How do you back up your Serato library?

What you are actually backing up

Serato’s own support team lists the same three things for any backup or move, and missing one leaves a hole:

• The _Serato_ folder. Your crates (the Subcrates folder), smart crates and library files. Serato also creates one on the root of every external drive you have added music from, holding that drive’s crates.
• Serato’s Library folder. At ~/Library/Application Support/Serato/Library. Serato describes it as holding history sessions, preferences and crate order. On Serato DJ Pro 4 it also holds the new library database, master.sqlite and root.sqlite, which replaced the old database V2 file as the library Serato actually runs from.
• Your music files. No Serato folder contains a single song, only references to where your songs live. Serato writes cue points and beatgrids into the files’ own tags, so backing up the music also backs those up.

A backup of only the Serato folders protects your crates but not your music. A backup of only your music protects songs and cues but not your crates or history. You need all three.

Where each part lives

_Serato_: Users > [your username] > Music > _Serato_, plus _Serato_ at the root of each external drive.

Serato’s Library folder: in Finder, hold Option, click Go, choose Library, then open Application Support > Serato > Library. The user Library folder is hidden by default, which is why so many backups miss it. For what each file inside does, see what is in the _Serato_ folder.

If you are on Serato DJ Pro 3.x, the older layout applies: the library database is the database V2 file inside _Serato_, and history sits in its History folder. Copying the Library folder as well does no harm, so the same three-part backup works on any version.

What Serato backs up on its own, and why it is not enough

Serato DJ Pro 4 does make its own backups:

• Library database backups go to Library/Backups inside Serato’s Library folder, 15 minutes after you open the library, every 24 hours after that, and whenever the database structure changes. Only the most recent ones are kept.
• Exit backups of your crates go to an Export Backups folder inside _Serato_ when you quit and accept the backup prompt.

On 3.3.5 and below, the exit backup was a single _Serato_Backup copy that was overwritten every time.

All of these are useful for undoing a mistake from yesterday. None of them is a real backup, for one reason: they live on the same drive as the library they copy. If that drive fails, is stolen or gets wiped, the library and every backup of it go together. Restoring from them is also manual; Serato notes there is no restore button in the app. Treat them as a same-week undo and make your real backups yourself, to a different drive.

How to back up your Serato library properly

Follow the steps in the box above. The principle is simple: with Serato closed, copy every _Serato_ folder, Serato’s Library folder and your music to storage that is physically separate from your working drive. A backup is not the same as running one library on two machines; for that, see keeping a Serato library in sync across two computers.

Before a big change, like a major library cleanup or a Serato update, make a dated copy of both Serato folders first (for example, _Serato_ 2026-09-25). It takes seconds and turns any mistake into a quick restore instead of a rebuild.

How to restore or move to a new computer

1. Quit Serato on the new machine, and copy your music files over first, ideally into one folder. Never rename the files themselves, or Serato will not find them.
2. Put your _Serato_ folder back in Users > [your username] > Music. If one is already there, rename the existing one (for example, _Serato_old) so you keep a fallback.
3. Put Serato’s Library folder back in Application Support > Serato, renaming any existing one to LibraryOLD first.
4. Open Serato, open the Files panel and click Rescan ID3 Tags. Tracks whose paths changed will show as missing, which is expected.
5. Drag your music folder onto Relocate Lost Files so Serato matches every entry to its new location. If that does not catch everything, see why Relocate Lost Files fails and how to fix it and how to fix missing files in Serato.

The full walkthrough, including drive names and paths, is in how to move your Serato library to a new Mac.

Restoring from a Time Machine backup

Time Machine captures both your Music folder and your user Library folder by default, so both halves of your Serato library are usually in there. With Serato closed, restore the _Serato_ folder into Users > [your username] > Music and the Serato Library folder into Application Support > Serato, from the same date so they match, then open Serato and relocate any tracks that show as missing.

How often should you back up?

Back up whenever you have done work you would hate to lose: a prep session full of new cue points, a round of crate organising, or right before a big cleanup or a Serato update. Serato’s own backups only keep recent copies on the same drive, so your own dated copies on a separate drive are what actually protect you over time.

Keeping a tidy library makes backups easier

Backups are smaller, faster, and cleaner when your library is not full of duplicates and dead missing-file entries. Crate Cleaner scans your real Serato DJ Pro library on macOS: Duplicate Finder archives duplicate copies rather than deleting them, and Library Repair relinks broken files, so the database you are backing up is lean and accurate. It is also useful right after a migration: when restored tracks show orange because their paths changed, Library Repair relinks them to the files on your new drive, so you are gig-ready without rebuilding crates by hand. The scan is free on your real library with no card required, so you can see what it finds first; the free plan then archives 10 duplicates and makes 5 repairs a day, and Pro and Studio have no limit.

Try Crate Cleaner free → · See pricing →

FAQ

Where is my Serato library stored? In two places. The _Serato_ folder at Users > [your username] > Music > _Serato_ (plus one on the root of each external drive you use), and on Serato DJ Pro 4 the Library folder at ~/Library/Application Support/Serato, which holds the main library database and your history.

Does the _Serato_ folder contain my music? No. It holds crates and library files, not the audio. Back up your music folder separately; the cue points and beatgrids Serato writes into each file travel with it.

Is Serato's automatic backup enough? No. Serato DJ Pro 4 keeps several recent database backups, but they sit on the same drive as your library, so a drive failure loses both. Version 3.3.5 and below kept only one copy and overwrote it each time. Copy your Serato folders to a separate drive yourself.

Why are my tracks missing after moving to a new computer? Because the file paths changed. Rescan ID3 tags, then drag your music folder onto Relocate Lost Files so Serato matches the entries to the files in their new location.

Can I back up my Serato library to the cloud? Yes. Copy your _Serato_ folders, Serato's Library folder and your music to cloud storage, with Serato closed, and give multiple _Serato_ folders distinct names so they do not overwrite each other.