File Conversion
Convert CSV to SHP online
Convert CSV — plain spreadsheet rows of latitude/longitude you can open in Excel or Google Sheets — into Esri Shapefile, which is the Esri format used by ArcGIS and QGIS — really a set of files (.shp, .dbf, .prj, …) bundled in a .zip. Drop your CSV file below, SHP is already selected as the output, and download the result. Everything runs in your browser and the cloud; you never install anything.
CSV uploads are temporarily offline while we rebuild coordinate-column detection. Converting to CSV works normally — check back soon.
Upload your file
Drag and drop it into the converter below — no account needed to start.
Convert in the cloud
MapGO detects the format and produces your download in seconds.
Download & keep it
Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours.
Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours. Your files are never shared.
Why convert CSV to SHP with MapGO?
Most online converters take one file and hand back one file. MapGO is built on a real geospatial engine, so a single upload can do more:
- Several outputs in one upload — tick SHP and any other formats you need; every selected format is delivered from the same file.
- Files up to 5 GB — far beyond the browser-based converters that choke past a few hundred megabytes.
- Reproject while you convert — set a source and target EPSG code and the coordinate system is changed during the conversion, no second tool needed.
- Private by default — files are deleted automatically after 48 hours.
CSV vs SHP at a glance
| CSV | SHP | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical use | Spreadsheets and data analysis — Excel, Google Sheets, pandas | Desktop GIS in ArcGIS/QGIS; the long-time industry exchange format |
| Size on disk | Small for point data; geometry beyond points stored as WKT text | Large — several sidecar files, no compression, 2 GB per-file cap |
| Attribute support | Flat columns only — no nesting; readers guess the types | Limited: column names max 10 characters, no lists or nesting |
| Software support | Opens everywhere, including every non-GIS tool | Universal in GIS software; web libraries can’t read it directly |
| Web-friendliness | Fine for point data; not a real geometry format | Poor — must be converted before use in a web map |
Other ways to convert CSV to SHP
You don't need an online tool for this. If you have GDAL installed, one command does it:
ogr2ogr -f "ESRI Shapefile" output.shp input.csvIn QGIS (free): open your CSV via Layer → Add Layer, then right-click the layer → Export → Save Features As… and pick SHP as the format.
The MapGO converter above is for when you don't want to install anything, need to convert to several formats at once, or are handling files too large for a desktop machine — drop the file and download the result.
CSV to SHP: frequently asked questions
Is the CSV to SHP converter free?
Yes — new accounts get free conversion credits to start, and every paid plan converts unlimited files within its size limit. There is nothing to install; the whole CSV-to-SHP conversion runs in the cloud.
Is my data kept private?
Conversion is fully automated and your file is never shared. Files are deleted automatically after 48 hours. Download your SHP result and it's yours to keep.
What will the shapefile download look like?
Because a shapefile is made of several files, your result is delivered as a single .zip containing the .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj — ready to open in ArcGIS or QGIS.
How should my CSV be structured for conversion?
One row per feature with dedicated latitude and longitude columns (decimal degrees) is the classic layout. Clear column headers help the importer detect the coordinates automatically.
Why did my column names change in the shapefile output?
Shapefiles store attributes in a .dbf table that caps field names at 10 characters, so longer names are truncated during conversion — the same thing ArcGIS and QGIS do when saving a shapefile. If you need long field names, GeoPackage is the better target format.
Can I convert SHP back to CSV?
Yes — use our SHP to CSV converter for the reverse direction. MapGO supports conversions in both directions between these formats.