Free online DB3 to ODT converter

People convert these files when a database record must be delivered as an editable document, printed as a report, or opened in a word processor that does not support DB3. The conversion is not always direct because .db3 can identify different database formats.

What the DB3 format is

.db3 commonly refers to a dBASE III database, a table-based format created by dBASE, FoxPro, Clipper, and older business applications. It may contain fields and records such as customer lists, inventory, addresses, or transaction data. Older systems can also store memo fields in a separate .dbt file; keep that file beside the .db3 file during import.

Some modern programs use .db3 for an SQLite database. SQLite files contain tables, indexes, and possibly several related tables, so they require a different extraction method. Check the file with the program that created it, or open a copy with a database viewer before converting it.

What the ODT format is

.odt is the OpenDocument Text format used by LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice Writer, and other office suites. It stores formatted paragraphs, tables, images, styles, headers, and page layouts in an open XML-based document structure.

ODT is suitable when database contents need to become a readable report, letter, printable list, or editable document. It is not a database format: table relationships, indexes, queries, validation rules, and database-specific field types are not preserved in an ODT file.

How to actually convert DB3 to ODT

Using the built-in online converter

1. Open the DB3 conversion page on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the .db3 file. If it is a dBASE database with memo fields, include the matching .dbt file when the uploader allows multiple files.
3. Choose ODT as the output format and start the conversion.
4. Download the generated document and open it in LibreOffice Writer or another ODT-compatible application.

This method is appropriate for a simple supported table. Do not upload confidential database contents unless the file-handling terms and your organization’s policies permit it.

Converting a dBASE III file with LibreOffice

1. Make a backup of the .db3 file and any related .dbt or .fpt memo file.
2. Open LibreOffice Base and create a database connection to the dBASE file directory. Select File → New → Database, choose an existing database connection, and select dBASE when prompted for the connection type.
3. Open the table and verify character encoding, date fields, decimal values, and memo contents.
4. For a formatted report, choose Reports → Use Wizard to Create Report, select the required fields, set sorting and grouping, and generate the report in Writer.
5. In Writer, choose File → Save As, select ODF Text Document (.odt), and save the report.

For a quick unformatted conversion, open the dBASE table in LibreOffice Calc, select the required range, copy it, open Writer, and use Edit → Paste Special to insert it as a formatted table. Save the result as .odt.

Converting an SQLite DB3 file

1. Open a copy of the file with DB Browser for SQLite or the SQLite command-line utility.
2. Inspect the schema and export the required table as CSV. With the SQLite command-line tool, a typical export is:
   sqlite3 database.db3
.headers on
.mode csv
.once records.csv
SELECT * FROM table_name;
.once
.quit
3. Open records.csv in LibreOffice Calc, confirm the delimiter and UTF-8 encoding, and correct column types if necessary.
4. Copy the cleaned data into Writer, or create a report from selected fields, then choose File → Save As → ODF Text Document (.odt).

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

The conversion produces a document representation of database data, not a functional copy of the database. Relationships, formulas, queries, primary keys, indexes, permissions, and filtering behavior are lost unless you preserve the original DB3 file separately.

Check non-ASCII characters after import because older dBASE files may use OEM code pages rather than UTF-8. Verify memo fields, leading zeros in identifiers, dates, currency precision, empty values, and very large tables. A wide or large table may split across pages or become difficult to edit in Writer; for data preservation, CSV or ODS is usually more suitable, while ODT is best for the final human-readable report.