GPX ViewTransfer a GPX file to a GPS or a phone
A track is rarely stored where it will be used. Getting it from a computer to the device you carry comes down to a handful of possible moves — and to three pitfalls, which account for almost every refused import.
Over a cable, the safest way
Plugged in over USB, a hiking or cycling GPS most often appears as a removable drive. The file is then copied like any other, into the folder meant for new courses — on Garmin units it is called "NewFiles", and the device files its contents away at the next start-up. Eject properly, restart, and the track shows up in the courses menu.
By cloud or email, onto a phone
On a phone there is no cable to find: the file arrives by email, by message or through online storage, and opens in the app you have installed. It is the shortest way, with one caveat — many mail clients compress or rename attachments, and a GPX that has become "route.gpx.txt" is no longer recognised by much of anything.
What blocks, when it blocks
Three causes come up again and again. The file holds more points than the device accepts: hiking units often cap out at a few thousand, sometimes at five hundred per track. The file holds several tracks where the device expects one, and it then reads only the first. Or the course is too long and gets truncated in silence — the nastiest of the three, because you only find out halfway round.
Split before you transfer
When a file travels badly, splitting it settles most cases: a five-day traverse becomes five one-stage files, which the device accepts one after another and which are easier to find in a menu. The reverse is just as common — five stage files join into a single track to be measured as a whole, provided the ends are not welded together.
Check before you leave
A transferred track deserves to be opened once on the device, at home, while there is still time to do something about it. An accepted import is not a complete import: displaying the whole course is how you see whether it stops halfway. It is also the moment to download the map of the area, while there is a connection to do it with.
The possible routes
- The USB cable
- For a GPS, a bike computer or a watch that mounts as a drive. A direct copy into the new-courses folder, with no software in between. It is the most reliable way, and the only one that works with no connection at all.
- The memory card
- Some devices read courses from their card, in a dedicated folder. Handy when the USB socket turns temperamental, but the expected folder tree varies from one maker to the next: the manual settles it faster than a run of attempts.
- Email, messaging, cloud storage
- For a phone, and for a phone only. The file is saved from the message, then opened in the mapping app. Check the extension after saving: that is where it goes missing.
- The manufacturer's account
- Connected devices receive courses from their own brand's app, with no cable. Convenient, but the file then travels through a server and an account — which is not nothing for a track that starts at your door.
Prepare the file before you send it over
A course that is too long can be cut into parts a device will accept, and several stages can be joined into one track. The tool on this site does both in your browser: it cuts at the file's own breaks or into equal lengths, and invents no kilometre when joining, since it never welds two pieces together. Nothing leaves for a server.
Frequently asked questions
- How many points will a GPS accept?
- It depends on the model, and the manual rarely says plainly: from five hundred points per track on older units to tens of thousands on recent ones. When in doubt, splitting into stages is quicker than hunting for the limit.
- Should the file be renamed?
- A short name, with no accents or special characters, avoids the silent refusals some devices produce. It is also what appears in the courses menu: "day-3-hut" is found faster than "export_20260712_final(2)".
- Does a transfer erase the tracks already there?
- No, a copied file is added to the others. Storage on a GPS is limited, though, and a full device stops importing — often with no clear message.
- Can a TCX be transferred the same way?
- Copying it, yes. Reading it, not always: plenty of hiking units expect GPX and nothing else. Check what yours accepts before you leave, rather than in the car park at the trailhead.