Here is a complete guide on how to edit a GPX file on your Windows 11/10 PC. GPX stands for GPS eXchange Format. A GPX file is a standard GPS data file that is used to store waypoints, routes, and tracks. It is primarily used for generating routes for activities, making a route map for your trips, generating a track for biking or running, and more. Now, if you are looking for a solution to edit a GPX file, this post is for you.
In this post, we are going to discuss multiple methods to modify a GPX file on your Windows 11/10 PC. There are basically three different methods. Let us check out these methods.
How to edit GPX files in Windows 11/10
Here are the methods to edit GPX files on your Windows 11/10 computer:
- Try free software to edit a GPX file.
- Use a free online GPX editor to modify a GPX file.
- Edit a GPX file in Notepad++.
1] Try free software to edit a GPX file
You can try a desktop application that lets you edit a GPX file on your PC. There are many free ones that you can use. Here are the free software that you can use to make modifications to a GPX file:
- GPX Editor
- GPSPrune
- RouteConverter
- Garmin Basecamp
- GPS Track Editor
A) GPX Editor
As the name suggests, GPX Editor is a dedicated software that lets you edit GPX files on Windows 11/10. The good thing is that it is a portable application. So, you can download its setup and use it on the go.
You can simply open a GPX file in it and then start editing the routes, tracks, and waypoints as per your requirements. Besides GPX, this software can also be used to edit KML, NMEA, NGT, and LOG files. It provides a lot of editing tools. Some of these tools include Create route from waypoints, Merge All Tracks, Shift altitude, Cut Track, Remove Empty Tracks, Anonymize time, and more. Let us check out the steps to edit a GPX file through it.
How to edit GPX files using GPX Editor?
Here are the main steps to modify or manipulate GPX data using GPX Editor:
- Download GPX Editor.
- Launch it.
- Open a GPX file.
- View and edit GPS data using available tools.
- Save the edited GPX file.
Firstly, you need to download this free software. After that, you can directly run its setup file as it is a portable software that doesn’t require any installation.
Now, open the source GPX file using the File > Open GPX option. As you open the file, you can view the waypoints consist in it. It contains three different tabs to visualize the GPS data including Preview, Point List (all waypoints), and Map. You can edit the waypoints’ details by going to the Point List tab. Just double-click on a waypoint and then edit respective details such as Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, Time, Name, Description, Symbol, etc.
Some advanced details like Source, Link, Satellites, Fix, HDOP, VDOP, PDOP, and more can also be modified. You can delete a waypoint from the route if you want. Also, to add new waypoints to the route, you can duplicate a waypoint and then modify it to make a completely new waypoint. Furthermore, it lets you reverse waypoints, remove duplicate waypoints, move a track segment to a new track, and do much more.
Once you are done editing the GPX file data, you can save it in its native format using the File > Save GPX option. You can even save the edited GPX file in some other format like KML, CSV, or HTML.
All in all, it is a great free portable GPX editor that you can download from sourceforge.net.
B) GPSPrune
GPSPrune is a free portable GPX file editor software for Windows 11/10. It lets you open, view, and edit GPX as well as other GPS data files e.g., TXT, KML, and KMZ. It is very easy to use. You can also visualize and analyze the GPS data using it.
How to edit GPX files in GPSPrune?
Try the below steps to edit GPX files in GPSPrune:
- Download GPSPrune.
- Launch GPSPrune.
- Import a GPX file.
- Modify the file.
- Save the file.
To start with, download the software and then launch it. After that, import a GPX file using the File > Open File option. It will show you the geographical data on the map that you can edit as per your requirements. It shows a number of waypoints and respective point details in side panels.
In order to edit a waypoint, select the point from the map and then go to the Point menu. You can now select the Edit Point option to modify GPS data including coordinates, altitude, name, time, segment, description, and type. There are some more handy options in the Point menu that you can use such as add new points, delete points, find waypoints, duplicate points, truncate coordinates, enter point coordinates, enter plus code, and more.
You can also use features like Compress Track, Sew Track Segments Together, Mark Uphill Lifts, Rearrange waypoints, and more to edit a GPX file. It even allows you to add photos and audio clips to your GPX file. You can use Google Earth, Mapquest, Openstreetmap, etc. to visualize GPS data on a map in a browser.
When you are done editing the GPX file, you can save it in its original format. Or, you can even convert it to some other format like KML, POV, SVG, GPX, and TXT.
To use it, you can download it from activityworkshop.net.
C) RouteConverter
RouteConverter is another free GPF file editor for Windows 11/10. It is a dedicated software to convert route data from one file to another. Using it, you can also modify GPX and other GPS data files. Some of the supported input file formats in it are TRK, CSV, KML, RTE, LOG, ASC, etc.
It lets you edit waypoints in the source GPX file. You can add new waypoints, delete existing waypoints, delete duplicate waypoints, or reorder the waypoints. It also lets you modify details of existing waypoints including longitude, latitude, and elevation. Some more features to merge routes from waypoints, split a GPX file, add another GPX file to the current one, and more are also available in it. You can save the edited file in GPX format or some other supported output format.
You can find some handy options in it like Find Place (locate a place on the map with coordinates), Complete (auto-complete points’ details), etc. Overall, it is a good software to edit GPX and other route data files. Additionally, it comes in a portable package that you can run on the go.
D) Garmin Basecamp
Garmin Basecamp is free advanced software that lets you plan and manage routes and trips. It lets you create or edit GPX files. You can also work on other GPS data files in it such as KML, KMZ, LOC, TCX, and more.
To begin with, you can import the source GPX files using its File > Import option. It will show you the consisting GPS data on the map that you can easily edit. You can visualize the points’ lists, tracks, and routes on the global map.
You can easily select a waypoint and then modify the respective information. These details can be name, coordinates, elevation, depth, symbol, proximity, temperature, contact, notes (file link, weblink), categories, references, etc. You can also insert new waypoints to the route as per your requirements. For that, go to the Tools menu and locate a new waypoint on the map to add it to the route. Besides that, you can even remove existing waypoints and generate new routes and tracks. It also allows you to choose multiple waypoints and create a new route using them.
There are many more nice useful tools available in this software. You can search for a specific location on the global map and then insert it as a waypoint. You can also find some more features in it that include Create Adventures, Find Addresses, Find places on Yelp, Find Points of Interest, Find Points of Interest, Trip Planner, etc. These tools help you modify or create GPX files according to your requirements.
To save the edited GPX file, go to the File menu and use the Export option. Using this option, you can also convert GPX to CSV and TCX formats.
If you want to use this advanced GPX editor software, visit the garmin.com website and download your free copy.
E) Viking GPS data editor and analyzer
The next software that you can use to edit GPX files is Viking GPS data editor and analyzer. It is a free and open-source GPS file editor that allows you to manipulate GPX and other files. You can also edit KML and TCX files using it. It basically allows you to create tracks, routes, and waypoints and save them in GPS data files.
You can find various easy-to-use route data editing options in it. Some of these options include Create Waypoint, Edit Track, Edit Route, Route Finder, Splitter, Edit Waypoint, and more. You can access these and more editing options from the Tools menu.
It provides a Layers menu using which you can insert new Aggregate, Trackwaypoint, Coordinate, GeoRef Map, GPS, Map, and DEM layers to your file. You can edit waypoint details, insert new waypoints, remove existing waypoints, etc. In it, you can also find a nice feature of geotagging an image using a waypoint. You can save the modified version of your GPX file. Or, you can export it to KML or TCX file format.
You can get it here.
Read: How to edit KML Files in Windows 11/10?
2] Use a free online GPX editor to modify a GPX file
Another method that you can try to modify GPX files is to use an online dedicated tool. There are some free online GPX editors available on the web. In this post, we are going to discuss one free web service. You can use this free online tool called gpx.studio to modify GPX files.
gpx.studio is a free online tool specially designed to edit an existing GPX file or create a new GPX file. It provides all essential features that will help you edit GPX files online.
How to edit GPX files online?
Here are the main steps to edit GPX files online using gpx.studio:
- Go to gpx.studio in your web browser.
- Load a GPX file.
- Edit or add waypoints.
- Use available tools to make more modifications.
- Save the edited GPX file.
Let us elaborate on the above steps now.
Firstly, open the gpx.studio website in a web browser. After that, click on the Load GPX option to import the source GPX file from your PC. You can even upload the input GPX file from your Google Drive. It will display the route and waypoints on the map.
You can now start adding new waypoints or modify the details of existing waypoints. There is a side panel where you can find all the route editing features. You can find options like Edit track points, Edit time, Add waypoint, Duplicate, Reverse, etc. To edit a waypoint, select it on the map and then press the edit button. After that, you can modify some common information about the waypoint like name, description, symbol, etc.
There is a feature called Merge with another trace. Using this feature, you can merge another trace to the current trace as track points, track segments, or tracks. Another handy feature worth mentioning is Reduce number of track points. This feature allows you to shorten the track by reducing the number of track points as per your requirement. Besides that, you can show your current location on the map, toggle between Open Mapillary and Google Street View, and add or manage layers.
When you are done editing the GPX file, click on the Export button. Then, customize export settings including merge all traces, time, surface, heart rate, cadence, temperature, power, etc., and press the Download button. You can even save your GPX file directly to your Google Drive.
It is a great online tool to generate or manipulate GPX files. You can try it here.
See: How to convert GPX to Excel, CSV in Windows 11/10?
3] Edit a GPX file in Notepad++
Yes, you can edit GPX files using Notepad++. This method might be surprising to you, but you can use this source code editor to modify GPX files. As a GPX file is basically an XML schema consisting of GPS data, you can edit it in Notepad++. You can make basic editing to a GPX file using Notepad++. let us check out how.
How to edit GPX files using Notepad++?
First of all, just open a GPX file that you want to edit. It will show the GPS data in the form of XML code. You can view the GPX file version and other data. It displays the code for each waypoint enclosed with the <wpt> tag in different lines.
You can simply edit the value for different details manually. For example, if you want to edit the latitude and longitude of a waypoint, simply edit the value for lat and lon. Similarly, you can edit other details like altitude, timestamp, description, etc.
If you want to remove a waypoint, remove the respective line from the code. Apart from that, to add a new waypoint, copy and paste a waypoint code line and then edit the respective details accordingly. Likewise, you can also reorder the waypoints.
Once done, go to the File menu and click on the Save as option. Now, in the Save As dialog, set the Save as type to All types and then enter the output filename with the .gpx file extension. Finally, press the Save button to export the edited version of the GPX file.
Related: Convert FIT to GPX using these free software and online tools.
What is the best GPX editor?
There are multiple GPX editor software that are good at editing GPX files. If you are looking for a free GPX editor, one of the best alternatives is GPX Editor. It is a free desktop application that allows you to create or edit GPX files. You can find some really good editing features in it such as inserting new waypoints using the map, reversing the order of waypoints, deleting duplicate waypoints, moving a track segment to a new track, merging all tracks, shifting altitude, and many more. You can also try RouteConverter or Garmin Basecamp.
We have shared a complete list of free GPX editors that you can check out in this post.
What software opens GPX files?
To open and view GPX files, you can use a free desktop application. Some free software that lets you open and view GPX files are Garmin BaseCamp, EasyGPS, and GPXSee. You can also use a free online GPX file viewer to visualize GPS data in your web browser. For example, use GPS Visualizer to open and view GPX files online.
That’s it.
