You open Google Earth hoping to see the places you starred in Google Maps, and the globe is blank. No pins, no lists, nothing. Both apps belong to Google and both show you a planet, yet they don't share a single saved place between them.
There's no setting that connects the two, either. Your stars live inside your Google Maps account, and Earth only displays projects and files you hand it directly. What does cross over is a file: a KML file. Earth opens KML natively, every Google Maps list can become one, and the whole trip takes about two minutes.
Why KML is the format that works
KML stands for Keyhole Markup Language. The name is a leftover from Keyhole, the company Google bought to build Earth in the first place, so calling KML "Earth's native format" isn't marketing — Earth was designed around it. Inside the file, each saved place is a placemark with a name and a coordinate, and Earth reads the lot without converting anything.
You might also run into KMZ, which is just a zipped KML that sometimes bundles custom icons. Earth opens both, and you won't need KMZ here.
The catch sits on the Google Maps side: there is no export button anywhere in the Maps interface. No KML option, no download, nothing. That missing button is what the extension stands in for.
Step 1: Install the extension
Install ExportMyMap from the Chrome Web Store, click Add to Chrome, and pin it to your toolbar. It runs in any Chromium browser, so Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Arc all work. If you've already used it to make a share link or a PDF, this is the same tool — you're just picking a different output this time.
Step 2: Open the list you want
Go to Google Maps, check that you're signed into the right account, and open the list you're after: Starred, Want to go, Favorites, or any custom list. The extension reads through your existing Maps session, so there's no second login or permission prompt to click past.
Worth knowing if your list is big: desktop Maps quietly stops showing the Starred list at 200 places, even when you've saved far more. If that's you, start here instead and come back once you've got the full list out.
Step 3: Export it as KML
Click the ExportMyMap icon. A panel opens over the page, loads every list on your account, and waits for you to pick one. Set the format to KML and download. The file lands in your Downloads folder, named after your list. It's generated locally in your browser, so nothing gets uploaded to produce the KML.
Step 4: Open it in Google Earth
The import step sits in a slightly different place depending on which Earth you run.
Google Earth on the web (earth.google.com): open the Projects panel on the left, click New project, then Import KML file from computer, and select your file. Earth turns the globe to your places and drops a pin on each one.
Google Earth Pro (desktop): go to File → Open and pick the .kml file. Your places show up under Temporary Places in the left panel. Drag them into My Places if you want Earth to keep them after you close it.
Either route leaves you with one labeled pin per place. Click a pin and its name appears; if you kept your notes when you exported, they sit in the popup too. From here Earth does the part it's good at: spin the globe, tilt into 3D, switch places on and off, or record a tour that flies from one spot to the next.
What lands on the globe (and what doesn't)
Set your expectations before you open the file. KML is a mapping format, so it carries the things a map needs to draw a point: the name, the coordinates, and your notes if you include them. It leaves out phone numbers, ratings, opening hours, and websites. Earth doesn't use any of that to place a pin, so none of it comes along.
If you want those details as well, export the same list a second time as CSV or Excel and keep the spreadsheet open next to Earth. The map gives you the where; the sheet gives you everything else.
And if Earth ever refuses to open a KML, whether it's yours or one someone emailed you, drop it into our free KML validator. It tells you in plain terms whether the XML is malformed or the geometry is missing, line number and all, instead of Earth just sitting there doing nothing.
A few snags worth knowing
You already have the data in another format. If your places are sitting in a GeoJSON or CSV from somewhere else, skip the re-export and convert the file you have: GeoJSON to KML, CSV to KML, or any of the other converters covering GPX and Excel. Everything runs in the browser with nothing uploaded.
One place is missing. Earth plots coordinates, so a saved entry with no location can't become a pin and gets dropped. It's uncommon, and it comes from how KML works rather than from the export.
You're doing this on a phone. The KML export needs a desktop Chromium browser. Once the file exists, both Earth on the web and Earth Pro open it without a fuss; the mobile Earth apps are pickier about imported KML, so handle this step on a computer.
That's the whole move. Google Maps won't talk to Google Earth, but a KML file will. Export your list, choose KML, open it in Earth, and the places you starred turn into something you can actually fly around.