Operations Manual
Local Files and Directories
DuckDB creates the following files and directories in the working directory (for in-memory connections) or relative to the database file (for persistent connections):  
| Name | Description | Example |
|-------|-------------------|---|
| `⟨database_filename⟩` | Database file. Only created in on-disk mode. The file can have any extension with typical extensions being `.duckdb`, `.db`, and `.ddb`. | `weather.duckdb` |
| `.tmp/` | Temporary directory. Only created in in-memory mode. | `.tmp/` |
| `⟨database_filename⟩.tmp/` | Temporary directory. Only created in on-disk mode. | `weather.tmp/` |
| `⟨database_filename⟩.wal` | [Write-ahead log](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write-ahead_logging) file. If DuckDB exits normally, the WAL file is deleted upon exit. If DuckDB crashes, the WAL file is required to recover data. | `weather.wal` |  
If you are working in a Git repository and would like to disable tracking these files by Git,
see the instructions on using [`.gitignore` for DuckDB](#docs:operations_manual:footprint_of_duckdb:gitignore_for_duckdb).