[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"howto:kml:ios:en":3},{"resolvedFromAlias":4,"canonicalExt":5,"ext":5,"name":6,"category":7,"categoryName":8,"updatedAt":9,"os":10,"osLabel":11,"quickSolution":12,"stepByStep":13,"recommendedSoftware":15,"alternativeMethods":16,"commonIssues":17,"securityNote":37,"extensionPath":38,"extensionLabel":39,"breadcrumbs":40,"metaDescription":50},false,"kml","Keyhole Markup Language (KML)","gis","GIS","2026-06-12T08:52:26.912Z","ios","iOS","To open .KML files on iOS, if you need guaranteed compatibility, transfer the .kml file to a desktop and open/import it with Google Earth as described in Google’s documentation.",[14],"If you need guaranteed compatibility, transfer the .kml file to a desktop and open/import it with Google Earth as described in Google’s documentation.",[],[],[18,24,31],{"title":19,"description":20,"steps":21},"The KML file opens as plain text or looks like code","KML is XML, so if it’s opened in a text editor it will appear as tags and coordinates rather than a map view.",[22,23],"Open the file from a map/globe viewer such as Google Earth and use its import/open workflow for local KML files.","If you must edit it, make changes in a text editor and then re-open it in Google Earth (or a GIS app) to verify it renders correctly.",{"title":25,"description":26,"steps":27},"Import fails or features don’t show up","The file may not be valid KML, may not match expected namespaces, or may contain content that a particular viewer doesn’t support.",[28,29,30],"Confirm the file is actually KML (it should be XML and typically reference the KML namespace like http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2).","Try importing the same file into another KML-capable application (for example, Google Earth versus a GIS tool such as ArcGIS) to rule out app-specific limitations.","If the file was produced by an exporter, re-export using an OGC KML 2.x-compatible setting (KML 2.3 is the current OGC implementation standard).",{"title":32,"description":33,"steps":34},"You received a .kmz instead of .kml (or vice versa)","KMZ is a packaged (compressed) form of KML; some sharing workflows send KMZ because it can bundle related resources with the KML.",[35,36],"Try opening/importing the file directly in Google Earth; Google Earth supports both KML and KMZ import.","If you specifically need raw KML, obtain/export the uncompressed .kml from the source tool (or open the KMZ in a tool that can extract the contained KML).","KML is XML; opening untrusted KML can still be risky if a viewer has XML parsing vulnerabilities. Prefer opening files from trusted sources and keep your GIS/viewer software up to date.","/file-extension/kml",".KML",[41,44,47],{"label":42,"to":43},"Home","/",{"label":45,"to":46},"How To","/file-extension",{"label":48,"to":49},"Open .KML on iOS","/how-to/open-kml-on-ios","Learn how to open .KML files on iOS with step-by-step instructions, recommended software, and troubleshooting tips."]