Coordinates tell you where a place is. Your note often explains why it mattered.
“Order the mushroom dish.”
“Gate is behind the petrol station.”
“Call Marta before visiting.”
“Closed on Mondays despite what the listing says.”
Losing that text can make a technically successful migration almost useless. A hundred pins arrive in the new app, but the decisions you attached to them do not.
The safe approach is to separate two goals:
- keep a complete archive in a format where the note is an explicit field;
- create a second file suited to the destination app.
One file rarely does both jobs equally well.
If the source also contains repeated or obsolete entries, preserve the untouched archive first and then follow the duplicate and permanently closed place cleanup. Notes are often the evidence that tells two similar-looking records apart.
First: notes are not reviews
A Google Maps list note is text you added to a saved place. It is not the business description, a public review, a rating, or somebody else's comment.
ExportMyMap includes the personal note that Google supplies with the list entry. It does not copy public review text into that field. If a place has no personal note, an empty note in the export is normal.
Where ExportMyMap puts the note
Turn on Include notes before exporting. The destination depends on the format:
| Format | Where the note goes | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| CSV | A final note column | Portable spreadsheet and data cleanup |
| Excel | A wrapped note column | Human review and long-term archive |
| JSON | The note property | Complete structured backup |
| GeoJSON | The note property of each feature | GIS and web maps |
| KML | The Placemark description | Bookmark-oriented map apps |
| GPX | The waypoint description, after the address | GPS and outdoor apps |
| PDF / Print | Visible text on the place card | Reading and sharing |
This table describes the file ExportMyMap creates. It does not promise that every app will display every field.
The strongest archive: Excel or JSON
Use Excel when a person will read, sort, or edit the archive. The note has its own named column, wraps inside the cell, and stays beside the place name, address, coordinates, Maps URL, and other available details.
CSV carries the same idea in plain text and is easier to import into databases. Be careful when opening it in spreadsheet software: multiline notes, commas, and quotation marks are valid CSV content. Import the file as UTF-8 rather than splitting it manually.
JSON is the most faithful structured backup. It keeps the note as a named property alongside the rest of the place object. A non-technical user may prefer Excel, but JSON is useful when the data will later feed a script or application.
The Excel and Google Sheets guide is the practical choice for reviewing a large list.
KML: good for bookmark apps, less certain for notes
In KML, each place becomes a Placemark. ExportMyMap writes the personal note into its description element.
That is standard, readable KML, but map apps treat descriptions differently. One app may show the note prominently below the bookmark name. Another may hide it behind a details screen. A third may import the point and discard the description.
Use KML for moves to MAPS.ME, Organic Maps, Google Earth, or My Maps, but do not make KML your only note archive.
GPX: address and note share the description
An ExportMyMap GPX waypoint contains the place name and coordinates. Its description contains the address and, when enabled, a labelled personal note. A Google Maps link is added separately when available.
This works well for apps that respect waypoint descriptions, including many outdoor and GPS tools. It is still destination-dependent. Garmin, for example, documents import restrictions around waypoints with attached notes in some Explore workflows.
For Locus Map and Gaia GPS, test a small GPX first. The note may be present in the file even when the app puts it somewhere unexpected.
PDF and Print: preserve meaning, not structure
A PDF is a good answer when somebody needs to read the notes rather than import them. Each selected place can show its note beside the address and other useful details.
PDF is not a round-trip data format. Extracting hundreds of notes back out later is awkward. Keep Excel or JSON too.
The PDF and Print guide explains the difference between a downloadable PDF and the browser's print flow.
Step-by-step: make an archive that you can trust
1. Open the correct list
Use Google Maps on a computer in Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Arc. Go to Saved and open the list that actually contains the notes.
The same place can appear in more than one list with different context. A note attached in one list should not be assumed to exist everywhere else.
2. Scan with ExportMyMap
Install the ExportMyMap extension, choose the list, and wait for the full scan.
Look at several entries that you know have notes. If they are absent before export, changing the file format will not bring them back. Confirm that you opened the correct account and list.
3. Confirm Include notes
The Include notes switch controls whether the user-note field is written into the chosen output. Leave it on for the archival copy.
Turn it off deliberately when sharing a public or client-facing file. Notes often contain opinions, private addresses, access codes, phone numbers, or internal instructions that were never intended for another person.
4. Download an archival format
Choose Excel for ordinary review or JSON for a structured technical backup. Give the file a date:
berlin-suppliers-with-notes-2026-07-16.xlsx
A dated archive makes later comparisons possible and prevents “final-new-2.xlsx” from becoming the only surviving record.
5. Create the destination file
Download KML for a bookmark-oriented map app, GPX for a waypoint-oriented GPS app, or PDF for a human reader. Keep the same selection so the archive and migration file describe the same places.
6. Inspect three difficult notes
Check more than “Great coffee.” Use:
- a multiline note;
- punctuation and quotation marks;
- an accented or non-Latin character;
- a long note;
- a note that includes a URL.
Open Excel or JSON and confirm that the text is complete. Then import the small map file and find the same places in the destination.
When notes disappear
They are missing from every exported format. Return to the source list and verify that Google Maps shows them under the same account. The extension cannot export text Google did not provide.
They are in Excel but not KML or GPX. Confirm that Include notes was still enabled for the second download. Each export uses the current switch state.
They are in the KML or GPX source but not the app. The importer ignored or hid the description. Search the destination's waypoint details and documentation. Do not repeatedly reconvert the same file and hope the field returns.
Line breaks look odd. The text survived but the destination normalized whitespace. Compare the words, not the visual layout.
Only some notes are truncated. The receiving app may have a description-length limit. Keep the full archive and shorten only the operational copy.
Privacy is part of preservation
Preserving a note and publishing it are different decisions. Before sending a file, search the note column for:
- door codes and alarm instructions;
- home or customer addresses;
- phone numbers and names;
- medical or accessibility information;
- internal pricing comments;
- opinions that should remain private.
For a public map, make a new export with notes disabled. Do not delete them from your only archive merely to produce a safe sharing copy.
A two-file habit prevents most losses
The durable pair is simple:
- Excel or JSON for the complete record;
- KML, GPX, or PDF for the immediate task.
If the destination changes, you still have the context. If an app drops descriptions, you can rebuild. If a colleague needs a table instead of a map, the work is already done.