Complete Step-by-Step Guide: Moving Your Serato Library to a New Computer
- Dwayne Dixon: the HITMAN*DDub
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Click on this image below to watch the Video Demonstration for Moving Your Serato Library
This process will help you take a scattered, unorganized music library and safely rebuild it so Serato reads everything correctly on your new laptop—without broken crates, missing files, or duplicate tracks.
STEP 1 — Organize All Music Into ONE Master Folder (Old Laptop)
Right now, your music is spread across:
random folders
your internal hard drive
your external drive
Before transferring anything, you MUST organize it.
1. Create ONE master folder on your old laptop
Name it something like:
Music Library (Master)
2. Use Serato to move every song into this folder (IMPORTANT)
Do NOT drag the files manually in Finder/Explorer.Use Serato DJ → Files panel → Copy.
Inside Serato:
Open Serato DJ
Go to Files panel
Locate a folder that contains music
Right-click → Copy
Copy the songs into your Music Library (Master) folder
Check the box: “Remove Serato Database Instance After Copy”
This cleans the Serato database
Removes duplicate track references
Updates Serato’s crate library automatically
Repeat until all your music—from everywhere—is inside ONE folder.
STEP 2 — Verify Your Library Is Clean & Organized
Before transferring:
✔ All songs must be inside your Music Library (Master) folder
✔ No duplicates
✔ No songs sitting in random desktop folders
✔ No files pointing to old external drives
This prevents a broken library on your new laptop.
STEP 3 — Copy Your Music & Serato Folder to a Clean External Drive
Now that everything is organized:
1. Use a clean, empty external drive
Format it if needed. (ExFAT for compatibility)
2. Recreate the same folder structure on the external drive
Your OLD laptop likely stores Serato like this (example):
Mac:
Users > [YourName] > Music > _Serato_
Windows:
My Music > _Serato_
Your MUSIC should be organized like this:
Music Library (Master)
3. Copy these items to the external drive:
A. Your Entire Music Library Folder
Music Library (Master)
B. Your Entire Serato Folder
_Serato_
This keeps your crates, cues, loops, beatgrids, history, and database.
STEP 4 — Restore to the New Laptop (Exact Folder Structure Required)
Serato will ONLY recognize your library automatically if you keep the same folder paths.
On the new laptop:
Create the exact same folder path as your old computer:
Mac Example:
Users > [YourName] > Music > _Serato_
Users > [YourName] > Music > Music Library (Master)
Windows Example:
My Music > _Serato_
My Music > Music Library (Master)
Copy from the external drive:
Serato folder → into the Music folder
Music Library (Master) → into the Music folder
Serato will open and automatically read:
✔ your crates
✔ your playlists
✔ your cue points
✔ your beatgrids
✔ your track metadata
STEP 5 — Open Serato on the New Laptop
When you launch Serato:
It will scan the Serato folder
It will reconnect every file properly
Crates will appear exactly as they were
No “missing files” issues
No duplicates
No broken paths
If Serato asks you to "relocate files," that means the folder structure doesn't match—move the folders so they match the original location.
STEP 6 — Final Clean-Up
Once everything loads correctly:
✔ Analyze your entire library
✔ Rescan ID3 tags
✔ Remove duplicates inside Serato
✔ Clean out dead links
✔ Run "Relocate Missing Files" if needed (should be minimal if steps were followed)
Check out this video for more assisstance with moving your Serato Library
VISUAL FOLDER STRUCTURE DIAGRAM (MAC & WINDOWS)
Use this diagram to show Capri EXACTLY how the folders should look on the old laptop, external drive, and new laptop.
🔵 MAC FOLDER STRUCTURE
Macintosh HD
└── Users
└── DJCapri
└── Music
├── Music Library (Master)
│ ├── 2000s RnB
│ ├── 2024 Line Dance
│ ├── Hip Hop
│ ├── Afrobeats
│ └── etc...
│
└── _Serato_
├── crates
├── database V2
├── SmartCrates
├── SubCrates
└── Audio Files (Serato-specific data)
🟣 WINDOWS FOLDER STRUCTURE
C:\
└── Users
└── DJCapri
└── Music
├── Music Library (Master)
│ ├── 2000s RnB
│ ├── 2024 Line Dance
│ ├── Hip Hop
│ ├── Afrobeats
│ └── etc...
│
└── _Serato_
├── crates
├── database V2
├── SmartCrates
├── SubCrates
└── Audio Files
🟩 EXTERNAL DRIVE (UNIVERSAL — SAME FOR MAC & PC)
This is the structure Capri should create on the clean external drive before copying files.
External Drive (ExFAT)
└── Music
├── Music Library (Master)
│ ├── 2000s RnB
│ ├── 2024 Line Dance
│ ├── Hip Hop
│ ├── Afrobeats
│ └── etc...
│
└── _Serato_
├── crates
├── database V2
├── SmartCrates
├── SubCrates
└── Audio Files
Important:The external drive MUST match the old laptop’s folder structure so the new laptop will load Serato perfectly.
Download a copy of my Library Transfer Checklist
If you need any additional help organizing your library, preparing your Serato setup, or troubleshooting anything along the way, please feel free to reach out. I’m always here to support you. You can contact me directly by visiting www.dddixon.com/contact-2 for more DJ resources, booking info, and training sessions.
And if you want to stay inspired, sharpen your skills, and learn from real working DJs every week, I invite you to join us on the Cue It Up DJ Podcast—live every Thursday at 9 PM EST on YouTube (@theHitmanDDub). It’s a community where DJs of all levels come together to connect, grow, and level up their craft. We’d love to have you in the chat!
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