GPX viewer — open a GPX file online

No file at hand? Try a sample track — the Tugela Falls hike in the Drakensberg, recorded with NomadTracks.

That file couldn't be read as GPX — is it a valid GPX 1.0/1.1 file?

How to open a GPX file

A GPX file is not much use as a file — it is a list of coordinates in XML. To see where it goes you need something that draws it on a map. Which of these you want depends on whether you are just checking a track or actually taking it outside.

In your browser, right now

Drop the file into the viewer above. The track draws on a map with distance, elevation gain and loss, duration and an elevation profile. Nothing is uploaded — the parsing happens in the page, on your device, which is why it works on a plane and why the file stays private.

On an iPhone or iPad

This page works in Safari on the phone too: tap the drop zone and pick the file out of Files, iCloud Drive or a mail attachment. That is enough to check where a route goes. To use the track — follow it offline, see your own position on it, keep it in a library — share the file to a GPS app instead. With NomadTracks installed, the share sheet offers it from Files, Mail or Safari, and the track lands in your library with its stats already computed.

On Android

The viewer works the same way in Chrome — choose the file from Downloads or Google Drive. For offline use, import it into a GPS app: NomadTracks takes GPX from the file picker or straight from the Android share sheet.

On a computer

The viewer here is usually the fastest option, because there is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for. Desktop GIS such as QGIS will also open GPX, and is the right tool if you need to reproject it, merge files or do anything analytical.

Neither Windows nor macOS has a built-in map viewer for GPX. Double-clicking the file usually opens it in a text editor — a wall of <trkpt lat=… lon=…> lines — or asks which app to use. That is not a broken file; it is what GPX looks like inside. Drag it onto the drop zone above instead.

In Google Earth or Google My Maps

The Google Maps app cannot import a GPX file. Two other Google tools can: Google Earth Pro on the desktop opens a GPX through File → Open and shows the track in 3D, and Google My Maps can import a GPX into a custom map that you can then view on your phone. Both mean signing in and, for My Maps, storing the track in your Google account — fine for sharing a route, overkill for a quick look.

On a GPS watch or handheld

Garmin and most other watches and handhelds take GPX as a course or route, usually through the vendor's desktop or phone app. That is the way to navigate on the device itself; the viewer here is the way to check a file before you send it there.

What the viewer reads out of the file

Distance is measured along the recorded points rather than taken from the file's own metadata, so it matches what the track actually does. Elevation gain and loss are summed with a small threshold applied, which keeps GPS noise on a flat path from accumulating into hundreds of phantom metres. Duration needs timestamps, which recordings have and exported plans usually do not. Waypoints are listed separately from the track itself, so a file that is only waypoints still shows you something.

If a file will not open, it is almost always because it is not really GPX: a .gpx extension on a KML or TCX file is common when something was renamed by hand rather than converted.

Frequently asked questions

Is my GPX file uploaded anywhere?

No. The file is parsed entirely in your browser with JavaScript — it never leaves your device. There is no upload, no account and no tracking of your track.

What is a GPX file?

GPX (GPS Exchange Format) is a plain-text XML file that stores a route or a recorded track as a list of points, each with a latitude, a longitude and usually an elevation and a timestamp. It is the format every GPS app and handheld can read, which is why it is what you get when you export from Strava, Garmin, Komoot, Outdooractive or NomadTracks.

How do I open a GPX file on an iPhone?

Two ways. For a quick look, open this page in Safari on the phone and pick the file from Files or iCloud Drive — the map and the profile render on the phone with no app needed. To keep the track, navigate along it and use it offline, open it in a GPS app instead: with NomadTracks installed, share the file to the app from Files or Mail and it lands in your library.

How do I open a GPX file on Android?

The same viewer works in Chrome on Android — choose the file from Downloads or Drive. To keep and navigate the track, share it into a GPS app; NomadTracks imports GPX from the file picker or the Android share sheet.

Which GPX contents are supported?

Tracks, routes and waypoints (GPX 1.0 and 1.1). Elevation and timestamps are used for the statistics and the elevation profile when the file contains them — many exported routes have no timestamps, so the duration simply stays empty.

Why does my GPX show no elevation profile?

Because the file has no elevation data in it. Planning tools often export routes as bare coordinates; recordings from a phone or a watch almost always include elevation. The track still draws correctly on the map.

Can I open a GPX file in Google Maps?

Not in the Google Maps app — it has no GPX import. Google My Maps can import a GPX into a custom map, and Google Earth Pro on the desktop opens GPX files directly. For a quick look without signing in, the viewer on this page is faster; to follow the track outdoors, import it into a GPS app such as NomadTracks.

Can I edit the GPX here?

No — this is a viewer. For recording, organising and re-exporting tracks on iPhone and Android, that is what the NomadTracks app does.

Related

• Import GPX tracks into NomadTracks — keeping and navigating a route, not just looking at it
• GPX tracker for iPhone — recording your own tracks and exporting them as GPX
• GPX and Apple Maps — why Apple Maps will not open a GPX file, and what to do instead
• GeoPDF viewer — for georeferenced PDF maps rather than tracks