A Java desktop application that automatically synchronizes your music folder structure with Serato DJ Pro 4 crates and subcrates, no drag and drop required.
This project was inspired by serato-itch-sync by Roman Alekseenkov, a pioneering open-source tool that first explored the idea of mapping directory structures directly to Serato crates using Java.
Although serato-sync was built entirely from scratch with its own codebase and is not a fork or derivative of that project, Roman's work was the original spark. His initiative proved the concept and laid the groundwork for what this project aims to continue for modern versions of Serato DJ Pro. Full credit and gratitude go to him for that contribution to the DJ community.
Serato DJ Pro organizes music into crates and subcrates, but populating them manually is tedious when you already have a well-organized folder structure on disk.
serato-sync reads your folder hierarchy and automatically generates the corresponding .crate files in the correct Serato format including nested subcrates at any depth so your library in Serato mirrors your folders exactly.
Example: a folder structure like this:
Music/
└── Electronic/
├── House/
│ ├── Deep House/
│ └── House 90's/
└── Techno/
└── Industrial/
Produces these crates in Serato:
Electronic
Electronic > House
Electronic > House > Deep House
Electronic > House > House 90's
Electronic > Techno
Electronic > Techno > Industrial
- Recursive folder scanning with automatic subcrate hierarchy
- Supports multiple root folders simultaneously
- Playlist import — import
.m3u,.m3u8and.wplfiles directly as Serato crates - Persistent configuration — added folders and playlists are remembered between sessions
- Auto-detection of the Serato library path (
_Serato_) on Windows and macOS - Manual override of the Serato library path via Browse dialog
- Right-click any folder or playlist to reveal it in Windows Explorer or macOS Finder
- Dark mode toggle with preference saved between sessions
- Supports the following audio formats:
mp3,wl.mp3,flac,aif,aiff,wav,ogg,m4a,aac,wma,alac - Supports the following video formats:
mp4,mov,avi - Single
.jarfile — no installation required - Runs on Windows and macOS
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Java Runtime | Oracle JRE 8 (1.8.0+) or Zulu JDK 8 with JavaFX |
| Operating System | Windows 10/11 or macOS |
| Serato DJ Pro | Version 4.0 or later |
Important: Standard OpenJDK 8 distributions (including plain Zulu JDK) do not include JavaFX and will not run this application. You need one of the following:
- Oracle JRE 8 - download here
- Zulu JDK 8 with JavaFX (Zulu FX) - download here
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| JDK | Zulu JDK 8 FX or Oracle JDK 8 |
| Maven | 3.6+ |
| IntelliJ IDEA | Community or Ultimate (recommended) |
In IntelliJ, make sure both the Project SDK and Maven Runner JRE (
Settings → Build Tools → Maven → Runner → JRE) point to the Java 8 installation with JavaFX.
Double-click serato-sync.jar directly in File Explorer. Java automatically associates .jar files with javaw.exe during installation.
If double-click does not work, run via terminal:
java -jar serato-sync.jarOn macOS Catalina (10.15) or earlier with Oracle JDK 8, double-clicking the JAR may work. On macOS Big Sur (11) and later, Gatekeeper typically blocks unsigned JARs from running via double-click.
The most reliable way to launch on any macOS version is to create a .command launcher file. Create a file named serato-sync.command in the same folder as the JAR with the following content:
#!/bin/bash
cd "$(dirname "$0")"
java -jar serato-sync.jarThen open Terminal and make it executable (only needed once):
chmod +x /path/to/serato-sync.commandAfter that, double-clicking serato-sync.command in Finder will launch the app on any macOS version.
On first launch, macOS may show a security warning. If that happens, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
git clone https://github.com/wendellemosmoura/serato-sync.git
cd serato-sync
mvn clean packageThe output JAR will be at target/serato-sync.jar.
This is the most important concept to understand before using serato-sync.
Serato DJ Pro creates a separate _Serato_ library for each drive where music is loaded. When you load a track from drive D: for the first time, Serato automatically creates D:\_Serato_\. If you later load a track from E:, Serato creates E:\_Serato_\ as a separate library.
This means the Serato library path and the music folders must always be on the same drive. If your music is on D:, the correct library path is D:\_Serato_ not C:\Users\YourName\Music\_Serato_.
Using a library path from a different drive will cause tracks to appear in the crate but fail to load when you try to play them in Serato.
The _Serato_ folder for a given drive is only created by Serato after at least one track from that drive has been loaded. If you have never opened a track from that drive in Serato, the library folder will not exist yet and serato-sync will have nothing to point to.
Before using serato-sync, make sure you have:
- Opened Serato DJ Pro at least once
- Loaded at least one track from each drive you intend to sync
After that, Serato will have created the corresponding _Serato_ folder and serato-sync can write crates into it.
| Music location | Correct Serato library path |
|---|---|
C:\Users\YourName\Music\ |
C:\Users\YourName\Music\_Serato_ or C:\_Serato_ |
D:\Music\ |
D:\_Serato_ |
E:\DJ Library\ |
E:\_Serato_ |
Each drive requires a separate sync operation pointing to its own library.
macOS note: On macOS, Serato typically creates a single library at
~/Music/_Serato_for the system drive. External drives follow the same per-drive rule as Windows, creating their library at the root of the mounted volume (/Volumes/DriveName/_Serato_). macOS behavior has not been fully tested, contributions and reports are welcome.
serato-sync can import playlist files directly as Serato crates. The crate name is derived from the playlist filename — for example, HighEnergy.m3u becomes a crate named HighEnergy.
| Format | Extension | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| M3U | .m3u |
Standard playlist format, compatible with most media players. Encoding auto-detected (UTF-8 or Windows-1252) |
| M3U8 | .m3u8 |
UTF-8 variant of M3U, as defined by the specification |
| WPL | .wpl |
Windows Media Player playlist format |
- Under Playlists to import, click Browse or type the path to a playlist file and click Add
- Repeat for as many playlists as needed
- Confirm the Serato library path and click Sync library
The imported playlists will appear as crates alongside any folder-based crates.
Note: Serato DJ Pro does not preserve the original playlist order when loading externally created crates. Tracks will appear sorted alphabetically inside the crate, regardless of the order defined in the playlist file. This is a Serato limitation and cannot be controlled by serato-sync.
- Launch the application with
java -jar serato-sync.jar - Under Folders to sync, click Browse or type a folder path and click Add
- Optionally, under Playlists to import, add any
.m3u,.m3u8or.wplfiles - Repeat for as many folders or playlists as you want to sync
- Confirm the detected Serato library path is correct (or browse to set it manually)
- Click Sync library
- Open Serato DJ Pro — your crates will be ready
Note: serato-sync writes the crate structure and track paths. Metadata such as BPM, key, artist, and duration is read by Serato directly from your audio files. If tags appear empty after syncing, select all tracks in the crate inside Serato and choose Analyze Files to populate them.
Click the Dark button in the top-right corner to toggle dark mode. Click Light to switch back.
MIT License see LICENSE for details.