How to Disable "PREPARE STEMS" pop up on Virtual DJ

🚫 Tired of the “Prepare Stems” Pop-Up in VirtualDJ? Here’s How to Fix It!

If you’ve been mixing tracks in VirtualDJ and keep getting interrupted by that annoying “Prepare Stems” pop-up, you’re not alone. Whether you’re DJing live or just experimenting at home, that message can be frustrating — especially if you're not even using the stems feature.

In this quick blog post, I’ll explain why that message appears and how to disable or manage it depending on your workflow.

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🎛 What Are “Stems” in VirtualDJ?

VirtualDJ has a powerful feature called stems separation, which lets you isolate parts of a track — like vocals, beats, instruments, and more. This is great for live mashups, acapella drops, and creative transitions.

But here's the catch: processing stems uses a lot of CPU power, especially in real-time. So VirtualDJ often recommends you “prepare stems” in advance to avoid lag. That’s what triggers the pop-up.

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😤 Why You’re Seeing the “Prepare Stems” Pop-Up

You’re likely seeing the message because:

• You're using a stem mode that expects pre-analysis.
• You loaded a track that hasn’t had stems processed yet.
• VirtualDJ is trying to protect performance by nudging you to prep the track.

Luckily, you can stop this reminder — permanently or temporarily — based on your needs.

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✅ How to Block or Disable the “Prepare Stems” Pop-Up

There are two main solutions: change your settings, or precompute the stems. Here’s how to do both:

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🔧 Option 1: Change the Stems Mode

This method turns off the automatic reminders or disables stems entirely.

1. Open VirtualDJ.
2. Click the gear icon to open Settings.
3. Go to the Options tab.
4. In the search bar, type: stemsMode.
5. Set it to one of the following:
• none – turns off the stems feature completely.
• onDemand – only processes stems when you use a stem-related effect.
• onLoad – prepares stems when you load a track (still causes delays).
• realtime – processes stems live (only for powerful PCs).
• precompute – reminds you to analyze stems ahead of time (this is what triggers the pop-up).

💡 Best option to stop the pop-up: Set stemsMode to onDemand or none.

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🗂 Option 2: Precompute Stems in Bulk (If You Use Stems)

If you like the stems feature but don’t want that nagging message, just analyze your library in advance:

1. In the browser, select all your tracks (or just the ones you use often).
2. Right-click, then choose:
   Batch > Prepare Stems
3. Let VirtualDJ process the stems in the background. Once done, the message won’t appear for those tracks again.

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🙅‍♂️ Bonus Tip: Turn Off Other Notifications

Don’t want VirtualDJ giving you tips or messages?

1. Go to Settings > Options.
2. Search for notifications.
3. Set showTips and other related options to No.

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🧠 Final Thoughts

The stems feature in VirtualDJ is amazing for live remixing and performance, but not everyone needs it — and that “Prepare Stems” reminder can be overkill. By adjusting a quick setting, you can keep your workflow smooth and pop-up free.

Happy mixing! 🎧
Got questions or want more VirtualDJ tips? Drop a comment below!