Convert SHP to KMZ for a one-file, compressed Google Earth version of a shapefile that is painless to email. Reading, converting and zipping all take place inside this page.
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KML, KMZ, SHP (.zip), GeoJSON, GPKG, GML, GPX, DXF, CSV, Excel, and more
No Shapefile file to hand? Download a sample Shapefile file (100 points) and drop it above to see the conversion.
Every format stores different things, so a conversion is never perfectly loss-free. Here is exactly what carries over when you convert Shapefile to KMZ, and what to watch for.
| What | Shapefile → KMZ | |
|---|---|---|
| Geometry | Kept | Points, lines and polygons are preserved exactly, including multi-part shapes. |
| Attributes | Kept | Every column and full field name moves from Shapefile into KMZ untouched. |
| Styling & labels | Changes | KMZ supports styling; features are written with clean default styling and a name label you can restyle in Google Earth. |
| Coordinate system | Changes | KMZ is defined in WGS84 (EPSG:4326), so data is reprojected to lon/lat on the way out. |
| Elevation (Z) | Kept | 3D Z values carry from Shapefile into KMZ wherever the source records them. |
| File structure | Kept | One compact .kmz (a zipped KML), easy to email and quick to open in Google Earth. |
A Shapefile is the workhorse of desktop GIS. It holds parcels, boundaries and network layers for tools like ArcGIS and QGIS. Most people, however, do not run GIS software. KMZ solves that. It is the format Google Earth exports by default, and it packs everything into one small file you can email. So converting Shapefile to KMZ lets you hand a finished map to a client or colleague who only has Google Earth. They can then view your boundaries or survey points draped over satellite imagery, with no GIS install and no loose sidecar files to manage.
Shapefile records its own coordinate system (in a .prj sidecar or embedded metadata), and the converter reads it automatically, so it knows where your data belongs on the globe.
KMZ is defined in WGS84 (EPSG:4326), so the output is reprojected to longitude/latitude, exactly what Google Earth and web maps expect. A quick CRS check before you download saves the classic "my Shapefile data is in the wrong place" surprise; the guide on coordinate systems and EPSG codes goes deeper.
Check the coordinate system first. A Shapefile stores its CRS in the .prj file, and it may sit in a projected local grid. KMZ wraps KML, which always expects WGS84 lon/lat, so a missing or wrong .prj can drop your features into the ocean. Also upload the whole Shapefile set together, since .shp, .dbf and .shx must travel as one.
Shapefile files typically come out of ArcGIS, QGIS, GeoServer, MapInfo. Once you convert to KMZ, the file opens in Google Earth Pro and Google Earth for web by a simple double-click, plus QGIS and ArcGIS Pro. The KMZ output follows the standard specification exactly, so those programs read it without any special import settings.
A Shapefile is where parcels, routes or survey points usually live after GIS work in ArcGIS or QGIS. KMZ is how you hand that same layer to someone who only opens Google Earth. This conversion pulls geometry and the .dbf attributes out of the multi-file Shapefile, rewrites each feature as a KML placemark, then packs everything into one zipped file. Because a KMZ travels as a single attachment, it is far easier to send than a Shapefile's scattered parts.
Yes. The columns from the .dbf table become placemark data, so clicking a feature in Google Earth shows its attributes in the balloon. Note that the 10-character field-name limit of the Shapefile still applies to those names.
KMZ is just a ZIP archive holding one KML document. Bundling the geometry and any styling into that one compressed file is exactly what makes it small and easy to email or open directly in Google Earth.
Yes, as long as the .prj file is included with the .shp. Google Earth expects WGS84 longitude and latitude, so projected coordinates from a State Plane or UTM Shapefile are reprojected during conversion. Without a .prj the source system is unknown, and placemarks can land in the wrong place.
Each record's .dbf fields become the placemark description that Google Earth shows when you click a feature. Because Shapefile column names are already capped at 10 characters, short headers like POP_2020 carry straight through. The values simply attach to each point, line or polygon; no separate table is created.
A KMZ file opens in Google Earth by double-click, plus QGIS and ArcGIS. Because the output follows the standard specification, any tool that supports KMZ will read it without special settings.
No conversion is perfectly loss-free because each format stores different things, but geometry and attributes are preserved; only presentation-level styling (which KMZ does not store) is left behind.
