What is the MWB file format?
A .mwb file is the native model format of MySQL Workbench - Oracle's visual design tool for MySQL databases. .MWB files allow you to save your database design work while you are still developing it, storing the essential parts of the schema such as tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, and entity-relationship diagrams.
Despite the .mwb extension, the file is internally a ZIP archive - its first four bytes carry the PK signature (50 4B 03 04). The core payload is an XML document named document.mwb.xml, which holds the full EER model, connection metadata, and embedded SQL scripts. Renaming a .mwb file to .zip lets you inspect its contents with any archive manager.
Files with the .mwb extension are created and edited in MySQL Workbench, available on Windows, Linux, and macOS. To deploy the design to a live server, you export the schema as a .sql script through the built-in Forward Engineering wizard.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWAn .mwb is a design document with no executable payload, low risk. It can, however, reveal your full database schema (table/column names, relationships) to anyone who opens it, so treat shared models as sensitive. Download MySQL Workbench only from mysql.com.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open MWB files
Windows1 app
MySQL Workbench
Free File → Open Model, select the .mwb; edit the EER diagram, then Database → Forward Engineer to get SQL. 
macOS1 app
MySQL Workbench
Free Open the .mwb model; use File → Export to save the diagram as PDF/PNG or Forward Engineer to SQL. 
Linux1 app
Technical details
deep spec| Developer | Oracle Corporation (originally MySQL AB / Sun Microsystems) |
| Container format | ZIP archive - magic bytes 50 4B 03 04 (PK signature) at offset 0 |
| Core internal file | document.mwb.xml - XML document holding the complete EER model, connection metadata, and SQL scripts |
| MIME type | application/octet-stream |
| Platform support | Windows, Linux, macOS (via MySQL Workbench) |
| Diagram type | Enhanced Entity-Relationship (EER) visual diagrams |
| Schema elements stored | Tables, columns, indexes, foreign keys, views, stored procedures, triggers, and relationships |
| Compression | ZIP deflate - entries inside the archive are individually compressed |
| Forward and Reverse Engineering | Schema can be forward-engineered to a live MySQL server or reverse-engineered from an existing database |
| Export format | SQL DDL script (.sql) via the built-in Forward Engineering wizard |
| Inspection method | Rename .mwb to .zip to open with any archive manager and access the internal XML and assets |
| Embedded scripting | MySQL Workbench exposes a Python API that can programmatically generate and manipulate model files |
| Diagram thumbnail | A PNG thumbnail of the EER canvas is bundled inside the ZIP archive alongside the XML |
| Version tracking | The document.mwb.xml root element carries a document-version attribute for compatibility tracking |
| Released | 2005+ (MySQL Workbench) |
| Specification | dev.mysql.com |
MWB conversions
Community Q&A
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