Convert KML to SHP online
Convert Keyhole Markup Language (KML) — the Google Earth and Google Maps format — into Esri Shapefile, which is the Esri format used by ArcGIS and QGIS — really a set of files (.shp, .dbf, .prj, …) bundled in a .zip. Drop your KML file below, SHP is already selected as the output, and download the result. Everything runs in your browser and the cloud; you never install anything.
Upload your file
Drag and drop it into the converter below. A free account comes with three welcome conversions.
Convert in the cloud
MapGO detects the format and produces your download in seconds.
Download & keep it
Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours.
Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours. Your files are never shared.
Why convert KML to SHP with MapGO?
Most online converters take one file and hand back one file. MapGO is built on a real geospatial engine, so a single upload can do more.
- Several outputs in one upload
Tick SHP and any other formats you need; every selected format is delivered from the same file.
- Files up to 5 GB
Far beyond the browser-based converters that choke past a few hundred megabytes.
- Reproject while you convert
Set a source and target EPSG code and the coordinate system is changed during the conversion, no second tool needed.
- Private by default
Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours.
KML vs SHP at a glance
| KML | SHP | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical use | Google Earth / Google My Maps visualisation and sharing placemarks | Desktop GIS in ArcGIS/QGIS; the long-time industry exchange format |
| Size on disk | Verbose XML; the zipped KMZ variant shrinks it considerably | Large — several sidecar files, no compression, 2 GB per-file cap |
| Attribute support | Styling-first — data lives in ExtendedData and is easy to lose | Limited: column names max 10 characters, no lists or nesting |
| Software support | Google Earth/Maps and most GIS tools | Universal in GIS software; web libraries can’t read it directly |
| Web-friendliness | Good inside the Google ecosystem; niche elsewhere | Poor — must be converted before use in a web map |
Other ways to convert KML to SHP
You don't need an online tool for this. If you have GDAL installed, one command does it.
In QGIS (free): open your KML via Layer → Add Layer, then right-click the layer → Export → Save Features As… and pick SHP as the format.
The MapGO converter above is for when you don't want to install anything, need to convert to several formats at once, or are handling files too large for a desktop machine.
ogr2ogr -f "ESRI Shapefile" output.shp input.kmlKML to SHP: frequently asked questions
Is the KML to SHP converter free?
Partly. Every new account gets three welcome conversions for free, so you can try KML to SHP without paying. After that, you can either buy a credit pack and pay per conversion, or take a subscription, which gives you unlimited conversions within the plan's file-size limit. There is nothing to install; the whole conversion runs in the cloud.
Is my data kept private?
Conversion is fully automated and your file is never shared. Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours. Download your SHP result and it's yours to keep.
What will the shapefile download look like?
Because a shapefile is made of several files, your result is delivered as a single .zip containing the .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj — ready to open in ArcGIS or QGIS.
What happens to the attributes stored in my KML?
KML keeps attribute data in ExtendedData elements (and sometimes in free-text descriptions). Structured ExtendedData fields are mapped to real attribute columns in the output; icons and styling are display settings rather than data, so they don’t carry over.
Why did my column names change in the shapefile output?
Shapefiles store attributes in a .dbf table that caps field names at 10 characters, so longer names are truncated during conversion — the same thing ArcGIS and QGIS do when saving a shapefile. If you need long field names, GeoPackage is the better target format.
Can I convert SHP back to KML?
Yes — use our SHP to KML converter for the reverse direction. MapGO supports conversions in both directions between these formats.
Also convert
See it on the map first.
Open your KML in the workspace, check the shapes and attributes, then convert and download from the same place.