[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"howto:kml:windows: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":16,"alternativeMethods":17,"commonIssues":18,"securityNote":38,"extensionPath":39,"extensionLabel":40,"breadcrumbs":41,"metaDescription":51},false,"kml","Keyhole Markup Language (KML)","gis","GIS","2026-06-12T08:52:26.912Z","windows","Windows","To open .KML files on Windows, install and open Google Earth.",[14,15],"Install and open Google Earth.","Use the Google Earth import option to import the .kml file into an Earth project (or open it as a local KML file).",[],[],[19,25,32],{"title":20,"description":21,"steps":22},"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.",[23,24],"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":26,"description":27,"steps":28},"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.",[29,30,31],"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":33,"description":34,"steps":35},"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.",[36,37],"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",[42,45,48],{"label":43,"to":44},"Home","/",{"label":46,"to":47},"How To","/file-extension",{"label":49,"to":50},"Open .KML on Windows","/how-to/open-kml-on-windows","Learn how to open .KML files on Windows with step-by-step instructions, recommended software, and troubleshooting tips."]