KML and KMZ

What is a KML File?

KML is a file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser such as Google Earth, Google MY Maps, Google Maps, and Google Maps for mobile. KML uses a tag-based structure with nested elements and attributes and is based on the XML standard.

What is a KMZ File?

A KMZ file consists of a main KML file and zero or more supporting files that are packaged using a Zip utility into one unit, called an archive. The KMZ file can then be stored and emailed as a single entity. When the KMZ file is unzipped, the main .kml file and its supporting files are separated into their original formats and directory structure, with their original file names and extensions. In addition to being an archive format, the Zip format is also compressed, so an archive can include only a single large KML file.

Google Earth, Google MY Maps and Google Maps can read KML and KMZ files directly, and they can save files as KMZ files. By default, the main KML file is named doc.kml.

Tip: To see the KML "code" for a feature in Google Earth, you can simply right-click the feature in the Viewer of Google Earth and select Copy. Then Paste the contents of the clipboard into any text editor. The visual feature displayed in Google Earth is converted into its KML text equivalent.