---
title: Database Repair
description: Repair missing or broken file references in the VirtualDJ database after a drive change, move, or rename.
url: "https://vdjtools.com/docs/database-repair/"
updated: "2026-09-26"
category: Feature Guide / Repair
tags:
  - autofix
  - database
  - "drive-change"
  - rename
  - validate
---

# Database Repair

Database Repair fixes missing or broken file references in VirtualDJ's database — the master record every other part of your library refers back to. It's almost always the right place to start a repair session.

## The full repair

Same shape as every repair, run against database:

1. [Export](https://vdjtools.com/docs/export/) — `vdjtools /repair:database /stage:export`
2. [Autofix](https://vdjtools.com/docs/autofix/) — `vdjtools /repair:database /stage:autofix`
3. Manually update whatever's left in the [workbook](https://vdjtools.com/docs/understanding-the-workbook/)
4. [Validate](https://vdjtools.com/docs/validate/) — `vdjtools /repair:database /stage:validate`
5. [Import](https://vdjtools.com/docs/import/) — `vdjtools /repair:database /stage:import`
6. [Healthcheck](https://vdjtools.com/docs/healthcheck/) — confirm it landed

Each stage is explained in full — arguments, what it actually does, example output — on its own page, linked above. This page is just the walkthrough for the database specifically.

## Common scenario

A drive letter changes, or a drive gets reconnected under a new label, and hundreds of database entries suddenly show as missing — even though the music's all still there, just at a different path.

## Safety notes

Take a [Backup](https://vdjtools.com/docs/healthcheck/) first. Once the database's fixed and imported, run [CrossRef](https://vdjtools.com/docs/crossref/) against your other repairs — database is always the source of a CrossRef fix, never the target.

## Related pages

- [Understanding the Workbook](https://vdjtools.com/docs/understanding-the-workbook/)
- [CrossRef](https://vdjtools.com/docs/crossref/)