Convert KML to Shapefile
Turn KML files from Google Earth or Google Maps into a complete Shapefile, right in the browser — with folder detection, automatic splitting of mixed geometry types and optional reprojection. Runs server-side; anonymous source files are deleted automatically when processing finishes, while signed-in retention follows the account class.
Upload one .kml file.
What you get
A ZIP with a complete Shapefile — .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj. The four files belong together: passing on the .shp alone means passing on geometry without attributes and without a coordinate system. If your KML mixes geometry types, you get one set per type (_points, _polygons, …) in the same ZIP, because a single shapefile can only hold one geometry type per layer.
Field names get cut to ten characters
The attribute table of a Shapefile is a dBASE file from the eighties, and it allows at most ten characters per field name. Your KML's description becomes descriptio; if two truncated names collide, a digit is appended. Compatible scalar values are generally retained, but Shapefile can also coerce field types or truncate values that exceed its limits. If you need the full names and richer types, GeoJSON or GeoPackage are better targets.
What does not survive the trip
- Styles, icons and folder colours — Shapefile has no concept of styling.
- HTML formatting inside description balloons becomes plain text.
- Nested folder structures are flattened to layers.
- KML timestamps are stored as plain dates, because Shapefile has no native datetime type.
Vector geometry and compatible attribute values are generally retained, but presentation, nesting and some type information can change. Review the conversion warnings and result before using it downstream.
Reprojection
By default the result stays in EPSG:4326, exactly as KML stores it. If your GIS work needs a projected system — UTM for measuring in metres, a national grid for official workflows — enter it as the target CRS and the coordinates are transformed before writing. Areas and lengths measured in unprojected WGS 84 degrees are not areas and lengths; that is the usual reason to reproject here.
Related conversions
- Convert KMZ to Shapefile
- Convert Shapefile to KML — the other direction
- Convert KML to GeoJSON