Can QGIS open KMZ files?

Question

I know I can add KML files once I have unzipped the KMZ files, but is there a way to open KMZ files directly?

When I try to open a kmz file on QGIS 1.8.0 on Windows XP, through the all files filter, it does not accept it as a valid format.

Am I doing something wrong?

Does this all depend on OGR support?

No only KML, you need to unzip the KMZ first to retrieve the KML. — Mapperz, Aug 23 '12 at 16:02
7 Zip provides a neat dialog for right click 'open archive' and then dragging the temp.kml into a folder — Willy, Aug 26 '12 at 11:11
On Windows in QGIS you can know open KMZ read only directly from the add layer (vector) dialog — BillW, May 10 '17 at 06:43

dakcarto · Answer 1 · 2012-08-30T20:22:09.433

20

On a Mac, where QGIS uses the Kyngchaos.com GDAL 1.9 Complete framework, or on any platform where QGIS has been compiled against a GDAL build with support for the Google LIBKML driver, you can open .kmz files directly using the open dialog and selecting the All Files (*) option, or simply drag/drop onto QGIS. (Otherwise, you will need to decompress the .kmz to .kml files as noted by @Kurt)

enter image description here

If the .kmz has multiple layers, you will be presented with a layer selection dialog (single layer .kmz files are immediately loaded):

enter image description here

You can select multiple layers in that dialog to import. The Example Overlay of Multiple Datasets .kmz file I tested (from here) allowed multiple layer import of point, line and polygon layer types.

EDIT: You can check for ogr LIBKML driver support in your version of QGIS by running the following commands in QGIS's Python Console:

import osgeo.ogr
print 'Has LIBKML ogr driver: ' + str(osgeo.ogr.GetDriverByName('LIBKML') is not None)

edited Aug 30 '12 at 20:22

answered Aug 23 '12 at 17:06

dakcarto

7,754
26
34

2

I believe this support comes from gdal's ability to read ZIP archives, which was recently added to QGIS. However, I couldn't find specifics on .kmz files (needs documented somewhere). – dakcarto Aug 23 '12 at 17:24
your procedure does not work for me with qgis 1.8 under win7. does this work only under max os?? – Kurt Aug 23 '12 at 19:43
Tried it with Qgis Master b6760ce GDAL 1.9.1 on Windows XP, but no success here. – AndreJ Aug 24 '12 at 05:54
did not work for me in Qgis 1.8 in windows Vista with gdal 1.9.1 – Alexandre Neto Aug 24 '12 at 14:47
2

Assuming reporting Windows users are using the OSGeo4W installer, it appears the gdal/ogr library that ships with it does not include the LIBKML driver (which offers reading of .kmz files). There is already a request for including the driver in OSGeo4W. The GDAL 1.9 Complete framework installer for Mac by Kyngchaos.com includes the LIBKML driver. (In other words, this is not an issue with QGIS, per se.) – dakcarto Aug 24 '12 at 15:42
2

BTW: OSGeo4W users can check their gdal/ogr available formats by opening the MSYS console and typing either gdalinfo --formats or ogrinfo --formats. On Mac, using Terminal to run the same command for ogr, it reports "LIBKML" (read/write), whereas using my Windows 7 virtual machine's MSYS console, it reports no driver support. The "KML" (read/write) format, a different driver, is obviously supported on both platforms. – dakcarto Aug 24 '12 at 15:49
@dakcarto: i have the standalone qgis version – Kurt Aug 30 '12 at 19:33
@Kurt I added to my answer above for checking via the Python Console for whether your QGIS version supports LIBKML. – dakcarto Aug 30 '12 at 20:23
@dakcarto: howto do this check?? thx – Kurt Aug 30 '12 at 20:31

score 14 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 23 '12 at 16:47

as far as I know, you are right: vectors in qgis are read and written by ogr. qgis 1.8 uses the lastest gdal/ogr, which is 1.91. you can read zipped shape-files, but *.kmz, which actually are a zip-archive containing *.kml-file(s) need to be unzipped manually before importing

sgrieve · Answer 3 · 2020-08-10T10:04:37.927

6

Here is a guide to create and import KML files into Quantum. It does not work for KMZ files so these would need to first be decompressed to be used in this manner.

edited Aug 10 '20 at 10:04

answered Sep 07 '12 at 08:18

sgrieve

3,726
1
19
36

2

for decompressing KMZ files just change filenameextension from KMZ to ZIP and decompress with your favorite tool (winrar, 7zip, winzip ...) – Kurt Sep 07 '12 at 08:50
1

7 Zip has a right click option on kmz's to open them up, then drag and drop the kml right outta there – Willy Sep 08 '12 at 10:55
1

The link is broken – HoRn Jun 19 '20 at 17:59
@HoRn - thanks! I have updated the link. – sgrieve Aug 10 '20 at 10:05

score 3 · Answer 4 · edited Mar 21 '23 at 19:36

3

You can add KML layers as any other kind of vector layer, using Layer .. Add Layer .. Add Vector Layer (or Ctrl-Shift-V).

edited Mar 21 '23 at 19:36

davidvandebunte

103
3

answered Sep 07 '12 at 08:44

Giovanni Manghi

3,907
16
24

1

KMZ's... not KML... – DPSSpatial_BoycottingGISSE May 01 '14 at 20:49

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 19 '12 at 08:23

2

Once you have opened the KML file in QGIS, you can also save it as a shapefile by right-clicking on the file in the layers pane and selecting 'save as'.

answered Nov 19 '12 at 08:23

Bernie

653
6
12

how about opening the KMZ first...? – DPSSpatial_BoycottingGISSE May 01 '14 at 20:50

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 30 '18 at 18:29

0

I have QGIS 2.18 and you can add a *.kmz file.

answered Oct 30 '18 at 18:29

Ariel

315
2
13

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 30 '12 at 12:37

0

Rename datafile.kmz to datafile.zip then unzip the *.kml from inside.

answered Aug 30 '12 at 12:37

Lorlin

117
2

Folks, please leave a short comment for negative votes! Thanks – Nikos Alexandris Apr 29 '13 at 13:43

score -2 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 24 '12 at 08:54

The solution is simple:

in Google Earth, right-click on your loaded *.kmz file
choose "save as..." and save the file as *kml
Now, open the kml-file with QGIS

Tipp: if you want to save several *.kmz files and merge them in one sinlge *kml file, put your *.kmz files in Google Earth in one single folder in hte "locations" window of Google Earth. Than apply the procedure described above for the folder. One single *kml with all geogrpahic points in the folder will be produced, you can then open it with QGis.

If "on the fly projection" is activated, the points will show up on the right place in your OpenLayers Map in QGIS.

Yes, just rename .kmz .zip and use the zip-tool of your choice ... — Kurt, Apr 24 '18 at 18:01

score -3 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 24 '12 at 11:52

-3

First Open In Google Earth And Save As Kml Format File and That you will open in QGIS 1.8.... open Vector Data File Change kml format...

answered Aug 24 '12 at 11:52

bhavesh.chauhan

1

Can QGIS open KMZ files?

9 Answers9

Linked

Related