The following optimizations are recommended for users of Serato DJ Pro or Serato DJ Lite, using computers running Windows 10 or 11. It's strongly recommended to carry out the optimizations whether you have a very powerful Windows computer, or an older model.

Please check the Serato DJ Pro System Requirements or Serato DJ Lite System Requirements for supported operating systems, and to ensure your computer meets or exceeds the other computer specifications that are stipulated.

In order to complete many of the optimizations below, you will need to access Control Panel:

1. Press the Windows Key on your keyboard, or click on the Start button
2. Type "Control Panel"
3. Press Enter on your keyboard, or click on the Control Panel app
   

Optimization and Power

Restart your computer

You'd be surprised at how many random issues can occur because a computer has not been restarted in days, weeks, or even months in some cases. Audio drop-outs, distortion, hangs, freezes and crashes can all be mitigated or potentially avoided simply by regularly restarting your computer. We strongly advise you restart your computer before any major performances.

Restart Serato DJ Pro or Lite

Similar to the suggestion above, many random seemingly unrelated issues can occur because an application has not been restarted in days, or even weeks.
Audio drop-outs, distortion, hangs, freezes, crashes and library issues can all be mitigated or avoided simply by regularly restarting Serato DJ Pro or Lite - minimizing the application is not sufficient - close the application (the X in the top right-corner) after sets, or even after making changes to your library.
We strongly advise you close and launch a fresh instance of Serato DJ Pro or Lite, before any performances.

Connect your power adapter

Ensure your computer's power adapter is connected. Using Serato DJ Pro (or any CPU-intensive application) with battery power can result in CPU throttling which could cause performance issues, particularly when the battery capacity is nearly empty.

NOTE: Serato DJ Pro & Lite software will show a 'battery' icon in the top right-hand corner of the main user interface to help you recognize when you've started playing a set using battery power instead of your power adapter. Remember that when you see the icon below, you will likely want to check or connect your power adapter as soon as possible:

Adjust Power Options

It is strongly recommended to adjust the power options so that your computer does not enter sleep mode, put the hard disks to sleep, suspend USB devices, or reduce processor activity. These features can cause playback and recording issues, as well as issues with your USB devices.

NOTE: Some computers do not allow the user to choose 'High Performance' as a plan (as per step 3 below) and some critical optimization options may be hidden under 'Change advanced power settings'. Microsoft Surface and Dell computers have been known to come with these options hidden - but there may be other Windows OEM computers that fall into this category. If you find yourself in this situation, please check out our Adding the High Performance power plan option on my Windows computer

Follow these steps to optimize your power options:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click on Hardware and Sound
3. Click on Power Options
4. Enable the High Performance plan (you may need to click 'Show additional Plans' to see this plan)
5. Click on Change plan settings for the High Performance plan.
6. Set the display’s sleep time and the computer’s sleep time to Never.
7. Click on Change advanced power settings
8. Click the + next to Hard Disk, then click the + next to Turn Off Hard Disk After
9. In the text field, type Never
10. Click on the + next to USB settings, then click the + next to USB selective suspend settings.
11. Double-click where it says Enabled, then click Disabled.
12. Click on the + next to Processor power management, then click the + next to Minimum processor state.
13. Type 100 in the text field (%)
14. Click Apply, then OK
15. Click Save Changes

 

Disable USB Power Management

Disabling the USB power management allows you to free up bandwidth on the USB bus, which will help with device recognition and driver installation issues. To turn it off, follow the steps below:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click on Hardware & Sound
3. Click on Device Manager under the Devices and Printers section
4. Click the triangle next to Universal Serial Bus Controllers
5. Double-click on the first USB Root Hub item
6. Click on the Power Management Tab
7. Uncheck the box that says “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” and click OK
8. Do this for all USB Root Hub and Generic USB Hub items

Hard Disk Optimizations

These optimizations will improve disk performance when recording and playing back audio files.

1. Open a new File Explorer window.
2. On the left-hand side of this window, right-click on the drive where you will store your audio and choose Properties.
3. Ensure the 'Compress this drive to save disk space' setting is unchecked.
4. Click Apply, then OK.
5. Repeat this for any drive where you’ll be storing audio

Adjust Processor Scheduling

Adjusting the processor scheduling will allow your computer to run Serato software more efficiently. To learn how to follow the steps below:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click on System and Security
3. Click on System
4. Click on Advanced System Settings
5. Click the Advanced Tab
6. Under Performance, click the Settings button
7. When the Performance Options window pops up, click the Advanced tab
8. Under Processor Scheduling, select Programs
   
   
9. Click Apply, then OK
10. Click OK to close System Properties
11. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect

Disable C-State Transition and Turbo Boost (BIOS)

Note that not all computers have these settings. If yours does, it is recommended that you disable them if possible. These two settings can cause the processor to change speeds depending on the computer’s activity. This can cause errors or slow performance with Serato DJ Pro & Serato DJ Lite.

You should consult the manufacturer of your computer or your motherboard to see if these settings are available and learn how to disable them.

Updates and Drivers

Windows Updates

Keeping your OS up to date is important not only for performance but also for security purposes.

1. Click on Start
2. Click on Settings
3. Click on Update & Security (Windows 10 only)
4. Select Windows Update
5. Click Check for updates
6. If updates are available, click install

Graphics Driver

Outdated graphics drivers often will not use the GPU efficiently. This can strain your system’s processor, which in turn steals resources from Serato software. As a result, you may notice a decrease in performance. A simple solution is to ensure you keep your graphics drivers updated.

To find the make and model of your graphics controller and update it, follow these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click on Hardware & Sound
3. Click on Device Manager under the Devices and Printers section
4. Click the triangle next to Display Adapters
5. Your graphics card model will appear directly below
6. Double-click on the graphics card to view its properties
7. You can find the model and the manufacturer in the General tab. You can find the driver version and driver date in the Driver tab.
8. Go to your manufacturer’s website to find the latest driver for your graphics controller.

Network Adapter Driver

Outdated network adapter drivers responsible for the ethernet, wireless, and Bluetooth controllers could end up using more resources than needed, ultimately affecting the performance of Serato software.

To update your network adapter driver, follow these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click on Hardware & Sound
3. Click on Device Manager under the Devices and Printers section
4. Click the triangle next to Network Adapters
5. Find the manufacturer and your network adapter model. Often, there will be more than one network adapter in Device Manager. Try updating them all to ensure proper performance.
6. Go to your manufacturer’s website to find the latest drivers for your network adapter.

Install the Latest Device Drivers

Make sure you keep the drivers for your controller up to date. This will ensure compatibility with Serato software. You can find driver updates on the controller manufacturer’s website.

Some drivers & firmware updates can be found in our own Drivers & Firmware repository.

Misc. Optimizations

The following is a list of recommendations to get better performance out of your system.

• Avoid connecting audio interfaces or controllers to USB hubs or adapters where possible. You will experience an overall better experience when you plug directly into your computer.

• Make sure all unnecessary programs are closed. They can tie up useful resources.

• Turn off any software utilities that run in the background, such as Windows Messenger, calendars, anti-virus, firewalls, and disk maintenance programs.
  NOTE: We do not endorse disabling anti-virus or firewall software on a permanent basis. Only try disabling these utilities temporarily as part of a process of elimination, to see if they are causing performance based issues, then re-enable them, find another solution, or contact the software developer for more tips on trying to reduce their performance overhead on your computer.
  If you are unsure about following this step, please consult an IT professional before proceeding.

• Disconnect any unused USB devices from your computer.

• BIOS updates - here are several reasons why it would make sense to update the BIOS on your computer, however things can go wrong, so this should only be done when absolutely necessary. Before considering to update your computer's BIOS, please ensure you have carefully completed all the relevant steps for your computer above. The updates are different for each manufacturer so you will need to carefully follow the instructions they provide and make sure that you are using the the correct update. Running the wrong update or losing power to your laptop whilst the BIOS is being updated can seriously damage your machine.

  If you are not confident doing the update yourself you should contact your laptop manufacturer's local service specialist. If you do perform the update, and any issues arise, you need to contact your computer hardware manufacturer.