It happens all the time: someone plans a route in Google Earth, shares it as a KML file, and your GPS watch or hiking app refuses it because it only loads GPX. This free KML to GPX converter fixes that in seconds. Drop in the .kml you exported from Google Earth or Google My Maps and download a standard GPX 1.1 file: every placemark with a point becomes a waypoint, and every drawn line becomes a track your device can follow. Names and elevations are carried across, so the route you planned on the big screen is the route in your hand outdoors.
How to convert KML to GPX
In Google Earth, right-click your place or route and choose Save Place As, picking KML (not KMZ) as the format; in Google My Maps, use the menu on your map and choose Export to KML/KMZ, then download the KML version. Drag that .kml file onto the drop zone above, or click to pick it. The converter reads it immediately and reports how many waypoint points and tracks it built, then shows a preview of the first forty lines of the GPX so you can check a coordinate or two. Press Download and the file arrives with your original name and a .gpx ending, ready to send to a Garmin, a Wahoo, Strava, Komoot or any app that imports GPX.
Your routes never leave your device
A route file is a record of where you have been and where you plan to go, and it deserves the same care as any personal data. This converter protects that privacy by design: the file is converted locally in your browser and never uploaded to any server. The KML is parsed and the GPX written by code running entirely on your machine — nothing is stored, logged or shared, and once the page has loaded you could even go offline and still convert.
KML and GPX: from Google Earth to your GPS
KML is the language Google Earth and Google Maps use to display places: placemarks with icons and balloons, lines and polygons drawn over the terrain, folders and styles that organise how everything looks. GPX is the exchange format of the GPS world — the file GPS watches, bike computers and outdoor apps like Strava, Komoot, AllTrails and Wikiloc all accept for waypoints, routes and tracks. Converting KML to GPX is what lets a route sketched at a desk make the jump to a device on a wrist or handlebars. A club ride planned in My Maps, a hiking line drawn over satellite imagery, a list of campsites pinned in Earth: each becomes a file the GPS understands, with the point names intact so you can navigate waypoint to waypoint. Just remember the coordinate order flips between the formats — KML stores longitude first, GPX stores latitude as an attribute — and this converter handles that swap for you, along with writing elevation back as a proper GPX element.
Limits and what does not convert
The converter handles the geometry a GPS can actually use: placemarks with a Point become waypoints, and placemarks with a LineString become tracks made of track points. Other KML geometry is ignored — polygons, multi-geometry shapes, ground overlays, screen overlays, 3D models and network links have no GPX equivalent, and neither do icons, colours or balloon styling. The summary after conversion tells you how many placemarks were skipped so nothing disappears silently. KMZ files are zip archives, so unzip one first and convert the .kml inside it. Files over 10 MB are refused to keep your browser responsive.
KML to GPX Converter – frequently asked questions
Is this KML to GPX converter free?
Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up and no limit on how many KML files you can convert.
Is my KML file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion happens locally in your browser, so your routes and places never leave your device.
Can I convert a KMZ file?
Not directly. A KMZ is a zipped KML, so unzip it first (most systems do this with a double-click or a rename to .zip) and convert the .kml inside.
What happens to polygons and styled areas in my KML?
They are skipped, because GPX has no way to store them. Points and lines convert, and the results summary tells you how many placemarks were ignored.
Related tools
Versión en español: Convertir KML a GPX gratis – Pasa archivos de Google Earth a GPS. You may also like: GPX to KML Converter – Convert GPS Tracks for Google Earth Free · vCard to CSV Converter – Turn VCF Contacts into a Spreadsheet Free.
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