How do I open a .SQLite-WAL file?

Drop a .SQLite-WAL file onto Analyser at https://analyser.valjdakosta.com/ and it is identified directly in your browser - no upload, no account and no software to install. Open SQLite databases (.sqlite/.db/.sqlite3) and read their full schema in-browser - every table with its columns and row counts, views, indexes, triggers, the CREATE-statement DDL, and a sample of the largest table. Reads the WAL-mode sidecars too: the Write-Ahead Log (-wal) - page size, salts, frame and committed-transaction counts, and the pages it changed - and the shared-memory index (-shm) - valid frame count, database size and checkpoint progress. (.sql dumps are listed under Developer / data.) Microsoft Access (MDB, ACCDB) now opens in a full table viewer - see Access database above. Concordance .dcb databases from the LexisNexis litigation review suite are identified from their bytes, and told apart from the other formats that reuse the same extension (compiled game data, speech-recognition dictionaries).

Can I open a .SQLite-WAL file online for free?

Yes. Analyser is a free online .SQLite-WAL identifier that runs entirely in your browser - your .SQLite-WAL file never leaves your device, so there is nothing to upload and no software to install. It even works offline once installed.

.SQLite-WAL file - what it is and how to identify it online

Analyse a .SQLite-WAL file

Home › Formats › .SQLite-WALID

What is a .SQLite-WAL file?

A .sqlite-wal file is the write-ahead log SQLite keeps beside a database in WAL journalling mode, holding committed changes that have not yet been folded back into the main file. Written by SQLite and anything built on it.

Did you know: In WAL mode a writer and several readers can work at once, because new changes land in the -wal sidecar first and are only checkpointed into the database later.
WAL journalling, added in SQLite 3.7.0 in 2010, is often faster than the older rollback journal because a commit simply appends to the log.
A checkpoint copies the logged pages back into the main database, after which the -wal file can be reset and reused.
Two random salt values in the header tag every frame of a log, so leftover frames from a previous run are easy to tell apart from current ones.
What Analyser reads: Open SQLite databases (.sqlite/.db/.sqlite3) and read their full schema in-browser - every table with its columns and row counts, views, indexes, triggers, the CREATE-statement DDL, and a sample of the largest table. Reads the WAL-mode sidecars too: the Write-Ahead Log (-wal) - page size, salts, frame and committed-transaction counts, and the pages it changed - and the shared-memory index (-shm) - valid frame count, database size and checkpoint progress. (.sql dumps are listed under Developer / data.) Microsoft Access (MDB, ACCDB) now opens in a full table viewer - see Access database above. Concordance .dcb databases from the LexisNexis litigation review suite are identified from their bytes, and told apart from the other formats that reuse the same extension (compiled game data, speech-recognition dictionaries).
Depth of analysis: .SQLite-WAL is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
Open a .SQLite-WAL file: Drag a .SQLite-WAL file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.
Related formats: .SQLite · .SQLite3 · .DB · .DB3 · .SQLite-SHM · .DB-WAL · .DB-SHM · .DB3-WAL · .DB3-SHM · .SQLite3-WAL · .SQLite3-SHM · .DCB. See all supported file types.