How to Export Google Maps Saved Places to GeoJSON

A spreadsheet knows a place has a latitude and longitude. GeoJSON knows those numbers form a point on a map.

That small difference is why GeoJSON is useful. It keeps the geometry and the place details together in a standard structure that QGIS, Mapbox, Leaflet, OpenLayers, databases, and a long list of developer tools already understand. You can open the file as a layer, style points by category, filter by rating, or feed it into code without first guessing which spreadsheet columns contain the coordinates.

Google Maps does not export an individual saved list to GeoJSON. ExportMyMap fills that gap by turning each place into a Point feature and keeping the useful fields as properties.

The result in one minute

1. Open the saved list in Google Maps on a computer.
2. Scan it with ExportMyMap.
3. Select GeoJSON and download.
4. Open the file in QGIS, a code editor, or the map tool you use.

For a non-technical archive you plan to edit by hand, Excel or Google Sheets will be friendlier. Choose GeoJSON when the next step involves a map, GIS, spatial database, or script.

What the file looks like

The root object is a FeatureCollection. Inside it, every place with coordinates is a Feature made from three parts:

• "type": "Feature" identifies the object;
• geometry contains a Point such as "coordinates": [-0.1276, 51.5072];
• properties contains values such as "name": "Example place" and "city": "London".

Notice the coordinate order: longitude, latitude. Developers used to the common lat, lng wording often reverse the pair by accident. GeoJSON follows the order defined by RFC 7946, and ExportMyMap writes it correctly.

The geometry stays simple — one Point per saved place — while the properties contain whichever enriched values are available:

• name and address;
• district, city, postal code, region, and country;
• phone numbers, email addresses, and website;
• rating and review count;
• category and opening hours;
• Google Place ID, Maps URL, Plus Code, and image URL;
• date added or updated;
• your own note, if you choose to include it.

Empty values are left out instead of filling the file with blank properties. A viewpoint may have coordinates and a name but no phone number; a restaurant is likely to have much more.

Step 1: Open the correct saved list

Open Google Maps in Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Arc on a computer. Sign in, click Saved, and open Starred places, Want to go, Favorites, Travel plans, or the custom list you need.

For a Starred list that appears to stop at about 200 places on desktop, use the Google Takeout workflow first. Otherwise the GeoJSON will faithfully describe only the portion Google Maps loaded.

Step 2: Scan and enrich the places

Install the ExportMyMap Chrome Extension, open it from Google Maps, and choose the list. Wait for the scan to complete.

This step matters more for GeoJSON than it does for a bare list of coordinates. The geometry can be created as soon as a place has latitude and longitude, but properties such as city, rating, website, and opening hours arrive during enrichment. Downloading too early gives you a valid file with thinner attributes.

The free version covers the first 10 places; a paid plan is required for the full list.

Step 3: Choose GeoJSON

Select GeoJSON, decide whether your personal notes should be included, and download the file. It is generated locally in the browser.

The property names stay in English even when the extension interface uses another language. That is deliberate: stable field names such as name, city, and rating are much easier to use in code and GIS projects than a schema that changes with the UI language.

Keep the original download unchanged. If you need a filtered or edited version, save a copy under another name. A clean source file makes debugging much less dramatic.

Step 4: Put the data to work

Open it in QGIS

Drag the file onto a QGIS project or add it as a vector layer. Each place appears as a point, and the properties appear in the attribute table. The full Google Maps to QGIS guide covers labels, filters, styling, and saving the layer as a GeoPackage.

Use it in a web map

Leaflet and Mapbox GL can render a GeoJSON FeatureCollection directly. For a large public project, review the properties first: phone numbers, notes, and other details that were harmless in a private Google list may not belong in a public map.

Load it into a spatial workflow

GeoJSON is convenient for small and medium interchange files. Import it into PostGIS, convert it to GeoPackage, or run it through a script that filters features by country, category, or rating.

If the receiving application wants KML instead, use the GeoJSON to KML converter. For a spreadsheet, convert locally to CSV or Excel.

GeoJSON, KML, or GPX?

All three formats can represent points, but they serve different habits.

GeoJSON is the most comfortable option for software development, web maps, and GIS analysis. Geometry and structured properties live together in JSON.

KML is the natural format for Google Earth and Google My Maps. It also supports placemark styling and folders, although ExportMyMap intentionally produces a clean, simple KML. See the KML export guide for that workflow.

GPX is designed around GPS data: waypoints, routes, and tracks. Use it for Garmin, OsmAnd, and outdoor navigation. The GPX guide explains why a saved list should become waypoints.

There is no prize for choosing the most technical format. Pick the one the next application handles best.

Why a feature might be missing

A GeoJSON Point needs coordinates. ExportMyMap skips a rare entry when Google provides no usable latitude and longitude, because a feature with no geometry would not appear on the map.

Run the download through the free GeoJSON validator if the feature count looks wrong or another tool refuses the file. It checks the JSON structure, FeatureCollection, geometry types, and coordinate arrays without uploading the data.

If the structure is valid but points land at [0,0], in the wrong country, or disappear because geometry is empty, use the missing-coordinate troubleshooting guide. A validator can confirm valid GeoJSON; it cannot know that a technically valid point is the wrong café.

If the file validates but opens on an empty-looking map, use Zoom to Layer in your GIS application. A point layer spread across several countries can be present but too small to notice at the current view.

Treat the properties as real data

GeoJSON is plain text. Anyone who receives the file can read every property without special software. Remove private notes, home addresses, customer details, or internal labels before sharing it outside the intended group.

For a public web map, make a stripped copy containing only the fields visitors need. Keep the richer original somewhere private. The geometry may be the headline feature, but the properties are where accidental oversharing usually happens.

Export your Google Maps list to GeoJSON →