Convert a GPX to KML, or a KML to GPX
Drop your file: it is converted right here, in the tab. The direction comes from the file itself — a GPX comes back as KML, a KML comes back as GPX. No account to create, nothing to install.
Your file does not leave your device
Reading, converting and saving all happen in the browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is kept, no server sees your track. Close the tab and nothing of it remains.
How it works
Drop
The file exported by your watch, received by email, or saved out of Google Earth. The browser opens it itself.
Convert
The direction comes from the file you dropped. Conversion is immediate: there is no queue and no upload, it all happens in the tab.
Save
The converted file keeps your own file's name, with its new extension. The browser writes it straight to your downloads.
GPX and KML, two formats for two jobs
GPX
The format of GPS units, watches and outdoor apps. It describes a recording: points with latitude, longitude, elevation and the time they were passed. It is what most devices expect.
KML
The format of Google Earth and Google My Maps. It describes a map display: paths, but also colours, pins and images. It is an open OGC standard, read by very nearly every mapping program.
Carried from one format to the other: the path point by point, elevations, the breaks between segments, the route name, and waypoints with their descriptions. Lost: timestamps on the way to KML, which has nowhere to put them, and styling on the way from KML, which GPX cannot describe.
What this page cannot do
A browser does not walk down into a valley with no signal. GPX View keeps your tracks and maps on your phone, guides you along the way and records your outings — still without an account.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my file sent anywhere?
- No. It is read, converted and written back by your browser, and never transmitted. You can cut your connection after the page has loaded: conversion still works.
- Which way does it convert?
- Both, and you have nothing to choose: the file you drop says what it is. A GPX or a TCX comes back as KML; a KML comes back as GPX.
- Can I drop a .kmz file?
- Yes. A .kmz is a zipped KML, and it is what Google Earth saves by default: it is unzipped in your browser, then converted like a .kml. You have nothing to extract yourself, and the file still goes nowhere.
- What is lost in conversion?
- Towards KML, the times of passage: a KML path describes a shape, not a journey through time. From KML, the colours and icons, which GPX cannot describe. The path, the elevations and the waypoints cross both ways.
- Do I need an account?
- No, neither here nor in the app. There is no account to create, so nothing to remember and nothing to delete.
