Where apps hide your files

Local by WP Engine: Local Sites, app/public and logs

Updated 2026-10-28 · 5 min read

Local puts each WordPress site in ~/Local Sites/<site name>, with the WordPress files in app/public. The database is kept apart in ~/Library/Application Support/Local, so a copy of the sites folder alone is not a backup.

The sites folder

By default Local creates each WordPress site in its own folder inside Local Sites in your home folder:

~/Local Sites/<site name>/app/public

app/public is the WordPress root, the folder with wp-config.php, wp-admin and wp-content. WP Engine's Local help refers to "App > Public" as the site root, and to ~/Local Sites/sitename/logs as the default logs location, next to the app folder. Your theme and plugin code is in:

~/Local Sites/<site name>/app/public/wp-content

The Local Sites folder is an ordinary visible folder, so you can open it from Finder (Go > Home, then double-click) or from Terminal:

open ~/Local\ Sites

What is inside a site folder

Folder	What it holds
app/public	The WordPress files
conf	The site's server settings; its PHP settings are in conf/php/php.ini.hbs
logs	Server logs for that site, next to the app folder

The Local help page on Xdebug names site-name/conf/php/php.ini.hbs as the site's PHP configuration, and says to restart the site after editing so Local can compile the settings again. The .hbs ending marks a template that Local compiles into the live settings when the site restarts. Edit the template, not a generated copy, and make a copy of it first.

The database is somewhere else

This surprises people: the Local Sites folder holds the WordPress files but not the live database. Local's uninstall guide says Local keeps its configuration and run-time files in a separate folder, and that this folder is also where the raw server files for each site live, including the raw database files:

~/Library/Application Support/Local

Do not copy or edit files in there while Local is running, and do not treat a copy of Local Sites alone as a backup of the database. The same folder holds your blueprints, in a blueprints folder, according to Local's blueprints guide.

To work with the data, start the site and use its Database tab in Local. Local's database-tool guide says the tab shows the connection details, with a socket connection by default on macOS, to paste into a client such as TablePlus; the guide names AdminNeo as Local's own database tool.

Logs

Local's help gives the app's own log for version 5 and later as:

~/Library/Logs/local-lightning-verbose.log

A local-lightning.log file may sit beside it. The local-by-flywheel.log you may find in the same folder belongs to Local 3 and earlier. Help > Reveal Local's Log shows the current log in Finder, and Help > Reveal Local Router's Log shows the router's (the nginx process that maps each site's domain to its port).

Per-site server logs are in each site's logs folder, as above. For support requests, the Download Local Logs button on Local's Support tab (also in the Help menu) bundles the logs into one local-logs.zip.

Getting a site out the supported way

Use Export. Local's backup guide says to choose the three dots next to the site name (or right-click it) and pick Export; you get one .zip that contains the site files and the database. Drag that zip into Local to import it again. This is the route to a new Mac, too: export, move the zip, import.

For copying only the code, the wp-content folder is enough when you already have the database elsewhere; Local's import guide explains replacing the new blank site's wp-content with your own.

Moving a site to another drive

Local's help states that you cannot change the location of an existing site. You export it and import it again somewhere else. For a new site, the Local site path option is under Advanced Options on the creation screen, so large sites can be created on an external or bigger drive from the start, and Preferences > New Site Defaults changes the default folder for every new site. After the import works, delete the old site from Local rather than dragging its folder to the Trash by hand.

Before you change anything

Quit Local, or stop the site, before touching its folder by hand. Make a copy of any file you plan to edit, such as php.ini.hbs, and keep the copy outside the site folder. If an edit breaks the site, put the copy back, start the site again and check it loads. When in doubt, export first.

Removing Local without losing sites

Local's uninstall guide says deleting the app from /Applications should not touch your sites, and that you can uninstall, upgrade or downgrade Local without disrupting existing sites. Deleting ~/Library/Application Support/Local is described as a reset of Local, and since that folder holds the raw database files, back up and export anything you need first.

Why a search misses it

Local Sites is a visible folder, so it is the Library side that hides things: databases and run files under Application Support, logs under ~/Library/Logs. Inside a site, WordPress itself creates hundreds of files with identical names (index.php appears in many folders), so a name search from Finder drowns you in results.

Finding a theme or a log again

Type the theme's or plugin's folder name, such as my-child-theme, into Everywhere and the result shows which site's wp-content it is in, which matters when five sites share the same parent theme. Type local-lightning to jump to the app log. Everywhere scans ~/Library/Application Support and ~/Library/Logs as part of its normal scan, and it matches file names, not what is inside a PHP file.

Common questions

Where does Local by Flywheel store sites on a Mac?

In ~/Local Sites/<site name> by default. The WordPress files are in app/public, and each site also has conf and logs folders.

Where are Local's logs on a Mac?

For Local 5 and later the app log is ~/Library/Logs/local-lightning-verbose.log, which Help > Reveal Local's Log opens. Each site's own server logs are in ~/Local Sites/<site name>/logs.

Can I move a Local site to another folder or drive?

Not in place, according to Local's help. Export the site, then import the zip with a different Local site path (under Advanced Options when creating a site).

Is my Local database inside the Local Sites folder?

No. Local's uninstall guide says the raw database files are kept with its configuration in ~/Library/Application Support/Local, so use Export for a backup that includes the database.