﻿ KMZ File Extension - What is it and how to open KMZ format

Opening KMZ files

Have a problem opening a .KMZ file? We collect information about file formats and can explain what KMZ files are. Additionally we recommend software suitable for opening or converting such files.

What is the .KMZ file type?

The .kmz filename extension is related to KML (Keyhole Markup Language) and stands for 'KML, Zipped.' KMZ is not a distinct file format, yet a file type. KMZ is the standard file type for distributing large KML files (>10 KB) or those with bundled and referenced resource files. Such supporting resource files can include images, audio/video files and 3D-modeling data.

A KMZ file is a ZIP archive that contains a single .kml file conventionally named 'doc.kml' at its root, along with optional supporting resource files in a subdirectory(-ies). There must be only one .kml file inside a .kmz archive. All contents of an .kmz archive can be accessed and extracted with any archive manager.


Thanks to data compression, a .kmz file with no resource files is much smaller than an uncompressed .kml file. Being also a container, KMZ is often preferred for placemark information interchange and publishing.

The KMZ file type is directly understood and accepted by those applications that are capable of processing the KML format (Google Earth etc.).

Software to open or convert KMZ files

You can open KMZ files with the following programs:
Google Earth
Google Earth by Google
Adobe Photoshop CC
Adobe Photoshop CC by Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe Photoshop CS6
Adobe Photoshop CS6 by Adobe Systems Incorporated

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