Extract text from Geospatial vector files (SHP)
To convert SHP Shapefiles to another format, you need ArcGIS Pro or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Vector Data Format" file type, you need software like ArcGIS Pro or a similar tool.
The .SHP file extension represents a Shapefile, a widely used geospatial vector data format originally developed by Esri for Geographic Information System (GIS) software. It stores non-topological geometry and spatial features such as points, lines, and polygons to map physical locations and boundaries.
You can open and edit .SHP files using enterprise software like ArcGIS Pro, or free, open-source alternatives such as QGIS. These applications allow you to overlay the spatial data onto base maps and run complex geographical analyses.
Working with .SHP files poses severe real-world limitations. First, it is a multi-file format; a single .shp file is completely useless without its accompanying shx (index) and dbf (attribute database) files. The format relies on legacy dBase technology, which strictly limits field names to 10 characters and caps file sizes at 2GB. Additionally, it lacks native support for complex topological relationships and modern web rendering, making it cumbersome for web developers.
To overcome these hurdles, users frequently convert .SHP files to GeoJSON for seamless web mapping, KML for visualization in Google Earth, or GPKG (GeoPackage) for a modern, single-file SQLite database solution.
Because .SHP is technically a complex binary format dependent on sidecar files, it is notoriously difficult to process with standard online converters. Many fail outright when missing the .dbf file. If our analysis detects the required data, conversion to modern formats like GeoJSON or KML may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SHP file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted SHX, ZIP, DBF, CPG, PRJ, KML, SBN, XML, GIS, SBX, KMZ, SHB and RAR files.
If you want to convert SHP file to KML, KMZ, DWG, GEOJSON, GPX, CSV, DXF, JSON, PDF, OBJ, FBX or DAE, you can use ArcGIS Pro or similar software from the "Geospatial vector data storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DWG, DAE, X3D, IGES, WRL, JT, SKP, 3DS, 3DM, OBJ, STEP or FBX files to SHP, try ArcGIS Pro or another comparable tool in the "Geospatial vector data storage" 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 SHP converter.