Everything Crate Cleaner does, in one place.

01 · Setup

Getting started

Crate Cleaner is a native macOS app for Serato DJ Pro libraries. It runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and everything (scanning, deduping, repair, smart crates) runs locally on your machine. No internet connection is required to use it.

Install and first launch

1. Install the app. Open the downloaded .dmg and drag Crate Cleaner into your Applications folder.
2. Point it at Serato. On first launch, Crate Cleaner looks for your Serato library at ~/Music/_Serato_ automatically. If your library lives somewhere else (an external drive, for example), you can select the folder yourself in the setup flow or later in Settings.
3. Run your first scan. The scan reads your Serato database, crates, cues and file metadata. It is strictly read-only: nothing in your library changes during a scan.
4. Review your results. When the scan finishes you'll land on the Dashboard with a health score, ranked Top Fixes, duplicate groups and any missing files it found.

02 · Orientation

The interface

The sidebar is organised into three groups:

• Library: Dashboard, Duplicates, Crates, Smart Crates. Where you assess and organise your collection.
• Tools: Setlist, Repair, Bulk Tag, Archive. Where you fix and maintain it.
• Insights: Intelligence, Analytics. Deeper per-track analysis and your play history.

The safe-to-write pill

The title bar always shows whether Serato DJ is currently running. When it reads Serato closed · safe to write, Crate Cleaner can commit changes to your library. If Serato is open, write operations are held back so the two apps never fight over the same database.

03 · Trust

Safety model

Crate Cleaner is built around one rule: you can always get back to where you were.

• Scans are read-only. Analysis never modifies your Serato database, files, cues or beatgrids.
• Writes only happen while Serato is closed. The app checks that Serato DJ is not running before committing changes.
• Snapshots before changes. A snapshot is a full copy of the library database, stored locally in ~/.crate-cleaner/snapshots. You can create one manually at any time and restore any snapshot from the last 30 days (older ones are purged automatically).
• Archive, never delete. Resolving duplicates moves losing files to the Archive, where they stay fully restorable. Crate Cleaner never permanently deletes your audio files for you.
• Cues, beatgrids and crates are preserved. When you resolve a duplicate, the track you keep inherits the crate memberships of the copies that were archived.

04 · Library

Dashboard & library health

The Dashboard turns your whole library into one composite health score built from six signals, including how much of your library is crated, uncrated, duplicated, missing or corrupt.

• Top Fixes ranks every available action by how many points it reclaims, so the next most valuable move is always at the top.
• Format breakdown and Camelot profile show what your library is made of: file formats, bitrates and the harmonic key distribution.
• Scan history tracks your score and track counts over time, so you can watch the library improve scan over scan.
• PDF export produces a shareable report of your library's current state.

05 · Library

Duplicate finder

Crate Cleaner finds duplicates using four match types, grouped and sorted by confidence: exact (identical files), metadata (same tag data), filename and fuzzy (similar titles and artists, catches dirty edits and re-rips).

Resolving groups

• Auto-pick chooses the keeper by rule: highest bitrate first, then most cue points, then earliest date added. You can override any pick before resolving.
• Batch resolve clears whole confidence tiers in one pass once you trust the picks.
• The kept track inherits every crate membership from the archived copies, so no crate ends up with a hole in it.
• Archived files are moved, not deleted, and can be restored from the Archive at any time.
• Export a CSV report of all duplicate groups or just the archived files.

06 · Library

Crate browser

Browse your full crate tree with the data that matters inline: analyzed BPM, Camelot key, cue count, format, bitrate and energy.

• Instant search across the entire library, not just the open crate.
• Sort by energy, plays, rating, BPM, key or any visible column, and choose which columns are shown.
• Preview player with spectral waveform, so you can audition tracks without leaving the app.
• Pin crates you use constantly, reorder tracks, and add or remove tracks from crates directly.
• iTunes / Apple Music import can bring playlists in as crates and keep them synced.

07 · Library

Smart Crates

Smart Crates build sets for you from rules. Define ranges for BPM, harmonic key, energy and genre, and Crate Cleaner assembles a crate that flows.

How a build works

• Harmonic sequencing: tracks are ordered along the Camelot wheel so every transition is in key or one move away.
• Energy arc: the set is shaped to build toward your peak, and each transition is labelled so you can see why it works.
• Locks and swaps: lock tracks you want to keep in place, then rebuild or swap around them.
• Rebuild on demand: templates are saved, so you can regenerate a fresh set from the same rules whenever your library grows.

Export

Finished sets export straight back to Serato as a real crate, or as .m3u8 playlists and Rekordbox-compatible files for other setups. Templates themselves can be exported and imported, so you can share rule sets between machines.

08 · Tools

Setlist planner

Plan a specific night, track by track, with BPM and key visible for every transition. The free trial lets you plan up to 10 tracks per setlist; Pro and Studio remove the cap and unlock exporting the finished setlist.

09 · Tools

Library repair

When files get moved, renamed or shifted to a new drive, Serato shows them red and refuses to load them. Library repair finds where they went.

• Scan for missing files across your drives, with candidate matches scored by confidence.
• Auto-relink accepts high-confidence matches in bulk.
• Per-file decisions let you confirm or reject each remaining match yourself before anything is written.
• Relinked tracks keep their cues, beatgrids and crate memberships.

10 · Tools

Bulk tag editor

Fix messy metadata across many files at once: artist and title casing, genre normalisation, and tag cleanup. Available on the Studio plan.

• Preview first: every change is shown as a before/after diff before anything is written to your files.
• Sessions and undo: each apply is recorded as a session that can be undone, restoring the previous tags.
• Folder scan: point it at a folder to tag files that aren't in your Serato library yet.

11 · Insights

Track Intelligence

Deep per-track analysis beyond what Serato stores: energy profiling and richer track data to power Smart Crate building and energy sorting. Run it across the library in the background, or analyse individual tracks on demand. Full Track Intelligence is a Studio feature; Free and Pro get a partial view.

12 · Insights

Analytics

Analytics imports your Serato session history and turns it into insight about how you actually play.

• Sessions: every set you've played, with track counts and timing.
• Top tracks: what you reach for most, so you know your real workhorses.
• Transitions: which track-to-track moves you repeat, including BPM arcs across a session.
• If your Serato history lives in a non-standard location, you can point Analytics at it in Settings.

13 · Safety net

Archive & snapshots

Archive

Every file that loses a duplicate resolution lands in the Archive rather than the trash. From the Archive page you can restore individual files, restore everything at once, or permanently remove files yourself once you're certain you don't need them.

Snapshots

A snapshot is a complete copy of Crate Cleaner's library database at a point in time, stored in ~/.crate-cleaner/snapshots with its track count, crate count and health score. Create one before any big operation, and restore from the snapshot list if you ever want to roll back. Snapshots older than 30 days are cleaned up automatically.

14 · Plans

Plans & limits

The trial is designed to be genuinely useful on your real library. Here is exactly where the lines are:

Lifetime includes everything in Studio, forever, on up to 2 machines. See pricing for current rates. Licence keys are entered in Settings inside the app.

15 · Compatibility

Supported formats

Crate Cleaner reads the formats Serato DJ Pro reads: MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF and AAC. It requires macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel) and a Serato DJ Pro library. Serato's database and crate formats are read natively, including cues, beatgrids and crate structure.

16 · Help

Troubleshooting

Crate Cleaner can't find my library

By default it looks in ~/Music/_Serato_. If your library is on an external drive, make sure the drive is mounted, then set the path manually in Settings.

The write button is disabled

Check the title-bar pill. If Serato DJ is running, quit it fully and the pill will flip to safe-to-write.

I archived the wrong file

Open Archive in the sidebar and restore it. The file returns to its original location and its crate memberships are intact.

Something else went wrong after a write

Restore the most recent snapshot from before the change. If you're stuck, email support@cratecleaner.com and include what you were doing when it happened. Studio and Lifetime plans get priority support.