Creating databases

Creating a database gives you an empty SQLite 3 file, ready for you to add tables, views, and data.

To create a new database:

1. Choose File → New Database from the main menu.
2. Choose a file name and location for the database file.
3. Optionally, adjust the alias and other settings on the Database tab.

SQLite Expert suggests a default alias — the name shown in the tree panel — but you can change it to anything you like, as long as it is not already in use. Once you confirm, the database file is created and appears in the tree panel, ready to use.

Tip

A brand-new database is completely empty and its file is 0 bytes in size — SQLite does not write anything to disk until you create the first table or insert data.

Note

SQLite stores its text in a fixed encoding (UTF-8 or UTF-16). You can choose the encoding only while the database is still empty; once the first table is created, the encoding is fixed and cannot be changed. If you close and reopen a still-empty database, SQLite Expert will ask which encoding you want to use.

See also: Opening an existing database · Displaying database information and internal parameters