What is a GPX file?

A GPX file is plain XML text. Three top-level element types carry the actual location data: waypoints, tracks, and routes. Everything else — file metadata, vendor extensions, link references — wraps around them.

A waypoint (<wpt>) is a single named point with latitude, longitude, optional elevation, optional timestamp, and optional name and description. Geocaches, summits, parking lots, and trailheads are all common waypoints. The format does not imply movement — a waypoint is just a point.

A track (<trk>) is a recorded path. When a smartwatch or GPS unit logs a run or ride, the result is stored as one or more <trkseg> segments inside one or more <trk> tracks. Each <trkpt> includes coordinates and usually a timestamp; high-end devices add elevation, heart rate, cadence, and temperature inside an <extensions> block.

A route (<rte>) is a planned path — an ordered list of <rtept> waypoints meant for navigation. A planner like Komoot or Ride with GPS produces routes; a recorded ride produces tracks. Some files contain both.

Beyond the three element types, the file's <metadata> block can carry a name, description, author, copyright, link reference, creation time, keywords, and a bounding box (minlat, minlon, maxlat, maxlon). Vendors layer their own data inside <extensions> elements with namespace prefixes — Garmin's TrackPointExtension namespace adds heart rate, cadence, and temperature; other makers add power, depth, or air-quality readings. The schema requires only the root <gpx> element with a version attribute; everything else is optional.

A reasonable mental model: GPX is a container. Strip out everything optional and you are left with a list of points with coordinates; add timestamps and you have a recording; add planning metadata and waypoints and you have a route to follow.

TopoGrafix — a Massachusetts company run by software engineer Dan Foster — published GPX 1.0 in October 2002. The aim was practical: every GPS handheld vendor at the time used its own incompatible binary format, and exchanging routes required vendor-specific cables and software. GPX gave the industry an open XML format anyone could parse with off-the-shelf tools.

Two years later, in August 2004, TopoGrafix released GPX 1.1. The notable addition was the <extensions> element — a structured place for vendor-specific data that did not require modifying the core schema. The 1.1 schema has been the canonical version since.

A GPX 2.0 draft circulated in 2010 with proposals for additional metadata and stricter validation, but TopoGrafix never ratified it and there are no plans to. The format is effectively frozen — and that is a feature: a file written in 2004 still parses cleanly today, and a file written today will still parse in twenty years (assuming XML 1.0 still parses; it is also frozen).

Adoption was rapid. Garmin shipped GPX import and export in BaseCamp and Connect by the late 2000s, Strava launched with GPX export in 2009, and OpenStreetMap adopted GPX as the canonical format for community-uploaded GPS traces. By the mid-2010s every major fitness platform supported it. The format remains stewarded by TopoGrafix, though in practice the schema has not changed in over twenty years.

The two versions look nearly identical. The differences are in how vendor data is stored.

GPX 1.0 (2002) allows extension elements directly inside <trkpt>, mixed with the core schema (TopoGrafix GPX 1.0 manual). A heart rate from a Garmin device appeared as a top-level <heartrate> child of <trkpt>, namespaced with topografix-specific extension URIs. Files validate against the 1.0 schema only if the extension elements are properly namespaced — many writers do not bother, and 1.0 files often fail strict validation.

GPX 1.1 (2004) introduced the <extensions> wrapper element. Vendor data goes inside <extensions> with its own namespace prefix; the core <trkpt> body stays clean. This is why most modern tools write 1.1 — vendor data stays interoperable without breaking the schema for tools that do not recognize it.

Practical implication: a viewer or editor will accept both versions, but a strict validator may reject 1.0 files that mix non-GPX elements without proper namespacing. If you have a choice, write 1.1.

Once you have a GPX file in hand, the file itself is just data. Value comes from what you do with it.

View on a map. Drop the file onto viewmygpx, Gaia GPS, or any other GPX viewer to see the route as a polyline on satellite or terrain tiles. The viewer further down this page renders the polyline plus an elevation profile and a distance summary in a couple of seconds, all in the browser.

Send it to your tracking app. Strava, Garmin Connect, Komoot, AllTrails, and Ride with GPS all accept GPX uploads. The exact path differs per platform — see the platform-specific guides at /open-gpx-in/.

Convert to a different format. Google Maps and Google Earth speak KML and KMZ, not GPX directly — see Open GPX in Google Maps and Open GPX in Google Earth for the conversion paths. Spreadsheet workflows want CSV; web maps usually want GeoJSON. The homepage viewer has Download buttons for KML, KMZ, CSV, and GeoJSON under the file summary; all conversions run in the browser. All four round-trip cleanly because the underlying data is the same — just expressed differently.

Edit the file. Trim the warm-up off a recorded ride, merge two halves of a thru-hike, reverse a route to do it the other direction, or smooth out elevation noise from a barometric altimeter. The GPX editor handles these in the browser.

Push it to a device. Cycling computers, smartwatches, and handheld GPS units load GPX files via cable, manufacturer app, or sometimes an SD card. For the cleanest Garmin path that handles the Course-vs-Activity distinction correctly, see Open GPX in Garmin Connect.

GPX files come from three sources: GPS recording devices, mobile or desktop apps, and route planners that draw new routes from scratch.

GPS devices. A Garmin Edge, Wahoo ELEMNT, Suunto, Coros, or any modern fitness watch records position roughly once per second while moving. When the activity ends, the device saves a track to internal storage. Some units export GPX directly; others use a proprietary format (FIT on Garmin and Wahoo) and convert at upload time.

Mobile and desktop apps. Strava, Komoot, Gaia GPS, AllTrails, Maps.me, and Apple Health all record tracks via the phone's GPS. The app stores activities locally (or on the platform's servers) and offers a GPX export. The export usually appears as a Download GPX button on the activity's web page.

Route planners. Some routes never come from a recording — they are drawn on a map. Komoot, Ride with GPS, BRouter, and Strava's route-builder let you pick a sequence of waypoints, then auto-route the path between them. Save the result as GPX and you have a route to follow rather than a record of where you went.

A fourth, smaller source: conversion. Files originally in KML, KMZ, TCX, or GeoJSON get converted to GPX when a destination platform does not speak the original format. The homepage viewer converts both directions — drop a .gpx, download as KML / KMZ / CSV / GeoJSON; or drop a .kml or .kmz, download as .gpx.

The right way to open a GPX file depends on where you want it to land — viewmygpx in any browser; Gaia GPS, Strava, or Komoot on iOS and Android; Google Earth Pro or Garmin BaseCamp on desktop; Garmin Connect, Strava, AllTrails, or RWGPS for upload to a specific platform.

The full guide covers every destination platform with screenshots and step-by-step instructions: How to open a GPX file.