Open a GPX file online

What a GPX file is

GPX (GPS Exchange Format) is the common file format for GPS data: tracks (where you went, point by point, usually with the time and elevation of each point), routes (a planned way through a few points) and waypoints (single places with a name). It is plain text in XML.

GPS watches and bike computers, phone apps and route planners all export GPX, and people share them for hikes, rides, runs, races and trips. Google Earth files open in the KML viewer, GIS data in the shapefile viewer.

Why it won’t open

Computers have no program for GPX out of the box: double-clicking shows XML text, or nothing. Sports apps import it, but only into an account, and they do not convert it to the formats other programs need.

What this viewer does

• Reads GPX 1.0 and 1.1 files, also very long tracks, piece by piece.
• Shows tracks, routes and waypoints on a map, as three layers you can show or hide.
• Shows each track’s distance, duration, moving time, average speed, climb and descent, highest and lowest point, start time and elevation profile.
• Shows each waypoint’s name, description, comment, symbol, elevation and time.
• Opens several GPX files at once, each as its own layers.
• Converts to KML, GeoJSON, CSV (also one row per point with elevation and time), Excel and shapefiles (paid).

How the figures are worked out

The figures come from the points in the file:

• Distance is measured horizontally along the ground between consecutive points (on a sphere of the Earth’s mean radius); climbs do not add to it.
• Moving time adds up the steps faster than 1 km/h that are at most 5 minutes apart, so breaks are left out.
• Climb and descent count elevation changes once they reach 3 meters, so that GPS noise is not added up.
• Sports apps smooth tracks and correct elevations with their own methods, so their numbers can differ by a few percent.

Converting GPX to KML, CSV or GeoJSON

Every conversion runs in this page and keeps every feature:

• GeoJSON: one feature collection with every attribute, the standard format of web maps and GIS tools.
• KML for Google Earth: one folder per layer, the attributes as extended data.
• GPX for GPS devices and sports apps: points become waypoints and lines become tracks, with their elevations and times. GPX keeps only names and descriptions, and has no areas: an area becomes a track along its edge.
• CSV: one row per feature with latitude and longitude for points, the geometry of any feature as WKT and every attribute; or one row per point of every line, with elevation and time.
• Excel: the attribute table, one sheet per layer.
• Shapefile (ZIP) for GIS software: one set of .shp, .shx, .dbf, .prj and .cpg files per kind of geometry (points, lines, areas), in longitude/latitude (WGS 84), attributes in UTF-8. Field names are cut to the 10 characters the format allows, and text to 254 bytes. A shapefile written here is 2D: elevations and times are not kept.
• All layers in one file, or one file per layer in a ZIP. Styles (colors, icons, line widths) are not converted.

What it does not do

• It does not read heart rate, cadence, power or temperature from GPX extensions.
• It does not open FIT or TCX files.
• It does not edit or fix tracks.
• It does not open files over 4 GB (.shp, .dbf), 2 GB (KMZ, ZIP), 1 GB (KML, GPX) or 160 MB (GeoJSON), or more than 1 million features and 12 million points in all.

The background map

The map is drawn from the file alone, on a plain background, without contacting anyone. If you press “Show background map”, your browser loads map images from an independent map tile service. That service then receives the usual connection data (your IP address and browser) and which map tiles are shown, so the area and the zoom level you look at; it never receives your file, its name or its contents. “Hide background map” goes back to the plain view; the choice is not kept when you leave or reload the page. The privacy policy says more.

Other ways to open a GPX file

• Your sports app or route planner: most import GPX into your account.
• Google Earth Pro (free desktop program): File → Open, then choose GPS files.
• QGIS, a free GIS program: drag the file onto the map.

Your tracks stay on your device

Map files often say where people live, work or travel. Here the files are read by code running in your browser; no code on the page sends them, their names or anything in them anywhere, not even to our own domain. The conversions are made in the page too.

Names of apps and devices belong to their owners and are used only to describe where GPX files come from. CantOpen is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.