Extract text from points of interest (POI)
To convert POI points to another format, you need iGO Navigation or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Navigation Point of Interest" file type, you need software like iGO Navigation or a similar tool.
A .POI file stores geographic coordinates and metadata for specific map locations. Users rely on these files to load custom waypoints like speed cameras, gas stations, or hotels into GPS navigation devices. The format is heavily used by iGO Navigation, HERE Maps, and older Magellan devices. In some cases, mapping providers like OpenAndroMaps distribute these files as underlying SQLite databases containing categorized map markers.
The main disadvantage of the .POI format is its proprietary, closed nature. Files are often compiled specifically for a single brand of GPS hardware or navigation app. Standard web browsers and text editors cannot read them. They typically require specialized mapping software or device-specific synchronization tools to open. This closed ecosystem locks your coordinate data inside a specific app and prevents easy sharing.
To make the data universally usable, you need to convert .POI to open standards like GPX (GPS Exchange Format), KML (Google Earth), or CSV (Spreadsheet). Converting to GPX ensures you can import the waypoints into almost any modern smartphone app or routing software. Note that custom device-specific icons, proprietary metadata, or alert sounds associated with the waypoints are usually lost during conversion.
Because this is often a closed, proprietary format, standard online converters usually fail to process it. Often only the original software can properly read or export the data. However, you can just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible using convert.guru. Our analysis can inspect the file, show raw text, and if it detects a supported underlying format like a standard SQLite database, viewing the data or extracting coordinates may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your POI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted GPI, OV2, CSV, GPX, JPG, KML, PDF, JSON, JPEG, DB3, ZIP, XLSX and TXT files.
If you want to convert POI file to GPX, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT or DB, you can use iGO Navigation or similar software from the "GPS Points of Interest Data" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to POI, try iGO Navigation or another comparable tool in the "GPS Points of Interest Data" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our POI converter.