How to Install SQLite3 on Windows (winget, Chocolatey, Scoop or ZIP)

Ninad Pathak

October 7, 2026

Windows doesn’t come with the sqlite3 command, and unpacking the official zip isn’t enough on its own, because a terminal only finds programs in folders on its PATH. In this article I’ll walk you through installing sqlite3 so it works from any terminal, with a package manager or by hand.

TLDR

Fastest: winget install SQLite.SQLite, then open a new terminal and run sqlite3 --version.
Chocolatey users run choco install sqlite, and Scoop users run scoop install sqlite.

By hand: download sqlite-tools-win-x64-….zip from sqlite.org and unzip it to a folder such as C:\sqlite. Then add that folder to your Path.
'sqlite3' is not recognized means Windows can’t find the folder: it isn’t on Path, or the terminal was opened before you changed it.

What are you installing?

You’re installing the SQLite command-line tools: sqlite3.exe, the shell where you type SQL, plus a few helper programs. SQLite itself is a library inside other programs, so apps such as Python already include their own copy. You only need these tools to work with database files from a terminal.

The official download page lists these Windows builds:

File	What it is
`sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip`	Command-line tools for 64-bit Intel/AMD Windows
`sqlite-tools-win-arm64-3530400.zip`	The same tools for Windows on ARM
`sqlite-dll-win-…-3530400.zip`	The DLL only, for programs that link to SQLite. You don’t need it for the shell

The number at the end is the version: 3530400 is SQLite 3.53.4.

Prerequisites

Requirement	Detail
Windows	A 64-bit edition, Intel/AMD or ARM. Chocolatey’s package notes say “only 64-bit tools are available” since 3.44.0
Package manager (optional)	winget, Chocolatey or Scoop, if you already use one

How to install SQLite on Windows

I couldn’t run Windows for this article, so none of the Windows commands below were executed. They come from each package’s own manifest or docs. What I did test is the official download itself: its hashes and its contents.

Option 1: Install with winget

winget install SQLite.SQLite

The winget manifest for SQLite.SQLite installs the official x64 or ARM64 zip as a portable package, and adds a sqlite3 command alias. Open a new terminal window afterwards.

Option 2: Install with Chocolatey

choco install sqlite

Upgrade later with choco upgrade sqlite (Chocolatey package).

Option 3: Install with Scoop

scoop install sqlite

The Scoop manifest downloads the same official zip and puts sqlite3.exe on your path through Scoop’s shims.

Option 4: Install from the ZIP by hand

Download sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip (or the ARM64 one) from the SQLite download page.
Unzip it into a folder you’ll keep, for example C:\sqlite.
Add that folder to your Path: Start menu > “Edit environment variables for your account” > Path > Edit > New > C:\sqlite > OK.

Open a new terminal window.

Here’s what that download contains. I fetched it on a Mac to check it:

$ curl -sSO https://www.sqlite.org/2026/sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip && ls -lh sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip | awk '{print $5, $NF}'
6.3M sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip

$ unzip -Z1 sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip
sqlite3.exe
sqldiff.exe
sqlite3_analyzer.exe
sqlite3_rsync.exe

sqlite3.exe is the shell. The others are sqldiff (compares two databases), sqlite3_analyzer (reports space use) and sqlite3_rsync (copies a live database). It’s a 64-bit Windows console program:

$ unzip -q sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip sqlite3.exe && file sqlite3.exe
sqlite3.exe: PE32+ executable (console) x86-64, for MS Windows

Check the download wasn’t tampered with

The download page publishes a SHA3-256 hash for each file. This one matches the page’s 88b4659f…dcc8b:

$ python3 -c "import hashlib; print(hashlib.sha3_256(open('sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip', 'rb').read()).hexdigest())"
88b4659fe747896b853af10157316b4ade143553efb89c1c8ca7423a278dcc8b

The winget and Scoop manifests list SHA-256 f46ee247…29f9fc for the same zip. That matches too:

$ shasum -a 256 sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip
f46ee2475de4cbe287e6e5f7d43c838796b14e7379cd216bdbb28d391429f9fc  sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip

On Windows, Get-FileHash .\sqlite-tools-win-x64-3530400.zip in PowerShell prints the SHA-256 hash to compare.

Check that it works

In a new Command Prompt or PowerShell window, run this (not executed here, because it needs Windows):

sqlite3 --version

It prints the version first, for example 3.53.4 for the current build. Then create a database and a table to be sure the shell can write files:

sqlite3 test.db "CREATE TABLE t (x); INSERT INTO t VALUES (1); SELECT * FROM t;"

It should print 1, and test.db appears in the current folder. For what to do next in the shell, see SQLite commands.

Troubleshooting

None of these were reproduced on Windows. They follow from how Windows finds programs and how SQLite opens files.

'sqlite3' is not recognized as an internal or external command: the folder with sqlite3.exe isn’t on Path, or the terminal was already open when you changed it. Open a new window, then run where sqlite3 to see whether Windows finds it.
An old version runs: another sqlite3.exe sits earlier on Path. where sqlite3 lists every match in order, so remove or reorder the older one.
unable to open database file when creating a database: the current folder is read-only for you, for example under C:\Program Files. Change to a folder in your user profile first.

database is locked: another program has the file open for writing. See database is locked.

Upgrading or uninstalling

Each package manager has its own upgrade command:

Installed with	Upgrade	Uninstall
winget	`winget upgrade SQLite.SQLite`	`winget uninstall SQLite.SQLite`
Chocolatey	`choco upgrade sqlite`	`choco uninstall sqlite`
Scoop	`scoop update sqlite`	`scoop uninstall sqlite`
ZIP	Replace the files in `C:\sqlite`	Delete the folder, then take it off `Path`

Conclusion

On current Windows, winget install SQLite.SQLite is the shortest route to a working sqlite3. Use Chocolatey or Scoop if you already manage your tools with them, or unpack the official ZIP if you’d rather not install anything. Whichever you pick, open a new terminal before you test it.