Restore Database

Restore turns your backup into an active database again.

Do it carefully: always verify target paths and preserve a copy of the current file before overwrite.

Core Concepts

flowchart LR
  A[Choose backup file] --> B[Protect current DB]
  B --> C[Restore into target]
  C --> D[Validate restored data]
  D --> E[Resume application]

Restore approach	Command style	Use case
Shell restore API	sqlite3 target.db ".restore backup.db"	Rebuild target from backup file
File replacement	cp backup.db target.db	Offline replacement when safe

.restore Command

# Restore backup content into target database file.
sqlite3 restored.db ".restore app_backup.db"

Expected output
Usually no output on success; restored.db now contains backup data.

File Replace

# Offline approach: replace target with backup copy.
cp app_backup.db app.db

Expected output
Target file replaced by backup copy (when no active writers).

Code Examples

# 1) Keep safety copy of current target before restore.
cp app.db app_before_restore.db

Expected output
Safety copy created.

# 2) Restore from backup into a target file.
sqlite3 app_restored.db ".restore app_backup.db"

Expected output
app_restored.db created/restored from backup content.

# 3) Validate restored contents.
sqlite3 app_restored.db "SELECT name FROM sqlite_schema WHERE type='table' ORDER BY name;"

name
Table names from restored database

SQLite-Specific Nuances

SQLite Nuance

.restore loads database content into the target connection database, effectively replacing its contents.

Run restore on the correct target path to avoid accidental overwrite.

Common Pitfalls / Best Practices

Pitfall

Restoring directly over a production file without making a pre-restore copy.

Best Practice

Restore to a new filename first (app_restored.db), validate, then switch application paths if needed.

Quick Challenge

Restore backup_2026.db into recovered.db and list table names to verify success.

View Solution

sqlite3 recovered.db ".restore backup_2026.db"
sqlite3 recovered.db "SELECT name FROM sqlite_schema WHERE type='table' ORDER BY name;"

Expected output
Table list appears from recovered backup database.