Convert shapefile to GeoPackage

Shapefile to GeoPackage: why convert

A shapefile is at least three files, its field names stop at 10 characters, its parts cannot grow past 2 GB, and it forgets which characters it was written in unless a .cpg sits next to it. GeoPackage, the default format of QGIS, fixes all of that in one file. This converter turns your shapefile into a .gpkg: drop a .zip, a folder or the loose .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj, and download a GeoPackage with the same features, attributes and coordinate system. Several shapefiles at once end up as separate layers in one GeoPackage, which is handy for handing over a whole project as one file. Shapefiles without a .cpg are read with the right encoding where it can be detected, so æ, ø and ü survive.

How to convert Shapefile to GeoPackage

1. Drop your shapefile as a .zip, a folder or the loose files, or click to choose them.
2. Check the layers on the map. Optionally choose an output coordinate system.
3. Click Convert to GeoPackage and download the .gpkg file.

What changes when you convert

Field names stay as they are

The names come from the .dbf, which already cut them to 10 characters when the shapefile was made. The GeoPackage keeps them; long names that were lost earlier cannot be restored.

Single and multi-part shapes

A shapefile layer can mix polygons with one part and polygons with several parts. A GeoPackage layer has one geometry type, so lines and polygons are stored as multi-part types (MultiLineString, MultiPolygon). The shapes themselves do not change; points stay points.

Coordinate system

The coordinate system from the .prj is stored inside the GeoPackage. Without a .prj, coordinates that look like longitude and latitude are taken as WGS84; otherwise enter the EPSG code when the converter asks.

Invalid geometries

Polygons with self-intersections, common in data digitised by hand, are repaired with GDAL's makevalid while converting, so QGIS and databases accept them. Valid shapes are written unchanged.