Library & files
XML export
An XML export is a single text file describing your whole collection — every track’s path, tags, tempo, key, cues and playlists. It is how one piece of DJ software hands a library to another.
In practice
The XML is a snapshot, not a connection. Re-export before you use it, every time, or you are importing last month.
In Rekordbox the export lives under preferences rather than the file menu, which is why it is hard to find the first time. Export to somewhere you will remember and overwrite the same file each time rather than accumulating dated copies. Because it stores absolute paths, an XML written on one machine will not resolve on another with a different drive layout — which is a relink problem rather than an export problem, and worth knowing before you blame the file.
One file
The whole collection
Snapshot
What it is, not a link
Absolute
The paths it stores
Where these come from: How the Rekordbox collection export behaves — documented application behaviour, not catalog figures.
Why it matters
It is the only portable version of your library that exists. The database itself is proprietary and version-specific; the XML is plain text that any tool can read, which makes it the format every converter, analyser and third-party service asks for — including ours.
It is also a snapshot rather than a link. Exported on Tuesday, it describes Tuesday, and every track added since is simply absent. Most of the confusion around it comes from expecting a file written days ago to know about work done since.
Frequently asked
Where is the XML export in Rekordbox?+
In preferences under the advanced or database section rather than the file menu, which is why most people cannot find it the first time they need it.
Does the XML contain my audio?+
No — only paths to it, plus the metadata, cues and playlists. It is small, and it is useless on a machine that cannot resolve those paths.
Why is my new music missing from the XML?+
Because the file was exported before you added it. The export is a point-in-time snapshot, so re-export whenever you want it to reflect current work.
Related terms
Library database
Your DJ software keeps its own database of everything it knows about your collection — file locations, beatgrids, cue points, crates, play history. The audio files sit elsewhere on disk; the database is what turns them into a library.
Library sync
Library sync keeps one collection consistent across more than one machine — a laptop, a desktop, a studio computer — either through the vendor’s cloud service or by keeping the database and audio on a drive you carry.
File naming
File naming is the convention behind the filenames themselves — usually artist, title and mix name. It matters because the filename is the one piece of metadata that survives when tags are missing, stripped or wrong.
Related Tracks
Related Tracks is a browse mode on club players that filters your own library against the track currently loaded — same key, similar tempo, same genre — so the next choice comes from a shortlist instead of the whole stick.