Analyse a .SQLite3-SHM file

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What is a .SQLite3-SHM file?

A .sqlite3-shm file is the shared-memory WAL index for a .sqlite3 database, letting several processes navigate the write-ahead log at once.

Did you know
  • The -wal and -shm sidecars appear only while a database uses WAL journalling and vanish on a clean shutdown.
  • The .shm shared-memory file is a scratch index for the write-ahead log, letting several processes navigate it together.
  • It carries no permanent data of its own, so SQLite simply rebuilds it whenever the database is reopened.
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
.SQLite3-SHM 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 .SQLite3-SHM file
Drag a .SQLite3-SHM 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.