Drop a Shapefile (as a .zip containing its .shp, .dbf, .shx and .prj) and convert it to KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, Excel, GPX, DXF, DGN, GeoPackage, GML, MapInfo, SQLite or WKT, free and entirely in your browser, with nothing uploaded.
A shapefile converter turns Esri's multi-file .shp format into KML, GeoJSON, CSV, GeoPackage or CAD so people without ArcGIS or QGIS can open, map or edit the data.
Drop a file here, or click to browse
a zipped Shapefile, .shp, .dbf, .shx and .prj together in one .zip
No Shapefile file to hand? Download a sample Shapefile file (100 points) and drop it above.
How the formats in this family differ, so you can pick the right target before converting.
| Format | What it is | Geometry | Styling | CRS | Opens in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shapefile .shp | The Shapefile is the long-standing Esri vector format and remains the lingua franca of d… | One type per file | No | Any (stored) | ArcGIS, QGIS, GeoServer |
| GeoJSON .geojson | GeoJSON is an open, JSON-based standard (RFC 7946) for encoding vector features and thei… | Points, lines, polygons | No | WGS84 only | Leaflet, Mapbox GL, OpenLayers |
| GeoPackage .gpkg | GeoPackage is an open OGC standard that stores vector features (and optionally raster ti… | Points, lines, polygons | No | Any (stored) | QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, GDAL |
| KML .kml | KML is the XML-based format Google Earth and Google Maps use to describe points, lines, … | Points, lines, polygons | Yes | WGS84 only | Google Earth, Google Maps, QGIS |
| CSV .csv | CSV is the universal spreadsheet exchange format: rows of plain-text values that open in… | Points (columns) + WKT | No | None (assign) | Excel, Google Sheets, QGIS |
| GML .gml | GML is the OGC's XML grammar for geographic features and is widely used in European INSP… | Points, lines, polygons | No | Any (stored) | QGIS, GeoServer, deegree |
Pick the exact conversion you need. To view Esri data in Google Earth, convert your shapefile to KML; to drive a Leaflet or Mapbox web map, turn a shapefile into GeoJSON. When you only want the attribute table, export the shapefile to CSV for Excel, and to hand clean geometry to a drafter you can convert a shapefile to DXF for AutoCAD. Every conversion runs in your browser, and your files are never uploaded.
The name is misleading: a working shapefile is a bundle. The .shp holds the geometry, the .shx is its position index, and the .dbf stores the attribute table. Two sidecars matter just as much, the .prj (coordinate system) and the optional .cpg (text encoding). All of them share a base name and must travel together, which is why you upload and download a shapefile as a single .zip. Drop only the .shp and the converter has geometry with no attributes and no CRS.
The .prj records the coordinate reference system in WKT. Without it the numbers in the .shp are just unlabelled X/Y values, so a tool guesses, and a UTM or State Plane dataset read as if it were WGS84 produces out-of-range, nonsensical positions (projected metres cannot be read as degrees). Keep the .prj in the zip and every output inherits the correct CRS; you can also override it to EPSG:4326 or EPSG:3857 during conversion.
The .dbf format caps column names at 10 characters, so "population_density" is silently truncated to "population" and duplicates get mangled to POPULAT_1. Names longer than 10 characters were destroyed when the data first became a shapefile, so converting out cannot recover them. Formats like GeoJSON, GeoPackage and CSV have no such limit.
A single shapefile holds only points, only lines, or only polygons, never a mix, and stores no styling. GeoPackage (.gpkg), an OGC SQLite database, is the modern replacement: one file, many layers, long field names, and none of these constraints.
Yes. A shapefile is really several files that share a base name, at minimum .shp, .shx and .dbf, plus the .prj for the coordinate system. Put them all in one .zip and upload that. If you send only the .shp, the converter has geometry but no attribute table and no CRS.
Always include .shp (geometry), .shx (index) and .dbf (attributes). Add the .prj so the coordinate system is known, and the .cpg if your text uses non-English characters. Missing the .shx or .dbf will usually cause the read to fail; missing the .prj lets the data convert but risks it landing in the wrong place.
Shapefiles store attributes in a dBASE (.dbf) table whose column names are limited to 10 characters. A name like "average_temperature" was truncated to "average_te" when the data became a shapefile. Converting to GeoJSON, CSV or GeoPackage keeps whatever name currently exists but cannot restore characters that were already lost.
Almost always a coordinate-system problem. If the .prj was missing, the tool assumed WGS84 while your data was actually in UTM, State Plane or another projected system, so the coordinates were interpreted as degrees. Re-run the conversion with the .prj included, or set the correct source CRS (for example the UTM zone or State Plane EPSG code the data was created in, not EPSG:4326).
No. Each shapefile stores exactly one geometry type. If your data mixes types you will have separate shapefiles, and you convert each one individually. GeoPackage and GeoJSON holds multiple geometry types in one FeatureCollection, and GeoPackage holds multiple layers in a single file.
No. The shapefile format stores no styling at all, only geometry and attributes, so there is nothing to carry over. If you need colours and icons in the output, choose KML or KMZ and apply styling there; the geometry and attribute values always convert faithfully.
For most modern uses, yes. A GeoPackage is a single SQLite file that holds many layers, allows long field names, has no 2 GB size ceiling and needs no sidecar files. Shapefile remains useful mainly because older software and data-exchange requirements still expect it.
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser using GDAL compiled to WebAssembly. Your shapefile is read on your own device and never leaves it, which is why the tool keeps working even after you go offline.
