Use this guide to understand the Crates panel inside Crate Hackers, where to find Mixable Crates, My Crates, Crate Categories, and Trending Charts.

The Crates panel is where most of your crate work starts. This is where you browse curated crates, save useful crates, organize your own crates, review categories, and move toward exporting music to your DJ software.

Think of it as your prep area. Not your whole music library. Not your record pool. Not a magical robot DJ. Just the place where useful crates stop being scattered ideas and become something you can actually use.

Fast Fix

  1. Open Crate Hackers.
  2. Click Crates in the sidebar.
  3. Browse Mixable Crates for curated DJ-ready crate ideas.
  4. Use My Crates to find crates you saved, built, or imported.
  5. Use Crate Categories to browse by event type, genre, mood, or use case when available.
  6. Use Trending Charts to review music movement and current song activity.
  7. Save useful crates to My Crates.
  8. Match tracks against your music library.
  9. Click Export and choose your DJ software or M3U.
  10. Open your DJ software and test the crate before using it live.

What Is the Crates Panel?

The Crates panel is the main place to browse, save, organize, and work with crates inside Crate Hackers.

A crate is a focused group of songs built around a purpose. That purpose might be a wedding dance floor, cocktail hour, club warmup, clean pop, throwbacks, EDM, country crossover, hip hop, Latin, or any other music situation where you need useful options fast.

A good crate helps reduce random scrolling. A bad crate is just 600 songs wearing a fake name tag.

How to Open the Crates Panel

  1. Open Crate Hackers.
  2. Look at the sidebar navigation.
  3. Click Crates.
  4. Choose the crate area you want to use.

The exact layout may change as the app improves, but the goal stays the same: find, save, organize, match, and export crates.

Main Areas Inside Crates

Depending on your version of Crate Hackers, you may see sections like these:

  • Mixable Crates: Curated crates designed around DJ use, flow, BPM, key, energy, genre, mood, or event type.
  • My Crates: Crates you saved, built, imported, edited, or prepared for export.
  • Crate Categories: Groups of crates organized by theme, genre, event, format, or use case.
  • Trending Charts: Charts that help you review current song movement, popularity, and activity.

Important: there are no Trending Crates. Use Trending Charts when referring to music trends inside Crate Hackers.

Mixable Crates

Mixable Crates are curated crates built to help DJs move through music more easily.

Depending on the crate, songs may be organized around:

  • BPM
  • Key
  • Energy
  • Genre
  • Mood
  • Event type
  • Dance floor moment
  • Mixability

Mixable Crates are useful when you need a strong starting point instead of building from scratch.

Good Uses for Mixable Crates

  • Wedding warmup
  • Cocktail hour
  • Club opening set
  • Throwback dance floor
  • Clean pop set
  • Country crossover
  • Hip hop classics
  • EDM open format
  • Last 30 minutes

Use the crate as a starting point. Review it. Adjust it. Remove what does not fit. You still make the call.

My Crates

My Crates is where your saved and working crates live.

This may include:

  • Crates you saved from Mixable Crates
  • Crates you built yourself
  • Crates imported from Spotify
  • Crates imported from text lists
  • Crates imported from CSV files
  • Crates you edited for a specific event
  • Crates you plan to export

This is the area to use when you want your own working version of a crate.

Why Save to My Crates?

  • You can rename the crate.
  • You can review the tracks.
  • You can remove songs that do not fit.
  • You can match songs against your music library.
  • You can add missing tracks later.
  • You can export the crate to your DJ software.

Saving to My Crates turns a crate from something you are browsing into something you can work with.

Crate Categories

Crate Categories help organize crates into easier browsing groups.

Categories may help you find crates by:

  • Event type
  • Genre
  • Decade
  • Mood
  • Energy
  • Audience type
  • DJ use case

Categories are useful when you know the situation but do not know the exact crate name yet.

Example Category Searches

  • Wedding
  • Cocktail
  • Club
  • Throwback
  • Clean
  • Latin
  • Country
  • Hip hop
  • EDM
  • Warmup

Trending Charts

Trending Charts help you review current music movement and song activity.

Use Trending Charts when you want to see what songs are gaining attention or showing activity across supported sources and chart views.

Trending Charts are not the same as Mixable Crates. A chart helps you review movement. A crate helps you prepare songs for use.

How to Use Trending Charts

  • Look for songs gaining traction.
  • Compare current music against what you already play.
  • Use chart movement as research.
  • Add useful songs to a crate when they fit your crowd.
  • Do not assume trending means useful for every room.

A song can be trending and still be wrong for your floor. The chart gives you information. Your job is still judgment. Annoying, but that is the gig.

How to Use a Crate from the Crates Panel

  1. Open Crate Hackers.
  2. Click Crates.
  3. Browse Mixable Crates, My Crates, or Crate Categories.
  4. Open a crate that fits your event or use case.
  5. Review the track list.
  6. Click Save to My Crates if you want your own working version.
  7. Match the tracks against your scanned music library.
  8. Add or download any missing tracks you need.
  9. Click Export.
  10. Choose your DJ software export option if available.
  11. Use M3U if you need a universal playlist file.
  12. Open your DJ software and test the crate.

Before You Export a Crate

Before exporting, make sure Crate Hackers has scanned your music library.

  1. Go to Library.
  2. Open Music Sources.
  3. Add the folder where your music files live.
  4. Run the scan.
  5. Use Re-sync if you recently added new music.

Crates export best when tracks are matched against files Crate Hackers can actually find. If your music is on an external drive, plug it in before scanning and exporting.

What If Songs Are Missing?

Missing songs are normal. Crate Hackers may show which tracks you already own and which ones you still need to add.

If songs are missing:

  • Confirm your music folder was scanned.
  • Confirm your external drive is connected.
  • Make sure cloud files are downloaded locally.
  • Add missing tracks from a source you use.
  • Re-sync your music sources after adding new files.
  • Check alternate versions, remixes, clean edits, or explicit edits.

Always confirm the version before using it live. Clean, explicit, intro, short edit, extended edit, remix, and live versions are not the same thing.

Common Use Cases

Last Minute Gig Prep

Browse Mixable Crates, save one to My Crates, review it, match the tracks, and export it to your DJ software.

Wedding Prep

Use Crate Categories or search to find wedding, cocktail, dinner, dance floor, clean, or throwback crates.

Club Prep

Browse crates by genre, energy, warmup, peak hour, or room style. Save the useful crate and adjust it for your set.

Researching Current Music

Use Trending Charts to review music movement, then add useful songs to a crate when they fit your actual crowd.

Managing Your Own Crates

Use My Crates to find crates you saved, built, imported, edited, or prepared for export.

Best Practices

  • Save useful crates to My Crates: This gives you a working version.
  • Rename crates clearly: Use names that describe the event, genre, or purpose.
  • Review before exporting: Do not blindly export every track.
  • Check versions: Clean, explicit, intro, short, extended, and remix versions matter.
  • Match tracks first: Make sure Crate Hackers can find the songs in your scanned library.
  • Re-sync after adding music: New tracks need to be scanned before they match correctly.
  • Test after export: Open the crate in your DJ software before using it live.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Confusing Trending Charts with Crates

Trending Charts show song movement and activity. Crates are saved groups of songs you can prepare, match, and export.

Not Saving to My Crates

If you want to edit, rename, match, or export a curated crate, save it to My Crates first.

Skipping the Library Scan

Crate Hackers needs your music sources scanned before it can match tracks correctly.

Exporting Without Testing

Always open the exported crate inside your DJ software before using it live. A missing file at home is annoying. A missing file during a set is theater, and not the good kind.

Quick FAQs

Can I Edit or Rename Crates?

Yes. Save the crate to My Crates, then rename it, review it, add or remove songs, match tracks, and export when ready.

What Is the Difference Between Mixable Crates and Trending Charts?

Mixable Crates are groups of songs built for DJ prep and use. Trending Charts help you review song movement and current activity. A chart helps you research. A crate helps you prepare.

Can I Export Crates?

Yes. Open the crate, click Export, then choose your DJ software export option if available. Use M3U if you need a universal playlist file.

Do Crates Include Audio Files?

No. Crates organize song information and point to files in your music library. You still need playable music files on your computer, external drive, or supported music source.

Why Are Songs Missing From a Crate?

Missing songs usually mean Crate Hackers did not find matching files in your scanned music library. Add the correct music folder, re-sync, or add the missing tracks to your library.

Can I Use Trending Charts to Build Crates?

Yes. Use Trending Charts for research, then add useful songs to a crate when they make sense for your event, crowd, or format.

Troubleshooting

I Do Not See the Crate I Saved

Check My Crates. If you saved or imported a crate, that is usually where your working version should live.

The Crate Is Empty

Make sure the crate actually has tracks. If it came from an import, confirm the import completed. If it came from a saved crate, reopen it from My Crates.

Everything Looks Missing

Go to Library, open Music Sources, and confirm your music folder has been added and scanned. If your music is on an external drive, make sure the drive is connected.

The Exported Crate Does Not Work in My DJ Software

Confirm the original music files are still available. If your music is on an external drive, plug it in before opening your DJ software. If your files are in Dropbox or Google Drive, make sure they are downloaded locally.

I Cannot Find Trending Crates

That label is outdated. Look for Trending Charts instead.

Best Crates Panel Workflow

  1. Open Crate Hackers.
  2. Click Crates.
  3. Browse Mixable Crates, My Crates, or Crate Categories.
  4. Use Trending Charts for music research when needed.
  5. Open a useful crate.
  6. Save it to My Crates.
  7. Review the track list.
  8. Match tracks against your scanned library.
  9. Add missing tracks if needed.
  10. Re-sync your music sources.
  11. Click Export.
  12. Choose your DJ software or M3U.
  13. Open your DJ software and test the crate.

That is the clean path. Browse, save, review, match, export, test. Anything else is how people end up with 19 crates named “final.”

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