[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"howto:osm:mac: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":37,"extensionPath":38,"extensionLabel":39,"breadcrumbs":40,"metaDescription":50},false,"osm","OpenStreetMap OSM XML (map data)","gis","GIS","2026-06-12T08:54:02.707Z","mac","Mac","To open .OSM files on Mac, open the .osm file in a GIS tool that supports OSM XML (for example, QGIS with its OpenStreetMap tools).",[14,15],"Open the .osm file in a GIS tool that supports OSM XML (for example, QGIS with its OpenStreetMap tools).","For conversion or processing workflows, use GDAL-based tooling that supports reading OpenStreetMap .osm files.",[],[],[19,25,31],{"title":20,"description":21,"steps":22},"The file opens as plain text instead of a map layer",".osm is XML. If you open it in a text editor, you will see XML elements (including an \u003Cosm> root), not a rendered map. To view it as geographic data, you must import it using OSM-aware GIS tools.",[23,24],"Open the file using a GIS tool that supports OpenStreetMap OSM XML (for example, QGIS’s OpenStreetMap tools that load OSM from file).","If you are using a GDAL-based workflow, ensure you are reading it with the OpenStreetMap driver support for .osm.",{"title":26,"description":27,"steps":28},"Import fails or appears empty","Some tools expect a valid OSM XML structure (with nodes/ways/relations under an \u003Cosm> element). If the file is incomplete, truncated, or not actually OSM XML, imports can fail or show no features.",[29,30],"Open the file in a text editor and confirm it is OSM XML (look for an \u003Cosm> root element and elements like \u003Cnode>, \u003Cway>, and \u003Crelation>).","If the file came from an API response or download, re-download the data and try importing again.",{"title":32,"description":33,"steps":34},"Performance problems with large .osm files","OSM XML is verbose; large extracts can be slow to open and memory-intensive in desktop GIS tools compared with more compact representations.",[35,36],"If possible for your workflow, use software that supports efficient OSM handling and conversion via GDAL’s OpenStreetMap support.","Work with smaller geographic extracts (download a smaller area) and then load/import again.","OSM XML is data (nodes/ways/relations and tags), not an executable format, but it can still be a risk to open untrusted files in complex parsers due to potential XML parsing vulnerabilities in third-party tools.","/file-extension/osm",".OSM",[41,44,47],{"label":42,"to":43},"Home","/",{"label":45,"to":46},"How To","/file-extension",{"label":48,"to":49},"Open .OSM on Mac","/how-to/open-osm-on-mac","Learn how to open .OSM files on Mac with step-by-step instructions, recommended software, and troubleshooting tips."]