Convert UPOI to KML

Google Earth and many GIS tools accept KML for viewing or sharing locations, while some iGO navigation systems store user points of interest in UPOI files. Converting the points to KML makes them usable in those mapping workflows.

What the UPOI format is

UPOI is an iGO navigation format for user-defined points of interest, commonly stored in files such as user.upoi. It is a device- or application-specific format, not a general-purpose exchange standard; files with this extension may not all be readable by the same software.

What the KML format is

KML is an XML-based geospatial format for features such as placemarks, paths, and polygons. Google Earth and many GIS applications can display or import it. For POIs, KML can carry coordinates and basic labels or descriptions, making locations easier to inspect and share.

Convert with GPSBabel

GPSBabel can read supported iGO 8 UPOI files and write KML. In its graphical interface, select iGO 8 .upoi as the input format, choose the source file, select Google Earth (Keyhole) Markup Language as the output format, specify the destination file, and start the conversion.

From the command line, use GPSBabel’s igo8 input format identifier:

gpsbabel -i igo8 -f user.upoi -o kml -F user.kml

Replace the filenames with the actual paths. Open the resulting user.kml in Google Earth or another KML-capable application and verify that the expected placemarks and labels appear.

Compatibility and data limits

GPSBabel’s iGO 8 reader may not support every file variant that uses the .upoi extension. If it rejects the file, use the originating navigation software to export the POIs in a format GPSBabel supports, such as GPX, if that export is available. Conversion can preserve coordinates and basic labels, but iGO-specific categories, icons, alert settings, and other navigation metadata may be lost because KML has no direct equivalent for them. Keep the original file if those properties matter.