PDF download Download Article
A step-by-step guide to exploring GIS shapefiles on PC & Mac
PDF download Download Article

SHP files can be an ESRI Shapefile, which contains geographical information like street points, points of interest, and zip code boundaries. If this is the case, you can use Google Earth Pro software to import and open SHP files. This wikiHow will show you how to open SHP files with Google Earth Pro. If you don’t have Google Earth Pro downloaded, you can get the desktop version from https://www.google.com/earth/versions/#earth-pro .

Open a Shapefile (.SHP) on Windows or Mac

You can open an SHP file in the desktop version of Google Earth Pro, which you get for free from google.com/earth/versions. Once installed, go to "File" > "Open" > "Import" and select "ESRI Shape (*.shp)" as the file type. Double-click your SHP file and click "Import All".

  1. Download Google Earth Pro for desktop from https://www.google.com/earth/versions/#earth-pro . Your download should begin automatically once you click “Download”. This works for both Mac and PC.
  2. For Windows users, you can just click on the installed file to start the installer. For Mac users, you have to drag the installed file into the Applications folder to start.
    Advertisement
  3. You should find this in your Start Menu or Applications folder.
  4. You’ll find this in the upper left corner of the main menu toolbar.
  5. Your file browser will open.
    • Under “File of Type,” choose “ESRI Shape (*.shp).”
  6. A window will pop up warning you that more than 2500 features are contained in that file that could cause a performance decrease.
  7. All features in the SHP file will load. If you import a sample, only the first 2500 features will load, and if you choose to restrict to view, only the features in the current view will load.
  8. You will want to create a style template so you can see the difference between rivers and streets.
    • Under the “Name” tab, you can choose the shapefile to use as the name in Google Earth. Use the “Preview” table to see examples of what you selected.
    • Under the “Color” tab, you can assign a color to that shapefile in the previous step.
    • Under the “Height” tab, you can click to select “Clamp to ground,” which means your shapefile feature will stay on the ground on the map.
  9. A dialog box will appear asking if you want to save your template. You can pick to save, which will prompt you further for a file name, or you can skip this.
    • Your SHP file loads into Google Maps and converts to a KML file. You can find your current map under “Temporary Places”, and if you want to save it for later, you can drag and drop the file from “Temporary Places” to “My Places.” [1]
  10. Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
      Advertisement

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
      Advertisement

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Download and install Google Earth Pro for desktop.
      2. Click the File tab.
      3. Click Import .
      4. Double-click your SHP file.
      5. Create a style template.
      6. Click OK .

      Did this summary help you?
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 75,665 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      Advertisement