences > View > Layout > Media Browser, then set iTunes Library File under Preferences > Advanced > Database. On macOS Catalina and later there is no iTunes: in the Music app choose File > Library > Export Library, save the XML, and point Rekordbox at that file instead. Your tracks and playlists then appear under iTunes in the tree view. More in Apple Music.
AlphaTheta lists Windows 10 or 11, or macOS Ventura 13 through Tahoe 26; an Intel Core, AMD Ryzen 1000 series or Apple M1 or later CPU, AVX2 compatible; 8 GB of RAM, or 16 GB if you plan to use the STEMS function; 2 GB of free disk space on top of your music; a USB 2.0 port; and an internal or external audio output. Mixing on screen also needs a plan or supported hardware.
For library work, yes: EXPORT mode, analysis, playlists and USB export all run on the free plan. Mixing is the catch, because AlphaTheta unlocks PERFORMANCE mode control either through a Hardware Unlock device or a paid plan, with one 30-day trial per free account. So you can use Rekordbox on laptop speakers to learn the library side, and to use headphones on Rekordbox for cueing you need an audio device with two stereo outputs.
AlphaTheta's Hardware Unlock list runs from DDJ-FLX2, DDJ-FLX4 and DDJ-400 up to DDJ-FLX10 and DDJ-1000, plus CDJs, XDJs and DJM mixers. Connecting one lets you use Rekordbox with controller hardware and no subscription. Whether you use DDJ-400 with Rekordbox or use DDJ-200 with Rekordbox, the order is the same: install and sign in first, connect second. The DDJ-SB3 is on neither list. Pioneer DJ sells it for Serato DJ Lite, so how to use DDJ-SB3 with Rekordbox, Windows or Mac, has no answer beyond library prep.
Two directions. On the performance side, the STEMS function under Preferences > Extensions splits a playing track into vocal, instrument and drum parts, and using stems in Rekordbox walks through it, including how to use stems on DDJ-FLX4. Rekordbox does the splitting in software. On the prep side: cue points, My Tag, Intelligent Playlists, and a calm USB routine, starting with exporting a playlist to USB.
Start with the music, not the gear. Get 50 to 100 tracks you genuinely like into Collection, analyze them, and split them into three or four playlists by feeling rather than genre. Then learn one transition properly: match tempo with BEAT SYNC, bring the second channel in on the fader, take the first one out. Cue points come after that, in set cue points.
Yes, and most DJs are. The software half is fully documented: AlphaTheta publishes the rekordbox manual, an introduction guide and tutorial videos, and every menu path on this page comes from them. The ear half, phrasing, energy and reading a room, only comes from repetition. Record a practice mix, listen back the next day, fix one thing, repeat. Start with record your set.
In Rekordbox, four keep coming back: importing music and mixing before analysis has finished, trusting BEAT SYNC on a beatgrid nobody checked, building the USB stick an hour before the gig, and moving music files in Finder or Explorer afterwards, which leaves Rekordbox pointing at missing files. The fixes are boring and effective. For the last one, see relocate missing files.

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 Rekordbox.

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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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