How do I import a KML or GPX file into Google Earth?
Take the KML. Google Earth for web and mobile imports KML, KMZ, GeoJSON and zipped Shapefiles, and does not read GPX — Google's own documentation tells you to convert a GPX first, with Google Earth Pro on the desktop or a third-party converter. Google Earth Pro for desktop does open GPX directly, under File → Open with the file type set to GPS, and converts it to KML as it imports. Either route ends in KML, so downloading our KML skips the conversion entirely.
Google Earth reads KML on every version it ships — web, Android, iOS and Pro for desktop. Our GPX works in Pro alone, and only after Google Earth converts it to KML on the way in.
Google Earth streams its imagery. The pins sit in your account, but the globe underneath them is fetched over the network, so treat this as a tool for planning at home rather than something to lean on past the last phone mast. For the drive itself, take one of the offline apps we cover.
What to do
- Download the KML.
- On the web, open earth.google.com and import the KML into a project. Google documents the same import for Android and iOS.
- On Google Earth Pro for desktop, use File → Open and pick the KML.
Google maintains its own step-by-step, and it is the one that stays current when the menus move: Google: import KML, KMZ and GeoJSON into Google Earth (opens in a new tab)
Formats Google accepts
- KML we sell this
- KMZ
- GeoJSON we sell this
Worth knowing
- Google Earth and Google Maps are different products with different importers. My Maps takes KML but has no iPhone app; Google Earth takes KML everywhere it runs. If our Google Maps guide left you stuck on an iPhone, this is the way round it.
- Google states that direct import suits KML and KMZ files carrying up to around 10,000 features, and points larger datasets at its data-layer import instead. Our catalogue sits far below that, so the ordinary import is fine.
- GPX is a desktop-only path. Google Earth Pro opens .gpx, .loc and .mps; the web and mobile versions do not, which is why we send you the KML.
Questions about this file
What people ask before importing Google Earth.
- Take the KML. Google Earth for web and mobile imports KML, KMZ, GeoJSON and zipped Shapefiles, and does not read GPX — Google's own documentation tells you to convert a GPX first, with Google Earth Pro on the desktop or a third-party converter. Google Earth Pro for desktop does open GPX directly, under File → Open with the file type set to GPS, and converts it to KML as it imports. Either route ends in KML, so downloading our KML skips the conversion entirely.
- Google accepts KML, KMZ, GeoJSON. Every purchase here ships as KML, GPX and GeoJSON, so whichever one you need is already in the download.
- Google Earth streams its imagery. The pins sit in your account, but the globe underneath them is fetched over the network, so treat this as a tool for planning at home rather than something to lean on past the last phone mast. For the drive itself, take one of the offline apps we cover.
Other apps
Get the file
Try the free sample in Google Earth first — it imports the same way the paid file does, so you will know inside two minutes whether this works on your setup. Iceland Complete is 121 locations in KML, GPX and GeoJSON, one download, no account.
Get all 121 locations · $49