Import a data layer#

Data gets onto the map one way: you select a file. There is no drag and drop, no paste, and no sample dataset. Each import becomes a new layer under Imports.

Three things open the file picker, and they all do the same job: the upload button on the Imports section header, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+I (Cmd+I on macOS), and the Import data layer command in the command palette.

Which file types work#

The picker filters to a file type called Geo Files. That type covers GeoJSON and JSON, CSV and TSV, shapefiles (either the .shp itself or a .zip that contains one), KML and KMZ, GPX, TopoJSON, and WKT.

A GeoJSON file can be a full feature collection, a single feature, or a bare geometry. Geo Map accepts all three.

You can select more than one file in the dialog, but Geo Map imports only the first. The exception is a shapefile, where it uses the extra files you select to resolve the sidecars.

CSV files need recognisable coordinate columns#

There is no column-mapping step. Geo Map turns a CSV or TSV into points by a match of your header names against a fixed list, so the import only works if your columns carry names it recognises.

For latitude it accepts lat, latitude, y, lat_dd, or latitude_dd. For longitude it accepts lng, lon, long, longitude, x, lng_dd, or longitude_dd. The match ignores case.

If neither pair is present, the import stops and tells you to rename your columns and retry. If the columns are present but a row holds a value that is not a number, or a latitude outside -90 to 90, or a longitude outside -180 to 180, Geo Map drops that row quietly and imports the rest of the file. A file needs a header row and at least one data row.

When an import fails#

A failure raises a notification titled Import failed. When the import came from the Layers panel, the notification carries a Retry button, so you can fix the file and go again without a hunt for the upload button.

The message tells you which of the common problems you hit: an unsupported file extension, a GeoJSON structure that Geo Map could not recognise, coordinate columns that it could not detect, or a file that parsed cleanly but contained no features at all.

Find what you imported#

The map does not move when a layer arrives, so data outside the current view plots where you cannot see it. If the map looks unchanged after an import, open the attribute table and click any row. That selects the feature and flies the map to it.

Note Labels are drawn for at most 500 features per layer. A larger layer still imports and still plots in full; only its labels are capped.

Add an image instead#

Images are a separate kind of import, and they live under Overlays, not Imports. See Image overlays.