# Bitcoin Core file system

**Contents**

- [Data directory location](#data-directory-location)

- [Data directory layout](#data-directory-layout)

- [Multi-wallet environment](#multi-wallet-environment)

  - [SQLite database based wallets](#sqlite-database-based-wallets)

- [GUI settings](#gui-settings)

- [Legacy subdirectories and files](#legacy-subdirectories-and-files)

  - [Berkeley DB database based wallets](#berkeley-db-database-based-wallets)

- [Installed Files](#installed-files)

- [Filesystem recommendations](#filesystem-recommendations)

## Data directory location

The data directory is the default location where the Bitcoin Core files are stored.

1. The default data directory paths for supported platforms are:

Platform | Data directory path
---------|--------------------
Linux    | `$HOME/.bitcoin/`
macOS    | `$HOME/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/`
Windows  | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Bitcoin\` <sup>[\[1\]](#note1)</sup>

2. A custom data directory path can be specified with the `-datadir` option.

3. All content of the data directory, except for `bitcoin.conf` file, is chain-specific. This means the actual data directory paths for non-mainnet cases differ:

Chain option                     | Data directory path
---------------------------------|------------------------------
`-chain=main` (default)          | *path_to_datadir*`/`
`-chain=test` or `-testnet`      | *path_to_datadir*`/testnet3/`
`-chain=testnet4` or `-testnet4` | *path_to_datadir*`/testnet4/`
`-chain=signet` or `-signet`     | *path_to_datadir*`/signet/`
`-chain=regtest` or `-regtest`   | *path_to_datadir*`/regtest/`

## Data directory layout

Subdirectory       | File(s)               | Description
-------------------|-----------------------|------------
`blocks/`          |                       | Blocks directory; can be specified by `-blocksdir` option (except for `blocks/index/`)
`blocks/index/`    | LevelDB database      | Block index; `-blocksdir` option does not affect this path
`blocks/`          | `blkNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> | Actual Bitcoin blocks (dumped in network format, 128 MiB per file)
`blocks/`          | `revNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> | Block undo data (custom format)
`blocks/`          | `xor.dat`             | Rolling XOR pattern for block and undo data files
`chainstate/`      | LevelDB database      | Blockchain state (a compact representation of all currently unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) and metadata about the transactions they are from)
`indexes/txindex/` | LevelDB database      | Transaction index; *optional*, used if `-txindex=1`
`indexes/txospenderindex/` | LevelDB database      | Transaction spender index; *optional*, used if `-txospenderindex=1`
`indexes/blockfilter/basic/db/` | LevelDB database      | Blockfilter index LevelDB database for the basic filtertype; *optional*, used if `-blockfilterindex=basic`
`indexes/blockfilter/basic/`    | `fltrNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> | Blockfilter index filters for the basic filtertype; *optional*, used if `-blockfilterindex=basic`
`indexes/coinstatsindex/db/` | LevelDB database | Coinstats index; *optional*, used if `-coinstatsindex=1`
`wallets/`         |                       | [Contains wallets](#multi-wallet-environment); can be specified by `-walletdir` option; if `wallets/` subdirectory does not exist, wallets reside in the [data directory](#data-directory-location)
`./`               | `anchors.dat`         | Anchor IP address database, created on shutdown and deleted at startup. Anchors are last known outgoing block-relay-only peers that are tried to re-connect to on startup
`./`               | `banlist.json`        | Stores the addresses/subnets of banned nodes.
`./`               | `bitcoin.conf`        | User-defined [configuration settings](bitcoin-conf.md) for `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt`. File is not written to by the software and must be created manually. Path can be specified by `-conf` option
`./`               | `bitcoind.pid`        | Stores the process ID (PID) of `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt` while running; created at start and deleted on shutdown; can be specified by `-pid` option
`./`               | `debug.log`           | Contains debug information and general logging generated by `bitcoind` or `bitcoin-qt`; can be specified by `-debuglogfile` option
`./`               | `fee_estimates.dat`   | Stores statistics used to estimate minimum transaction fees required for confirmation
`./`               | `guisettings.ini.bak` | Backup of former [GUI settings](#gui-settings) after `-resetguisettings` option is used
`./`               | `mempool.dat`         | Dump of the mempool's transactions
`./`               | `onion_v3_private_key` | Cached Tor onion service private key for `-listenonion` option
`./`               | `i2p_private_key`     | Private key that corresponds to our I2P address. When `-i2psam=` is specified the contents of this file is used to identify ourselves for making outgoing connections to I2P peers and possibly accepting incoming ones. Automatically generated if it does not exist.
`./`               | `peers.dat`           | Peer IP address database (custom format)
`./`               | `settings.json`       | Read-write settings set through GUI or RPC interfaces, augmenting manual settings from [bitcoin.conf](bitcoin-conf.md). File is created automatically if read-write settings storage is not disabled with `-nosettings` option. Path can be specified with `-settings` option
`./`               | `.cookie`             | Session RPC authentication cookie; if used, created at start and deleted on shutdown; can be specified by `-rpccookiefile` option
`./`               | `.lock`               | Data directory lock file

## Multi-wallet environment

Wallets are SQLite databases.

1. Each user-defined wallet named "wallet_name" resides in the `wallets/wallet_name/` subdirectory.

2. The default (unnamed) wallet resides in `wallets/` subdirectory; if the latter does not exist, the wallet resides in the data directory.

3. A wallet database path can be specified with the `-wallet` option.

4. `wallet.dat` files must not be shared across different node instances, as that can result in key-reuse and double-spends due to the lack of synchronization between instances.

5. Any copy or backup of the wallet should be done through a `backupwallet` call in order to update and lock the wallet, preventing any file corruption caused by updates during the copy.


### SQLite database based wallets

Subdirectory | File                 | Description
-------------|----------------------|-------------
`./`         | `wallet.dat`         | Personal wallet (a SQLite database) with keys and transactions
`./`         | `wallet.dat-journal` | SQLite Rollback Journal file for `wallet.dat`. Usually created at start and deleted on shutdown. A user *must keep it as safe* as the `wallet.dat` file.


## GUI settings

`bitcoin-qt` uses [`QSettings`](https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qsettings.html) class; this implies platform-specific [locations where application settings are stored](https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qsettings.html#locations-where-application-settings-are-stored).

## Legacy subdirectories and files

These subdirectories and files are no longer used by Bitcoin Core:

Path           | Description | Repository notes
---------------|-------------|-----------------
`banlist.dat`  | Stores the addresses/subnets of banned nodes; superseded by `banlist.json` in 22.0 and completely ignored in 23.0 | [PR #20966](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/20966), [PR #22570](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/22570)
`blktree/`     | Blockchain index; replaced by `blocks/index/` in [0.8.0](/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.8.0.md#improvements) | [PR #2231](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/2231), [`8fdc94cc`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/8fdc94cc8f0341e96b1edb3a5b56811c0b20bd15)
`coins/`       | Unspent transaction output database; replaced by `chainstate/` in 0.8.0 | [PR #2231](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/2231), [`8fdc94cc`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/8fdc94cc8f0341e96b1edb3a5b56811c0b20bd15)
`blkindex.dat` | Blockchain index BDB database; replaced by {`chainstate/`, `blocks/index/`, `blocks/revNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup>} in 0.8.0 | [PR #1677](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/1677)
`blk000?.dat`  | Block data (custom format, 2 GiB per file); replaced by `blocks/blkNNNNN.dat`<sup>[\[2\]](#note2)</sup> in 0.8.0 | [PR #1677](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/1677)
`addr.dat`     | Peer IP address BDB database; replaced by `peers.dat` in [0.7.0](/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.7.0.md) | [PR #1198](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/1198), [`928d3a01`](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commit/928d3a011cc66c7f907c4d053f674ea77dc611cc)
`onion_private_key` | Cached Tor onion service private key for `-listenonion` option. Was used for Tor v2 services; replaced by `onion_v3_private_key` in [0.21.0](/doc/release-notes/release-notes-0.21.0.md) | [PR #19954](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/19954)

### Berkeley DB database based wallets

Subdirectory | File(s)           | Description
-------------|-------------------|-------------
`database/`  | BDB logging files | Part of BDB environment; created at start and deleted on shutdown; a user *must keep it as safe* as personal wallet `wallet.dat`
`./`         | `db.log`          | BDB error file
`./`         | `wallet.dat`      | Personal wallet (a BDB database) with keys and transactions
`./`         | `.walletlock`     | BDB wallet lock file

### Notes

<a name="note1">1</a>. The `/` (slash, U+002F) is used as the platform-independent path component separator in this document.

<a name="note2">2</a>. `NNNNN` matches `[0-9]{5}` regex.

## Installed Files

This table describes the files installed by Bitcoin Core across different platforms.

| **Path**                                                   | **Description**                                                             |
|------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [README.md](README.md) or [readme.txt](README_windows.txt) | Project information and instructions                                        |
| bitcoin.conf                                               | [Generated](../contrib/devtools/gen-bitcoin-conf.sh) configuration file     |
| bin/bitcoin                                                | Command-line tool for interacting with Bitcoin. Calls other binaries below. |
| bin/bitcoin-cli                                            | Tool for making node and wallet RPC calls.                                  |
| bin/bitcoin-qt                                             | Bitcoin node and wallet GUI                                                 |
| bin/bitcoin-tx                                             | Tool for creating and modifying transactions                                |
| bin/bitcoin-util                                           | Miscellaneous utilities                                                     |
| bin/bitcoin-wallet                                         | Bitcoin wallet tool                                                         |
| bin/bitcoind                                               | Bitcoin node and wallet daemon                                              |
| *lib/libbitcoinkernel.so*                                  | Shared library containing core consensus and validation code                |
| *lib/pkgconfig/libbitcoinkernel.pc*                        | Pkg-config metadata for linking to `libbitcoinkernel`                       |
| *libexec/bench_bitcoin*                                    | Benchmarking tool for measuring node performance                            |
| *libexec/bitcoin-chainstate*                               | Tool to validate and connect blocks                                         |
| libexec/bitcoin-gui                                        | IPC-enabled alternative to `bitcoin-qt`                                     |
| libexec/bitcoin-node                                       | IPC-enabled alternative to `bitcoind`                                       |
| libexec/test_bitcoin                                       | Unit test binary                                                            |
| *libexec/test_bitcoin-qt*                                  | GUI-specific unit tests                                                     |
| share/man/man1/                                            | Man pages for command-line tools like `bitcoin-cli`, `bitcoind`, and others |
| share/rpcauth/                                             | Documentation and scripts for RPC authentication setup                      |

### Notes

- *Italicized* files are only installed in source builds if relevant CMake options are enabled. They are not included in binary releases.
- README and bitcoin.conf files are included in binary releases but not installed in source builds.
- On Windows, binaries have a `.exe` suffix (e.g., `bitcoin-cli.exe`).

## Filesystem recommendations

When choosing a filesystem for the data directory (`datadir`) or blocks directory (`blocksdir`) on **macOS**, the `exFAT` filesystem should be avoided.
There have been multiple reports of database corruption and data loss when using this filesystem with Bitcoin Core, see [Issue #31454](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/31454) for more details.
