KML Viewer — View & Convert KML Files Online

Drag any .kml file onto the map to see every Placemark, LineString, and Polygon on an OpenStreetMap base map. Click features for properties. Convert to GeoJSON in one click. No Google Earth required, no signup, no upload — all parsing happens in your browser.

The KML Viewer parses your file with the browser's built-in DOMParser, converts every Placemark to a GeoJSON Feature, and renders the result with MapLibre GL JS. It handles the common 90% of KML — Points, Lines, Polygons (with inner rings), MultiGeometry, and ExtendedData — and produces a clean GeoJSON export so the file is usable in any web map.

How to use the KML Viewer

1. Drag your .kml file onto the map. Drop the file anywhere in the dashed input zone, or click "Upload file" to pick it from a folder. KML, KML/XML, and plain .txt versions are all accepted up to 8 MB. Parsing happens locally in your browser — the file never leaves your device.
2. See every Placemark on the map. Points become green dots, LineStrings become teal paths, and Polygons become a blue fill with a darker outline. The map auto-fits to the bounding box of all features. The sidebar lists every Placemark with its geometry type, sorted top to bottom in document order.
3. Click a feature for properties. Click any feature in the sidebar (or click directly on the map) to highlight it red and pop the properties table at the bottom of the tool. Name, description, ExtendedData fields, and styleUrl all show up. The map flies to the feature's centroid.
4. Export, convert, or grab the bbox. Use the bottom-right buttons to download the loaded data as a fresh KML, convert it to GeoJSON, convert it to GPX (for Garmin or Strava), copy the raw JSON to your clipboard, or copy the bounding box (west, south, east, north) for use in another GIS tool.

What people use the KML Viewer for

KML format reference

A minimal KML file looks like this. The viewer accepts anything that conforms to OGC KML 2.2 (the only standardised version) — including files exported by Google Earth, Google My Maps, ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Garmin BaseCamp, GPS Visualizer, and most drone-flight planners.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2">
  <Document>
    <name>My places</name>
    <Placemark>
      <name>Golden Gate Bridge</name>
      <description>San Francisco landmark.</description>
      <Point><coordinates>-122.4783,37.8199,67</coordinates></Point>
    </Placemark>
    <Placemark>
      <name>Pacific Crest Trail (segment)</name>
      <LineString>
        <coordinates>
          -120.65,38.93,0 -120.60,38.95,0 -120.55,38.96,0
        </coordinates>
      </LineString>
    </Placemark>
  </Document>
</kml>

Note the <coordinates> order is longitude, latitude, altitude— the reverse of how humans usually quote coordinates. KML inherits this from Google's original format. The viewer handles this automatically; you do not need to flip anything before loading.

Supported elements

• Placemark with Point / LineString / Polygon / MultiGeometry geometries.
• Polygon with one outer ring and any number of inner rings (holes).
• name, description (plain text or simple HTML).
• ExtendedData / Data / SimpleData flattened to feature properties.
• Folder hierarchy — flattened, all Placemarks render.
• 3D coordinates with altitude — altitude is preserved in GeoJSON output.

Not supported

• KMZ (zipped KML) — unzip first, then drop the inner .kml.
• NetworkLink — we do not fetch remote KMLs referenced inside the file.
• Tour / Camera / LookAt — animation and camera metadata is ignored.
• Style blocks — we apply our own rendering palette (so weird styling cannot break the map).
• ScreenOverlay / GroundOverlay — image overlays are skipped.

KML vs GeoJSON — which should you use?

KML is the older, XML-based, Google-Earth-native format. GeoJSON is the newer, JSON-based, web-mapping standard (RFC 7946). For a public-facing web map use GeoJSON. For Google Earth, GPS devices, drone-flight planners, or older GIS workflows use KML. The two are interchangeable — load either format into the viewer above and export to the other in one click.

Related geographic-data tools

For GeoJSON files: GeoJSON Viewer. For GPX tracks from Strava, Garmin, AllTrails, or Komoot: GPX Viewer. For plotting a CSV of coordinates: CSV to Map. For dropping a handful of pins by hand: Pin Drop Map. For drawing on the map with a mouse: Map Drawer. For embedding a Google Maps view in a website: Embed Google Maps.

Frequently asked questions

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