Plot a CSV on a map

MapGeoData plots a CSV of latitude and longitude straight onto a map in your browser. Drop the file in and the points appear, colored by any column you pick. No account, no install, and no tracking cookies.

Around 86,000 airports, plotted from a lat/long CSV. Open it with your own data →

A spreadsheet is not a map, until it is

Coordinates arrive in spreadsheets constantly: sensor readings, sample sites, store locations, asset registers, survey results, anything exported from a database with a lat and a long column. The data is right there, and seeing it still means either desktop GIS or an account with someone.

MapGeoData plots it directly. Drop the CSV on the map and each row with a usable pair of coordinates becomes a point.

How to map your CSV

  1. Check you have two coordinate columns. Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees is the common case, and the usual column names are recognized automatically.
  2. Drop the file onto the map, or use the Add menu. The delimiter is worked out from the file, so comma, tab, and semicolon files all open.
  3. Color by a column. Pick any numeric column for a continuous ramp, or a text column for categories, and the legend follows.

Every other column comes along as an attribute. Click a point to read its row, or open the data table to sort, filter, and edit.

When the points land in the wrong place

Two things put a CSV somewhere unexpected, and both are common enough to be worth naming.

Latitude and longitude swapped puts your data at right angles to where it should be, usually in an ocean. The fix is to swap the columns, or rename them so the intended pair is obvious.

Projected coordinates are the other. A CSV has nowhere to record a coordinate system, so a file of eastings and northings looks like ordinary numbers, and treating them as degrees puts everything near the middle of the map. MapGeoData spots values outside the lat/long range and offers to assign the right system, with the map as the check: pick a candidate, see where the data lands, keep it if it's right.

What you can do once it's plotted

Runs in your browser

Your CSV is parsed and drawn by code running in your browser, so the file never leaves your machine. There's nothing to install and no account to create. It sets no tracking cookies, and we never sell or share your data.

Frequently asked questions

What do my columns need to be called?

One column named lon, lng, long, longitude, or x, and one named lat, latitude, or y. Capitalization does not matter, but the whole name has to match, so a column called "Latitude (deg)" needs renaming first. If no pair is found, the error lists the columns your file actually has.

Does it handle tab-separated or semicolon files?

Yes. The delimiter is detected from the file, so .tsv and semicolon-separated exports work without being converted first.

How many rows can it handle?

Tens of thousands comfortably, and the sample map on this page is about 86,000 points. Very large files stream in with a running count, and point layers can be switched to a heatmap or hexbin view when individual dots stop being readable.

My coordinates are eastings and northings, not lat/long. Will it work?

A CSV has nowhere to record a coordinate system, so projected values land in the wrong place. MapGeoData notices when the numbers are outside the lat/long range and offers to set the coordinate system, including US State Plane zones and UTM.

Can I turn the CSV into a shapefile?

Yes. Load it, then export as a Shapefile ZIP, GeoJSON, or FlatGeobuf. Nothing is uploaded to do it.

Is it free?

Completely free. No sign-up, no trial, no watermark.