KMZ to SHP Converter
Upload a Google Earth KMZ and get back a ZIP containing a complete shapefile set (.shp, .shx, .dbf, .prj) split by geometry type. One thing to expect up front: our shapefile writer trims DBF field names to 8 characters, so an attribute called description arrives as descript.
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From a Google Earth archive to a GIS layer
A KMZ is a ZIP archive holding a KML document and usually the icons and overlay images that go with it. That packaging suits Google Earth, but it is not a GIS data layer: there is no typed attribute table, no projection file, and placemarks are organized into display folders rather than point, line and polygon layers. Desktop GIS can often preview a KMZ, but getting an editable layer means running a conversion first, which in ArcGIS Pro produces a geodatabase rather than the shapefile many workflows and clients still ask for.
Our converter works on the archive itself. It recognizes a KMZ by the ZIP signature inside the file rather than by its extension, pulls out only the .kml entries with 7-Zip, and picks the main document: doc.kml at the root if present, otherwise the first root-level KML, otherwise the shallowest one. NetworkLinks pointing to other KML files packed inside the same archive are followed, up to 2,000 files. The XML is parsed and converted to GeoJSON geometry, and a shapefile writer produces the layer files. Everything runs on our servers, and the extraction folder is deleted when the job ends.
The download is a single file named after your upload, ending in .shp.zip. Inside is a myshapes folder with one shapefile set per geometry type: mypoints, POLYLINE (the line layer, despite its generic name) and mypolygons, each with its own .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj. The .prj declares WGS84, the coordinate system KML always uses, so you will not be asked to define a projection after adding the layer. Placemark attributes, including name, description and ExtendedData values, are written to the DBF.
What does not survive the trip: the archive's icons, overlay images and 3D models are not part of a shapefile and are not included, and the Google Earth folder tree is flattened because features are grouped by geometry type instead. Placemarks with no geometry, such as description-only entries, are dropped. Field names longer than eight characters are shortened by our shapefile writer. Deeply nested MultiGeometry and altitude values are not something we can promise for this target, so check the attribute table and feature count in your GIS before you build analysis on top of it.
How to convert a KMZ to a shapefile
- Prepare the KMZ in Google Earth if you have the original: right-click the folder or placemark group, choose Save Place As and save as .kmz. If the map relies on NetworkLinks to data hosted online, save a local copy first, because we never fetch remote links.
- Upload the .kmz file here. Guests can send files up to 50 MB; a free account raises that to 100 MB. Loose .shp, .shx and .dbf files are not accepted as inputs, since shapefile is an output format only.
- Choose SHP as the target and start the conversion. The archive is unpacked, the main KML is located and its placemarks are read.
- Download the .shp.zip package and unzip it to find the myshapes folder with the point, line and polygon sets.
- Add mypoints.shp, POLYLINE.shp or mypolygons.shp to QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, ArcMap or any tool that reads ESRI shapefiles, and rename the shortened DBF columns if the short names are confusing.
- If the layer looks incomplete, compare the feature count with Google Earth. Geometry that KML stores as an overlay or a bare description cannot become a shapefile feature.
What this converter does
- Separate shapefile sets for points, lines and polygons, so each layer has a consistent geometry type and its own attribute table
- A WGS84 .prj written for every layer, plus the .shx index and .dbf table, zipped together in one download
- KMZ detected by its actual ZIP content, so an archive with an odd extension, or a plain KML text file saved as .kmz, is still handled
- NetworkLinks to KML files stored inside the same archive are followed and merged into the output, up to 2,000 files
- Tolerant XML reading: UTF-16 and byte-order marks, stray control characters, and the undeclared namespace prefixes that MAPS.ME exports produce
- Placemark name, description and ExtendedData fields carried into the DBF attribute table
KMZ to SHP questions
How do I convert a KMZ to a shapefile without ArcGIS or QGIS?
Upload the .kmz on this page, pick SHP and download the resulting .shp.zip. No desktop GIS is needed for the conversion itself; you only need QGIS or ArcGIS Pro afterwards to view or edit the layer.
What is in the downloaded ZIP, and are icons and folders kept?
A folder named myshapes with up to three shapefile sets: mypoints, POLYLINE for lines and mypolygons, each with .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj. Keep all four files of a set together and add the .shp to your GIS. Icons, overlay images, 3D models and style definitions are not included, and the Google Earth folder tree is replaced by one layer per geometry type, so convert the KMZ to KML instead if you need the original structure and styling.
Why is my description column named descript?
The shapefile DBF format allows field names of at most 10 characters and our writer trims to 8, so description becomes descript. The values are complete; only the column name is shortened. Rename the field after importing if you need the full name.
I get "No mappable geometry (points/lines/polygons) found". What went wrong?
The KMZ contained nothing a shapefile can store: usually it is made of ground overlays or image tiles, every placemark is a description with no coordinates, or the data sits behind a remote NetworkLink we do not fetch. Convert to KML or GeoJSON instead, or re-save the map locally in Google Earth so the geometry is embedded.
The conversion failed with a file or archive error. How do I fix it?
"No KML file found inside the KMZ archive" means the ZIP holds no .kml entry, which is common with zipped shapefiles or renamed files. "The file may be corrupt or unsupported" means the archive could not be opened at all; re-export the KMZ from Google Earth and upload that copy.
Can I convert several KMZ files at once and merge them into one layer?
You can send up to 10 files in one request as a guest or free user, 25 on Plus and 50 on Pro, but each KMZ produces its own .shp.zip. Nothing is merged. To combine them into a single layer, import all the outputs and use a merge tool in QGIS or ArcGIS Pro.
What happens to my file after the conversion?
Everything runs on our servers, not in your browser. The uploaded KMZ and the folder we extracted it into are deleted when the job finishes, and the .shp.zip download link works for about four hours before the output is deleted automatically. The link is a long random token, but anyone who has it can download the file until it expires. File names, sizes and outcomes are recorded in our logs.