About ninety seconds, start to finish
How it works
CrateOrganizer reads your music folders, works out which crates Serato should have, and shows you the plan. Nothing is written to your library until you approve it.
Four steps
Close Serato
Serato saves over anything changed while it is open. The app checks and refuses to write if it is running.
Pick your music folder
The top folder, not a single genre. Your Serato library is found automatically, and the app selects the one on the same drive as your music.
Scan, then look
You get a plan of what is new, changed or removed, crate by crate, with a track count on each. Nothing is written yet.
Apply
Your crates are zipped and backed up first, then written. Open Serato afterwards and run Analyze Files to fill in BPM and key.
A setup wizard walks you through it the first time you open the app, and the full guide lives in the Help tab.
What it actually writes
Want the background rather than the walkthrough? Serato folders to crates covers why Serato cannot do this itself, every workaround people try, and where each one breaks.
CrateOrganizer writes crate files, and lets Serato pick them up on its next scan. Syncing never touches your audio, and nothing is ever written to Serato’s own track database behind your back. The pages that do change your files say so at the top, and are listed below.
| Your audio files | Untouched by a sync. Three things change them, each only when you ask: a tag you edit and a file you rename on the Edit Tags page, both listed first and undoable in one click, and a duplicate you tick to delete, which goes to the Recycle Bin. |
|---|---|
| Crate files | Written to _Serato_/Subcrates. Backed up as a timestamped zip before every write. |
| Serato’s database | Read to work out what is already there. Written only when you ask for missing entries to be removed, and backed up first. |
| Smart crates | One crate file per saved search, under a Smart parent crate. Re-running a rule rewrites that crate and nothing else. |
| Exports for other software | A single file where you choose to save it. Nothing is written into Rekordbox’s, Traktor’s or Apple’s own library. |
| BPM and key | Not touched. Those come from Serato’s own analysis; run Analyze Files after syncing. |
Newer Serato keeps its library somewhere else. Recent versions of Serato DJ Pro hold the real library in their own database and rewrite the older database V2 file from it on every launch. Tools that only edit the folder appear to do nothing, because the file returns seconds later. CrateOrganizer detects which generation you are on, says so plainly, and works with all three.
Common questions
How does a smart crate know what to put in it?
From the BPM, key, genre and tags Serato already holds. Nothing is analysed here: run Analyze Files in Serato, then a search on 124 to 132 BPM, or on 8A and the keys that mix with it, becomes a crate you can re-run whenever you add music.
What happens when I move to Rekordbox or Traktor?
Every crate is written out as a playlist carrying artist, title, album, genre, BPM and key. You import that one file in the other program. Your Serato library is not changed, and no audio is moved or copied.
Will this change my music files?
Syncing never does. It reads your folders and writes Serato crate files, and your audio is left where it is.
Three things do change your files, and each one only when you ask for it by name: editing tags on the Edit Tags page, renaming a file on that same page, and deleting a duplicate you have ticked. Tag edits and renames are listed before they are written and undo in one click; deleted duplicates go to the Recycle Bin, never straight off the drive.
The full list of what is written and what is not is in the manual.
Will it break the crates I made by hand?
No. Crate removal is opt-in and limited to the folder tree the app manages. Every write is backed up first, and you can restore any backup in one click.
Why must my music and library be on the same drive?
Serato stores track locations relative to the drive, with no drive letter. A crate on D: can only point at files on D:. The app blocks a mismatched pair rather than writing crates that would appear empty.
Does it work with an external DJ drive?
Yes, that is the normal case. Keep the _Serato_ folder on the same drive as the music. If the drive has no library yet, the app offers to create one.
Do I need an internet connection?
Not for syncing. The free features work entirely offline. A Pro licence checks in occasionally to confirm it is still valid, and it keeps working for weeks without a connection so a venue with no signal never locks you out.
Windows says “Windows protected your PC”. Is that normal?
Yes, on first run. The app is new and not yet widely downloaded, so SmartScreen warns about it. Choose More info then Run anyway.
Something not covered here? Get in touch.