Free online GDB.ZIP to GPKG converter

A .gdb.zip file usually contains an Esri File Geodatabase, while many GIS applications use GeoPackage for editing, exchange, or offline storage. Converting it produces a .gpkg database that can hold the geodatabase’s vector layers in one portable file.

What the GDB.ZIP format is

.gdb.zip is a ZIP archive containing a File Geodatabase directory, normally named with the .gdb extension. The directory may contain feature classes, tables, spatial indexes, coordinate-system definitions, relationship information, and other Esri geodatabase metadata.

ArcGIS commonly creates File Geodatabases, and GIS data portals often distribute them as ZIP archives because a File Geodatabase consists of many files rather than one file. The archive must be extracted before most conversion tools can read it.

What the GPKG format is

GeoPackage is an SQLite-based open geospatial container standardized by the Open Geospatial Consortium. A single .gpkg file can store multiple feature layers, nonspatial tables, spatial indexes, coordinate reference systems, and raster tile data.

GeoPackage is supported by QGIS, GDAL, GRASS GIS, ArcGIS Pro, mobile GIS applications, and many data-processing libraries. It is useful when you need one portable file instead of a directory-based geodatabase or want an open format for editing and distribution.

How to actually convert GDB.ZIP to GPKG

Using QGIS

1. Extract data.gdb.zip with your operating system’s archive utility. Keep the complete extracted .gdb directory intact.
2. Open QGIS and select Layer → Add Layer → Add Vector Layer.
3. Choose the extracted .gdb directory as the data source, then add the required feature classes. QGIS may show each layer separately.
4. For each layer, right-click it in the Layers panel and select Export → Save Features As….
5. Set Format to GeoPackage, select an output filename such as converted.gpkg, enter a layer name, and choose the source coordinate reference system unless reprojection is required.
6. Repeat the export for additional layers, selecting the existing GeoPackage and using a different layer name. Enable Add saved file to map if you want to verify the result.

For larger geodatabases, use QGIS’s batch processing tools or the GDAL command line instead of exporting layers one at a time.

Using GDAL

Install a GDAL build with the OpenFileGDB driver, then extract the archive:

unzip data.gdb.zip -d extracted

List the layers in the extracted geodatabase:

ogrinfo extracted/data.gdb

Convert all readable vector layers into one GeoPackage:

ogr2ogr -f GPKG converted.gpkg extracted/data.gdb

Convert only one layer by supplying its layer name:

ogr2ogr -f GPKG converted.gpkg extracted/data.gdb layer_name

To reproject during conversion, add a target CRS, for example WGS 84:

ogr2ogr -f GPKG converted.gpkg extracted/data.gdb -t_srs EPSG:4326

On Windows, use a GDAL or OSGeo4W terminal and replace the paths with quoted Windows paths when they contain spaces. You can also use the built-in converter on 101convert.com for a free conversion without installing software; upload the ZIP, select GPKG as the output, and download the generated file.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

Check the converted GeoPackage in QGIS or another GIS application after conversion. Verify layer count, feature count, geometry type, coordinate reference system, attribute names, null values, and date fields.

Feature geometry and ordinary attributes generally transfer, but File Geodatabase-specific behavior may not. Relationship classes, subtypes, coded-value domains, attachments, topology rules, network datasets, annotation, versioning, and some raster or enterprise-geodatabase features may be omitted or flattened.

Use distinct output layer names when several source layers have similar names. If the destination file already contains a layer with the same name, GDAL may fail unless you specify an overwrite or append strategy; avoid overwriting until the first conversion has been checked.

Preserve the original .gdb.zip as the source archive. GeoPackage is a different data model, so it should not be treated as a lossless replacement for every Esri geodatabase capability.