Tools & Resources

Bookmarklet: Make Google Earth KML File from Google Maps

Google Maps has such a good interface, it’s easy to find stuff in there. But, what if you want to save that information over to Google Earth?

Well, it turns out that if you add the parameters “&output=kml” to the very end of a Google Maps URL, it will generate a KML file that works in Google Earth and other various programs like it.

Follow these step-by-step instructions:

• Get the map in Google Maps looking just like you want it.
• Click the “Link To This Page” link in the upper right of the map.
• When the page re-loads, the crazy long text in the URL bar is what you need to edit.
• Click into your URL bar (location bar, click “end” or go to the end of the string.
• Add “&output=kml” (without quotes) to the link and hit ENTER.
• Your browser will open a KML file for you to open or download.

If you want, you can use this simple Bookmarklet called KML Maker to automatically append the output=kml string to the correct URL:

URL of the bookmarklet: javascript:void(d=document);location.href=location.href+’&output=kml’;

Click here to download Google Earth and other cool Google Software

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Tags: Cool Tools & Apps, Software, Web/Tech