Yes. Moving from the Google Earth desktop app (Google Earth Pro) to Google Earth on the web does not mean you have to store your files in the cloud. With our rebuilt local KML editor, you can open KML and KMZ files straight from your computer, edit them on the map, and save updates directly back to your hard drive without uploading anything to Google Drive.
In conversations with surveyors, planners, engineers, and GIS analysts who rely on the desktop application, local file management consistently emerges as an essential part of daily operations. Whether your team relies on local project folders or you simply need to view, edit, and inspect a KML file without sending data to the cloud, maintaining direct file control remains critical. We built the local KML editor so you can work directly from your hard drive whenever you want, and use Google Drive projects when you need team collaboration and stronger sharing controls.
Watch how to work with local KML files and Google Drive projects on the web.
How the rebuilt local KML editor works
Instead of caching local files inside your browser storage, where clearing cookies could wipe out your work, Google Earth on the web now works directly with files on your hard drive. (If you still have older KMLs saved in browser storage, an in-app banner on the home screen lets you download or move them before January 14, 2027.)
To work locally, even without signing in, open earth.google.com, click Local KML editor at the bottom of the left-hand home screen panel (or File > Open local KML file from the top menu), and choose Open KML/Z from device or Create new KML file.
Opening, editing, and saving directly to your hard drive
Once open, a Local KML badge in the top bar confirms your file is staying on your machine, and we recently expanded feature limits, so you can open larger, multi-folder desktop files:
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Inspect, draw, and measure: Navigate folders, add placemarks, draw paths and polygons, bulk-select features to restyle them, run distance, area, and circle measurements, and check elevation profiles across 3D, historical satellite, and Historical Street View imagery. Local sessions also render ground image overlays, super-overlays, simple Network Links, and KML tours.
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Save straight to disk: On Chromium browsers (Chrome, Edge), click Save to overwrite your KML file in place on your hard drive, or Save as to save a new copy. On Firefox or Safari, click Download to save the updated file. If you close a tab with unsaved edits, Google Earth prompts you first so you don't lose work.
Opening a KML file from disk, editing a boundary on the map, and saving the updated file with Save As.
What stays cloud-only
Because local files stay on your device and are never uploaded to the cloud, they don't auto-save to Google Drive, sync to the mobile app, or support live multi-user editing. Cloud-powered tools, including Google’s curated data layers, custom Data Layers (Shapefiles, GeoJSON, large CSVs), on-demand terrain analysis, detect change, and classify, are also disabled in local sessions. Whenever you want to unlock those tools on a local file, just click Add to map project in the top-right toolbar to bring it into a map project in Google Drive.
Why Google Drive projects give you more control over shared work
Many professionals keep files on a local drive for control. Ironically, once you need to share a map with a colleague, client, or reviewer, local files actually cost you control.
In the desktop app, sending an update meant exporting a static .kmz and attaching it to an email. Once that attachment leaves your outbox, you can't revoke it when a project wraps up or stop someone from forwarding it.
When you are ready to collaborate, a Google Drive map project keeps everyone on one live, auto-saving map with the same sharing controls as a Google Doc:
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Assign viewer or editor roles, so reviewers can explore your site without accidentally moving a vertex.
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Add an expiration date, so external access ends automatically when a bid or review period wraps up.
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Restrict viewers from downloading or resharing your map.
Setting viewer roles, adding an access expiration date, and turning off download and copy options in Google Drive sharing settings.
One live map instead of four emailed copies
Email attachments also multiply fast, and it gets hard to tell which version is the latest. When four teammates download and edit four separate copies of the same map, someone has to reconcile four competing files by hand. When those same four teammates collaborate inside one Google Drive project, everyone views and edits the same current map.
Take your map into the field and back
Storing a project in Google Drive also means your map is ready when you leave your desk. Mark up candidate sites and check access roads on your computer, then open the exact same project in the Google Earth mobile app on your phone or tablet during the site visit. Updates show up right away for teammates back at the office.
Whether you prefer managing KML files directly on your computer or collaborating with your team in the cloud, both the rebuilt Local KML editor and Google Drive map projects are free on the Standard plan. Open Google Earth and click Local KML editor to work on a file from your computer, or sign in to create a shareable map project in Google Drive. You can also watch our video walkthrough or read our step-by-step guide on moving My Places to the web.
Stay connected
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We want to hear from you: Use the in-app feedback tool in Google Earth on the web (Help > Send feedback) and include the hashtag #EarthPro anywhere in your message so our team knows you're a desktop user and can route your input directly.
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File won't import? Send it to our team privately at goo.gle/earth-import-issue. Only you and our support and engineering teams can see your report, and attached files are automatically deleted after 60 days.
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Track what ships: Check our Release Notes and subscribe to the Google Earth YouTube channel.
