You can create customized map projects and stories about places around the world
with text, photos, and videos. You can also share your map projects and stories
with others to collaborate.

Anyone with a Google Account can create projects. If you don't have an account,
you can [sign up for
one](http://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/webcreateaccount?continue=https://accounts.google.com/ManageAccount&flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=SignUp).

## Compare data types

Google Earth offers different ways to work with your geospatial data, each with
unique capabilities:

- **Map features:** Individually editable items like placemarks, lines, and polygons (up to 10,000 features and 250,000 vertices per import) imported from KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, Shapefile (`.zip`), CSV, or Google Sheets into a cloud-based map project. Best for creating, editing, and organizing map content.
- **Data layers:** Read-only layers generated from larger datasets (more than 10,000 features or 250,000 vertices) in KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, Shapefile (`.zip`), CSV, or Google Sheets format, also added to a cloud-based map project. Ideal for visualizing, filtering, and styling large-scale data.
- **Local KML files:** KML/KMZ files stored on your device, independent of cloud-based map projects. Best for quickly viewing KML data.

| Capabilities | Map features | Data layers | Local KML file |
| Storage location | Google Drive | Google Drive (embedded in project) | Computer file system (web) or local app storage (Android / iOS) |
| Collaboration and sharing support | Available using Google Drive project sharing. Editors can modify features. | Available using Google Drive project sharing. Editors can modify the layer within the project. | Not available. Must create copies by exporting and sending the KML file. |
| Supported formats for import | KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, Shapefile (`.zip`), CSV (Experimental), Google Sheets (Experimental) | KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, Shapefile (`.zip`), CSV (Experimental), Google Sheets (Experimental) | KML, KMZ |
| Supported KML features | Earth projects support KML features like: - Placemarks, lines and paths, and polygons - Image overlays - Simple network links [Learn more](https://support.google.com/earth/community-guide/307322063) about which imported KML features are supported in cloud projects. | Data layers support basic KML features like: - Placemarks, lines and paths, and polygons | Local KML files support KML features like: - Placemarks, lines and paths, and polygons - Image overlays (ground overlays) - Simple network links - Super-overlays - Simple KML tours without audio |
| Data scale and performance | Supports up to 10,000 features and 250,000 vertices per import (larger files are automatically retried as data layer imports). | Optimized for very large datasets (1,000,000+ features). Higher performance. | Performance depends on file size and complexity. May be slow for large files. |
| Editability | Features are individually editable (geometry, attributes). | Layer data is not directly editable. Styled as a whole. | Features are individually editable (geometry, attributes). |
| Styling | Per-feature styling. Select several features to apply styling in bulk. | Layer-wide styling: Uniform, Categorical, Numerical. [Learn more about data styling](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/earth/style-data-layers.md.txt). | Per-feature styling. Select several features to apply styling in bulk. |
| Key use cases | Creating map projects, adding placemarks, drawing routes, defining areas. | Visualizing large vector datasets (for example, parcels, boundaries, points of interest) along other project content and Google's data. | Quickly viewing KML or KMZ files |
| Bring data into Google Earth | You can import KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, Shapefile (`.zip`), CSV, and Google Sheets files from your device or Google Drive into a cloud-based map project. For more information, see [Import data into Google Earth](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/earth/import-data.md.txt). || You can open KML files that stay local to your device. These are not loaded into Google Drive or a cloud-based map project. |
| Access and manage projects and files | You can find both cloud-based map projects and local KML files in the Google Earth home screen. To learn more about how to create, copy, and manage your map projects and files, see [Manage your projects on the Google Earth home screen](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/earth/manage-projects-homescreen.md.txt). |||
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