Ok, well, verdict is in then. Your file exists in the place you think it exists, your file works and it should all run smoothly. I'm now starting to think perhaps sqlitestudio is a victim of the UAC virtualization or such, since DB Browser and your code seem to agree. Perhaps an arbiter can be called in, would you mind trying the Delphi-made [SQliteSpeed](https://sqlitespeed.com) to open the file and poke around in it? Or better yet, if you are ok with using a CLI, use the sqlite3.exe CLI tool downloadable from [sqlite.org](https://sqlite.org/downloads) and open the DB and confirm the tables presence or absence mentioned before. Use one of those tools to also add tables/data and see if your program sees the same. If the theory about the UAC holds, you should find a file with the exact same name but hidden somewhere in the appdata folder of your user. You can search for it there using the windows searcher to confirm.