[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"extension:v3:en:geojson":3},{"resolvedFromAlias":4,"canonicalExt":5,"ext":5,"name":6,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"updatedAt":9,"popularity":10,"summary":11,"howToOs":12,"quickAnswer":18,"answerIntro":19,"whatIs":20,"description":21,"furtherReading":22,"openInstructions":38,"commonIssues":52,"securityNotes":77,"faq":81,"aliases":94,"mimeTypes":95,"relatedExtensions":97,"breadcrumbs":142,"categoryAnchor":152,"categoryFuturePath":153,"metaDescription":154,"availableHowToOs":155,"openOnDeviceLinks":156,"cannotOpenReasons":172,"cannotOpenFixes":173,"convertOptions":174,"securityAffiliateMessaging":175,"securityAffiliates":176},false,"geojson","GeoJSON (RFC 7946) geospatial data","gis","GIS","2026-06-12T08:50:51.161Z",72,".geojson is a JSON-based format for exchanging geographic features (points, lines, polygons) and their properties. It is widely used in GIS and web mapping tools and follows the GeoJSON standard (RFC 7946).",[13,14,15,16,17],"windows","mac","linux","ios","android","To open .GEOJSON files on Windows, if you want to view or analyze it, open it with a GIS application that supports GeoJSON (many GIS tools can load it as vector data).","To open a .geojson file, use a GIS tool or any app that can view JSON text. On desktops, GIS software and GDAL-based tools commonly open GeoJSON; you can also open it in a text editor to inspect or validate the JSON.","GeoJSON is a geospatial data interchange format built on JSON, representing geometries (like Point, LineString, Polygon) as “Features” and “FeatureCollections” with properties. RFC 7946 defines how GeoJSON is structured and sets rules such as using WGS 84 longitude/latitude coordinates. The registered media type for GeoJSON is application/geo+json.","GeoJSON is a lightweight way to exchange vector geospatial data using JSON, making it easy to generate, parse, and transmit in modern software stacks. It is commonly used for web mapping, data sharing, and GIS workflows where a simple text-based format is preferred.\n\nThe normative definition is in RFC 7946, which standardizes how coordinates and geometries are represented and clarifies interoperability details (for example, the coordinate reference system expectations). This helps different tools interpret the same .geojson file consistently.\n\nMany GIS and geospatial processing toolchains support GeoJSON, including GDAL/OGR, which can read and write GeoJSON as a vector format. Because it is plain text, it is also frequently stored in version control systems and edited programmatically.",[23,26,29,32,35],{"title":24,"url":25},"RFC 7946 (HTML view) — The GeoJSON Format","https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc7946",{"title":27,"url":28},"IANA Media Types registry (includes application/geo+json)","https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/",{"title":30,"url":31},"GDAL documentation — GeoJSON driver","https://gdal.org/en/stable/drivers/vector/geojson.html",{"title":33,"url":34},"GeoJSON (overview)","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoJSON",{"title":36,"url":37},"Shared MIME-info Database specification (Linux file type associations)","https://specifications.freedesktop.org/shared-mime-info-spec/latest-single/",{"windows":39,"macos":42,"linux":45,"ios":48,"android":50},[40,41],"If you want to view or analyze it, open it with a GIS application that supports GeoJSON (many GIS tools can load it as vector data).","If you just need to inspect contents, open it in a text editor (it is JSON) and look for top-level objects like \"Feature\" or \"FeatureCollection\".",[43,44],"Open the file in a GIS application that supports GeoJSON to see the geometry on a map and browse attributes.","For a quick check, open it in a text editor to confirm it is valid JSON and contains GeoJSON types such as \"FeatureCollection\".",[46,47],"Open it in a GIS application that supports GeoJSON, or use GDAL/OGR tooling (GeoJSON is supported as a vector driver) to inspect/convert it.","On Linux desktops, file associations commonly rely on the shared-mime-info system; if double-clicking does nothing, open it from within your GIS app instead.",[49],"There is no single guaranteed built-in GeoJSON viewer; if an installed GIS/map app doesn’t recognize it, open it as text (JSON) in a text-capable app or transfer it to a desktop GIS tool.",[51],"If your mapping/GIS app doesn’t import it, open it in a text viewer to confirm it is GeoJSON JSON, or transfer it to a desktop GIS tool for full viewing and validation.",[53,59,65,71],{"title":54,"description":55,"steps":56},"Opens as plain text instead of a map","GeoJSON is JSON; if your system has no GIS app associated with .geojson, it may open in a text editor by default.",[57,58],"Open the file from inside a GIS application using its “Open/Import/Add vector layer” function and select the .geojson file.","On Linux, ensure MIME associations are set up via your desktop environment’s shared-mime-info-based settings; otherwise use the GIS app’s file picker.",{"title":60,"description":61,"steps":62},"File is rejected as invalid GeoJSON","Some JSON files are not valid GeoJSON, and some GeoJSON producers include non-standard fields. RFC 7946 defines required structure and rules (for example, geometry and coordinate conventions).",[63,64],"Open the file in a text editor and check that it is valid JSON and that the top-level \"type\" is a GeoJSON type (commonly \"FeatureCollection\" or \"Feature\").","Verify that geometries use the GeoJSON coordinate arrays expected by RFC 7946 (e.g., positions are arrays of numbers in longitude/latitude order).",{"title":66,"description":67,"steps":68},"Coordinates appear in the wrong place (shifted or swapped)","RFC 7946 GeoJSON uses WGS 84 geographic coordinates and positions are expressed as longitude, latitude (not latitude, longitude). If a dataset uses a different CRS or swaps order, features may plot incorrectly.",[69,70],"Confirm the coordinate order is [longitude, latitude] as specified by RFC 7946.","If the data is not in WGS 84 (or was exported from another CRS), re-export or transform it with a GIS/GDAL workflow into RFC 7946-compliant WGS 84 coordinates.",{"title":72,"description":73,"steps":74},"Very large .geojson is slow to open or render","GeoJSON is text-based; very large FeatureCollections can be heavy to parse and render compared with more compact formats.",[75,76],"Use GDAL/OGR to convert the data to a more efficient format for your workflow, or to split/simplify the dataset before viewing.","If you must keep GeoJSON, reduce feature count or simplify geometries and test performance again.",[78,79,80],"GeoJSON is data (JSON) and does not define executable content, but it is still untrusted input: malformed or extremely large files can trigger crashes or heavy memory/CPU usage in parsers and GIS applications.","Be cautious when loading GeoJSON from unknown sources into complex GIS stacks (including GDAL-based toolchains), because vulnerabilities in file parsing can exist even for data-only formats.","If a GeoJSON file is unexpectedly huge or contains deeply nested arrays, treat it as potentially abusive input and inspect it as text before loading into a viewer.",[82,85,88,91],{"question":83,"answer":84},"Is .geojson just JSON?","Yes. GeoJSON is a specific convention for JSON objects that represent geographic features and geometries as defined by RFC 7946.",{"question":86,"answer":87},"What MIME type should GeoJSON use?","IANA registers the GeoJSON media type as application/geo+json.",{"question":89,"answer":90},"What coordinate reference system does GeoJSON use?","RFC 7946 standardizes GeoJSON to use WGS 84 geographic coordinates and represents positions as longitude/latitude numeric arrays.",{"question":92,"answer":93},"Can GDAL read and convert .geojson files?","Yes. GDAL/OGR includes a GeoJSON vector driver and commonly supports opening and converting GeoJSON in geospatial workflows.",[],[96],"application/geo+json",[98,103,109,115,120,125,130,136],{"ext":99,"name":100,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":10,"summary":101,"howToOs":102},"shp","Esri Shapefile (geometry file)",".shp is the main geometry file in an Esri Shapefile dataset used to store vector GIS features. You typically open it in GIS software (for example ArcGIS Pro) together with its companion files such as .dbf and .shx.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":104,"name":105,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":106,"summary":107,"howToOs":108},"kml","Keyhole Markup Language (KML)",70,"KML is an XML-based GIS format for showing geographic features (placemarks, paths, polygons, overlays) on maps and virtual globes. It’s commonly opened in Google Earth and is also supported by GIS tools such as ArcGIS.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":110,"name":111,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":112,"summary":113,"howToOs":114},"gpkg","OGC GeoPackage (SQLite) geospatial database",55,".gpkg is an OGC GeoPackage: a SQLite 3 database file with a standardized schema for geospatial data. It commonly stores vector layers and can also store raster/tiles in the same single file.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":116,"name":117,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":112,"summary":118,"howToOs":119},"osm","OpenStreetMap OSM XML (map data)",".osm is an OpenStreetMap dataset stored as OSM XML, containing map features like nodes, ways, and relations. It’s commonly opened or imported into GIS tools such as QGIS, GDAL-based software, or data-integration tools like FME.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":121,"name":122,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":112,"summary":123,"howToOs":124},"prj","ESRI/Shapefile Projection (WKT CRS) File",".prj is a plain-text “projection” sidecar file most commonly used with ESRI Shapefiles to store the dataset’s coordinate reference system in Well-Known Text (WKT). You typically open it in GIS software (as part of the shapefile) or a text editor to inspect the CRS definition.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":126,"name":127,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":112,"summary":128,"howToOs":129},"shx","Esri Shapefile Index (SHX)",".shx is the index component of an Esri Shapefile dataset, used alongside .shp (geometry) and .dbf (attributes). You typically open it by opening the shapefile dataset (the .shp) in a GIS app rather than opening the .shx by itself.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":131,"name":132,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":133,"summary":134,"howToOs":135},"kmz","KMZ (Zipped KML) geospatial archive",45,"A KMZ file is a ZIP-compressed package used to share KML map content (places, paths, overlays), often for viewing in Google Earth and other GIS tools.",[13,14,15,16,17],{"ext":137,"name":138,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"popularity":139,"summary":140,"howToOs":141},"mbtiles","MBTiles (SQLite tile set)",35,".mbtiles is a single-file map tile package used to store tiled maps (raster or vector tiles) in a SQLite database. It’s commonly opened in GIS and mapping tools such as QGIS, GDAL-based tools, and MapTiler Desktop.",[13,14,15,16,17],[143,146,149],{"label":144,"to":145},"Home","/",{"label":147,"to":148},"File Extension Index","/file-extension",{"label":150,"to":151},".GEOJSON","/file-extension/geojson","category-gis","/category/gis","Learn what .GEOJSON files are, how to open them on every platform, common fixes, and security best practices.",[13,14,15,16,17],[157,160,163,166,169],{"os":13,"label":158,"to":159},"Open .GEOJSON on Windows","/how-to/open-geojson-on-windows",{"os":14,"label":161,"to":162},"Open .GEOJSON on Mac","/how-to/open-geojson-on-mac",{"os":15,"label":164,"to":165},"Open .GEOJSON on Linux","/how-to/open-geojson-on-linux",{"os":16,"label":167,"to":168},"Open .GEOJSON on iOS","/how-to/open-geojson-on-ios",{"os":17,"label":170,"to":171},"Open .GEOJSON on Android","/how-to/open-geojson-on-android",[54,60,66,72],[57,58],[],"untrusted_source",[177,181],{"name":178,"description":179,"affiliateUrl":180},"Avast","Avast offers free and premium antivirus software that protects against viruses, malware, ransomware, and phishing. Scan files before opening them to ensure safety.","https://www.avast.com/lp-aff-consumer-store?expid=inf601",{"name":182,"description":183,"affiliateUrl":184},"Norton","Norton 360 delivers comprehensive antivirus protection, VPN, and identity theft monitoring. Scan files for threats before opening to keep your device secure.","http://buy.norton.com/aff_home?utm_campaign=en-ww_nor_n36_aff_nas_nau_nah_cj_nad_low:_sec_nat_mktc_norton_360"]