Free online SHP.ZIP to GEOJSON converter

Source format

SHP.ZIP usually refers to a ZIP archive containing an ESRI Shapefile dataset. A shapefile is one of the most widely used GIS vector formats and is common in mapping, surveying, urban planning, environmental analysis, and other geospatial workflows. The archive typically bundles several related files together, such as .shp for geometry, .shx for shape indexing, .dbf for attribute data, and often .prj for coordinate reference system information. Because these files belong together, they are often distributed as a single .zip package.

Target format

GeoJSON is a text-based geospatial format based on JSON. It is widely used in web mapping, GIS applications, APIs, and data exchange because it is easy to inspect, parse, and integrate with JavaScript and modern software stacks. GeoJSON stores geometry and feature properties in a single file, making it convenient for sharing and lightweight processing. Its main advantages are simplicity, broad software support, and strong compatibility with web-based mapping tools.

How to perform the conversion

The most reliable way to convert shp.zip to geojson is to first make sure the ZIP archive contains a complete shapefile set, then use GIS software or command-line tools that understand shapefiles.

Option 1: QGIS

1. Open QGIS.
2. Use Layer → Add Layer → Add Vector Layer and select the .zip archive if QGIS recognizes it directly, or extract the archive first and open the .shp file.
3. Right-click the loaded layer in the Layers panel.
4. Choose Export → Save Features As....
5. Set Format to GeoJSON.
6. Choose the output filename, for example output.geojson.
7. Confirm the correct CRS if needed, then click OK.

Option 2: GDAL/OGR command line

If you have GDAL installed, use ogr2ogr for a fast and dependable conversion:

ogr2ogr -f GeoJSON output.geojson input.shp

If your source is a ZIP archive, many GDAL builds can read it directly with the virtual file syntax, for example:

ogr2ogr -f GeoJSON output.geojson /vsizip/input.shp.zip

If direct ZIP reading is not supported in your setup, extract the archive first and convert the .shp file from the extracted folder.

Option 3: 101convert.com online conversion

You can also convert the file on 101convert.com for free without installing any software. Upload the shp.zip file, choose GeoJSON as the output format, and download the converted file when it is ready.

Notes on quality, compatibility, or limitations

Attribute preservation is usually good, but the result depends on the source shapefile’s encoding and field structure. Shapefiles store attributes in .dbf, which has older field-name and field-length limitations; those limitations carry over into the GeoJSON output because the source data is already constrained.

Coordinate reference system handling is important. GeoJSON is commonly used in WGS 84 longitude/latitude coordinates, but some tools will export coordinates in the source CRS unless you explicitly reproject. If your shapefile is not already in WGS 84, consider reprojecting during export for best web compatibility.

Multipart geometries, polygons, lines, and points are generally preserved well, but very large datasets can produce large GeoJSON files. Since GeoJSON is plain text, file sizes are often much bigger than shapefiles, and performance may be slower in browsers or lightweight apps.

Missing shapefile components can cause conversion failures. Make sure the ZIP archive includes at least the core shapefile files and that they share the same base filename. If the archive is incomplete, the conversion may lose geometry or attributes.