How to Migrate SQLite to SQL Server: Step-by-Step Tutorial

By Bill Crawford  ·  February 2026  ·  6 min read  ·  Last updated February 26, 2026

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This tutorial walks through using the SQLite to T-SQL Script Builder to convert a SQLite database into a set of ready-to-run SQL Server scripts. The entire process happens in your browser — no files are uploaded, and no software needs to be installed.

Step 1: Load Your SQLite File

Open the SQLite to T-SQL Script Builder. You will see a drop zone in the center of the page. Either drag your .sqlite, .db, or .sqlite3 file onto the drop zone, or click it to browse for the file.

The tool loads the file using sql.js, a WebAssembly build of SQLite that runs entirely in the browser. Once loaded, the status bar turns green and reports how many tables were detected.

Step 2: Review the Schema

After loading, a Schema Overview panel appears showing every table in your database. Each table card displays the table name, row count, and a list of columns with their SQLite types. Primary key columns are marked with a key icon.

Take a moment to review the detected schema. This is your chance to spot any surprises — tables you did not expect, columns with missing types (SQLite allows untyped columns), or tables with zero rows that might be safe to skip.

Step 3: Configure Migration Settings

The Migration Settings panel lets you customize the generated scripts:

• Database Name: The name for the target SQL Server database (default: MigratedDB). Change this to match your naming convention.
• Schema: The SQL Server schema (default: dbo). Use dbo unless your organization uses a different schema.
• Batch Size: How many rows per INSERT statement (default: 1,000). Lower values are safer for very wide tables; higher values are faster for narrow tables.
• Default VARCHAR Length: The fallback length for NVARCHAR columns when the SQLite type has no length specified (default: MAX).

The checkboxes let you toggle optional features:

• Include CREATE DATABASE: Uncheck this if you are migrating into an existing database or targeting Azure SQL.
• Include IF EXISTS / DROP: Adds safety checks that drop existing objects before creating them — useful during iterative development.
• Wrap inserts in a transaction: Ensures each table's data load is atomic — either all rows insert or none do.
• SET IDENTITY_INSERT ON: Required when inserting explicit values into IDENTITY columns to preserve original IDs.
• Include foreign keys: Generates a separate script with ALTER TABLE ... ADD CONSTRAINT statements.
• Add GO batch separators: Adds GO statements between DDL commands, required by SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Step 4: Adjust Type Mappings

The Type Mapping Overrides panel lists every distinct SQLite type found in your database, with a dropdown showing the default SQL Server target type. Review each mapping and adjust as needed.

Common adjustments:

• Change BIGINT to INT if your integer values are all within the 32-bit range and you want to save storage.
• Change NVARCHAR(MAX) to NVARCHAR(255) or another specific length for columns that participate in indexes.
• Change FLOAT to DECIMAL(18,2) for financial data where exact precision matters.

The tool automatically constrains string columns used in primary keys, unique indexes, and foreign keys to fit within SQL Server's 900-byte index key limit, regardless of the default mapping.

Step 5: Generate Scripts

Click the ▶ Generate Migration Script button. The tool processes every table — translating schemas, extracting data, building batched inserts, and generating constraint scripts. A progress indicator shows the current step.

When complete, a Generated Migration Scripts panel appears with:

• A summary bar showing the number of scripts, tables, total rows, and file size.
• A file tab bar where you can click to preview each script.
• The script source code, scrollable and reviewable before downloading.

The scripts are numbered in execution order: 01_Create_Database.sql, 02_Schema.sql, 03_Data_001_TableName.sql (one per table), 04_Foreign_Keys.sql, and 05_Validation.sql.

Step 6: Download and Run

Click Download .zip to get all scripts packaged in a ZIP file with a README. Extract the ZIP and run the scripts in order in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or any T-SQL client:

1. Open SSMS and connect to your target SQL Server instance.
2. Open 01_Create_Database.sql and execute it (F5).
3. Open 02_Schema.sql and execute it.
4. Run each 03_Data_*.sql script in numeric order.
5. Run 04_Foreign_Keys.sql to add referential integrity constraints.
6. Run 05_Validation.sql to verify row counts match the source.

Tips for a Smooth Migration

Test on a Development Server First

Always run the migration on a non-production SQL Server instance first. This lets you catch type mismatches, key violations, and sizing issues without risk.

Use sqlcmd for Large Databases

For databases with many tables or millions of rows, running scripts through sqlcmd from the command line is faster and more reliable than SSMS, which can run out of memory rendering large result sets:

sqlcmd -S localhost -i scripts\01_Create_Database.sql
sqlcmd -S localhost -d MigratedDB -i scripts\02_Schema.sql
sqlcmd -S localhost -d MigratedDB -i scripts\03_Data_001_users.sql

Check Collation Settings

SQL Server databases have a default collation that affects string comparison and sorting. If your SQLite data includes case-sensitive comparisons, verify the target database's collation matches your requirements. The most common is SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS (case-insensitive, accent-sensitive).

Plan for Post-Migration Steps

After the data is loaded and validated, you may need to create views, stored procedures, triggers, and application-level connection string changes that are outside the scope of the automated tool. Document these steps as part of your migration runbook.

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