Google My Maps can export a CSV, but only after you open the correct three-dot menu. Open the map-level menu and you get KML/KMZ. Open a layer's menu and you get CSV. Same screen, different menu, completely different file.
That small interface detail explains most of the contradictory instructions online.
There are two sensible workflows:
- export one layer directly to CSV;
- export the whole map to KML, then convert it to CSV or Excel.
Before starting, make sure you are actually using Google My Maps, the custom-map editor with layers and drawing tools. A list under Saved in ordinary Google Maps is a different product. For that, use the guide to export Google Maps saved places to Excel or Google Sheets.
Method 1: Export one My Maps layer directly to CSV
This is the cleanest route when everything you need sits in a single layer.
- Open your custom map in My Maps.
- Make sure you are in edit mode and can see the layer panel on the left.
- Find the layer you want and click its three-dot menu.
- Choose Export data.
- Select CSV and download the file.
The wording may shift slightly as Google changes the interface, but Google's current My Maps export documentation still separates layer-level CSV from whole-map KML/KMZ.
Open the CSV in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, or Apple Numbers. If Excel puts the entire row into one column, import the file through Data → From Text/CSV and let Excel detect the delimiter and UTF-8 encoding instead of double-clicking it.
What the direct CSV usually contains
The first columns depend on how the layer was created. Expect the place name and the data columns attached to each feature, plus geometry-related fields Google includes in the export. A layer originally imported from a spreadsheet often comes back looking much like that spreadsheet; a hand-drawn layer can be less tidy.
Check the header row before building formulas around it. My Maps allows custom column names, so there is no universal promise that the first field will always be called Name or Address.
Method 2: Export the complete map and convert it
A map can contain several layers: customers, warehouses, sales territories, driving lines, and notes. A whole-map KML/KMZ export gives you one source file and can be convenient when you want a single flat table. It comes with an important trade-off: the current conversion flattens the folder structure and does not retain My Maps layer names. If layer membership matters, use Method 1 for each layer instead.
- Open the map-level three-dot menu next to the map title.
- Choose Export to KML/KMZ.
- Select the entire map rather than one layer.
- If My Maps offers the option to export as KML instead of KMZ, use it.
- Download the file.
KML is a plain XML file. KMZ is a ZIP archive that contains KML and may also contain icons or images. If you receive a .kmz file, make a copy, change the copy's extension from .kmz to .zip, extract it with your operating system's archive tool, and look for a file such as doc.kml inside. Keep the original .kmz untouched.
Then open either the KML-to-CSV converter or the KML-to-Excel converter. Drop in the .kml file, run the conversion, and download the result. The conversion happens in your browser; the map file is not uploaded to a server.
Use CSV when another system asks for a plain text table. Use Excel when people will review the data in a workbook and benefit from a real .xlsx file.
What happens to layers?
The KML file keeps My Maps folders, but the current KML-to-CSV and KML-to-Excel conversion turns the placemarks into one flat collection. Folder and layer names are not carried into a column. Once the rows are combined, there is no reliable way to reconstruct their original layers unless the layers already used distinct custom fields.
Those custom fields do survive. If one layer has Cuisine and another has Rooms, the spreadsheet contains both columns, with blank cells where a field did not apply. That preserves the placemark data, but it is not a dependable layer label.
If the boundaries matter, export each layer directly to CSV, give the files clear names, and either keep them separate or add your own Layer column before combining them. Use the whole-map route when one flat table is acceptable or when you want a single KML archive alongside the spreadsheet.
Points work better than lines and polygons
A point fits naturally in a spreadsheet: one row, one latitude, one longitude. Lines and polygons do not. A delivery route may contain hundreds of coordinate pairs, and a territory boundary must return to its starting point. Two coordinate cells cannot describe either shape faithfully.
The ExportMyMap converter places a representative coordinate into the flat CSV or Excel row for non-point geometry. That can help with a rough index or preview, but it is not a reversible copy of the shape.
Keep the original KML whenever the map contains:
- routes or paths you need to draw again;
- neighborhood, property, or sales-area polygons;
- custom icons or image overlays;
- styling that distinguishes one geometry from another.
Use the spreadsheet for attributes and review; use KML or GeoJSON for geometry. If another map rejects the original file, the KML validator can check its XML, placemarks, and coordinate structure before you start converting it repeatedly.
Clean up the spreadsheet without losing the map
Once the file is open, make a few defensive edits:
- Save a copy before changing anything.
- Freeze the header row and turn on filters.
- Format postal codes, phone numbers, and IDs as text so leading zeroes survive.
- Check whether commas or semicolons inside descriptions were imported correctly.
- Sort only after selecting the whole table, not one column.
- Keep latitude and longitude as numbers with enough decimal places.
If you plan to send the data back into My Maps, Google accepts spreadsheets as imports, but an imported layer is not a live sync. Google's My Maps import guide documents the supported formats and current upload limits. Always test with a copy of the map before replacing a layer people rely on.
Common problems
There is no Export data option. You probably opened the map-level menu, are viewing rather than editing, or do not have permission to edit the map. Direct CSV belongs to the layer menu.
The CSV contains only one layer. The layer-level command intentionally exports one layer. Repeat it for the others, and add a Layer column to each file before combining them if you need to keep that distinction.
My download is KMZ, not KML. KMZ is an archive. Extract the .kml file inside before dropping it into a KML converter.
The layer names disappeared. Whole-map conversion flattens KML folders. Export the layers separately if their membership must survive in Excel or CSV.
The Excel rows have blank columns. Layers with different schemas share one combined table after conversion. A blank cell means that feature never had that field.
A route became one point. The table contains a representative position, not the complete line. Return to the original KML for any geometry work.
Moving in the opposite direction? The guide to importing Google Maps saved places into Google My Maps starts with a saved list and builds a My Maps layer. The names are similar, but keeping the two Google products separate will save you a great deal of clicking in the wrong menu.