How do I import files into the HiiKER app?

Got hikes on a watch, in another app or sitting in an email? Import files brings them into HiiKER in one go. Pick one file or a whole batch, and HiiKER reads each one, works out whether it’s a recording, a planned hike or a set of waypoints, and shows you exactly what it will create before anything is saved. Importing is free: all you need is a HiiKER account.

In this article: Open Import files · Import your files · Which files you can import · The review screen · How HiiKER decides what a file is · Change what a file becomes · Waypoint files · After you import · Files that can’t be read · Good to know

Open Import files

You’ll find Import files in several places. Wherever you start, it’s the same screen, and it always shows the same upload-arrow icon.

In the app (iPhone and Android)

Home: tap the upload arrow at the top right, next to the settings cog.
My Recordings or My Planned Hikes: on the Home tab, open the list, tap + at the top right, then Import files.
Waypoints: on any map, tap Options > Waypoints > Import files.
Map tab: tap Options > Import files. On Android, a window opens with hike search at the top: tap Import files in it.
Search: type “import” and tap the Import files shortcut.
From another app: open a route file from Files, your email, Google Drive or a file manager and choose HiiKER, or share it to HiiKER. Import files opens with the file already added. On Android you can share several files at once.

The Import files button, an upload arrow beside the settings cog at the top of the HiiKER Home tab — Tap Import files (the upload arrow) on Home

Where you start only changes the defaults. From My Recordings, My Planned Hikes or Waypoints, the screen is headed with that list (for example To Recordings · 3 files), and any file that belongs somewhere else is tagged with where it will go. From Home, the map, search or another app, each file simply goes where it fits best.

Using HiiKER as a guest? You’ll be asked to create an account first, so your imports have somewhere to be saved.

Import your files

Open Import files and tap Choose files.
Pick one file, several, or a ZIP. HiiKER reads each one (its row says Reading… while it does).
Check what each file will become. Tap a file to change it, or tap × to leave it out. Need more? Tap + Add files at the top right.
Tap the yellow button at the bottom. It says exactly what will be created, for example Import 1 recording, 2 planned hikes and 1 waypoint group.

The empty Import files screen with the Choose files button highlighted — 1. Tap Choose files

The Import files screen with four files ready, with + Add files and the Import 1 recording, 2 planned hikes and 1 waypoint group button highlighted — 2. Add more files (1) or tap the yellow button to import (2)

Which files you can import

GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, FIT and TCX files, and ZIP files of them. That covers exports from watches, Strava, Komoot, AllTrails, Google Earth and most other hiking apps.
HiiKER reads what’s inside a file, not its name, so a file with the wrong ending (such as .gpx.xml) or no ending at all still works.
ZIP files: every route file inside becomes its own row, named after that file. Photos, notes and other files in the ZIP are skipped. A KMZ from Google Earth stays one file.
How many: there’s no limit on the number of files. A ZIP can unpack to up to 256 MB in all. A bigger one shows as This file is damaged, so split it into smaller ZIPs.
Compressed .gz files (such as the activities in a Strava archive) can’t be read. Unpack them first.

The review screen

Once your files are read, the screen shows everything before it’s saved:

The header: Cancel, the number of files (for example 4 files, or To Planned hikes · 4 files when you started from a list) and + Add files.
A map preview of every file. Open a file and the map zooms to it while the others fade. Files you’re leaving out are drawn dashed.
Summary tiles (when there’s more than one file): one per type, such as 1 recording · 2 planned hikes · 1 waypoint group. Each number is how many will be imported, and updates as you make changes.
A row per file, recordings first, then planned hikes, then waypoints. Each row has a yellow tag with what the file will become (Recording, Planned hike or Waypoints), the file name and one line of detail: distance and time for a recording (12.4 km · 4h 52m), days, distance and highlights for a planned hike (3 days · 59.7 km · 3 highlights), or how many waypoints (8 waypoints).
A blue tag such as → Planned hikes means the file is going to a different list from the one you started on.
× removes a file from this import. It doesn’t touch the file on your phone.

Import files summary tiles, a file's Recording tag and details, its remove button, and the 1 can't be read bar — 3. The summary (1), each file’s type and details (2), × to leave a file out (3), and files that can’t be read (4)

Importing just one file? You won’t see the tiles: the file’s settings open straight away.

How HiiKER decides what a file is

Each file starts on what it really is, wherever you opened Import files from:

Recording: a track with real times, like a watch or tracking app records. Nearly every point needs a time (at least 9 in 10), the times must run forwards, and they must cover at least a minute. If a file holds several timed tracks, they’re joined into one recording, in time order.
Planned hike: any route, or a track without usable times. Some planners stamp made-up times on their exports, all the same or perfectly evenly spaced. HiiKER spots these and treats the file as a planned hike.
Waypoints: a file with only points and no line becomes a waypoint group.

A few files need a little more:

Multi-day files: each track or route in the file becomes one day of the planned hike, keeping its name. You can join them into one day instead (see below).
A recording with its planned course: some apps export the line twice, the track you walked and the route you followed. HiiKER imports your track and leaves out the copy, unless you ask for both.
Points along the line: numbered points with no real name (such as WPT 12) sitting on the line just repeat the route, so they’re left out. Named points are kept.
Started from Waypoints? Any file with named points starts as a waypoint group of just those points.

Change what a file becomes

Tap the file’s row (the arrow on the right turns down).
Under Import as, tap what you want it to become.
Adjust any of the other settings shown, then tap the row again to close it.

A KML file opened on the Import files screen showing Import as options (Planned hike, Waypoints, Don't import) and Days options (3 days, One day) — 4. Tap a file to choose what to import it as (1) and how to handle its days (2)

Import as only lists what the file can become:

Planned hike – Saves to Planned hikes.
Recording – Saves to Recordings. Only offered when the file has usable times.
Waypoints – Adds the points as a waypoint group. Only offered when the file has named points.
Planned hike from waypoints – Connects the waypoints in file order, saved to Planned hikes. Offered for files of two or more points with no line.
Don’t import – Leave this file out.

A yellow Recommended badge marks the best fit. If you started from a list and pick something that goes elsewhere, the option says so, for example Goes to Planned hikes, not Recordings. Leave a file out of a list it doesn’t fit and its row tells you why, such as No times in this file, so it can’t be a recording or These times look generated by a planner, not recorded.

Depending on the file, you may also see:

Days (a planned hike with more than one line): keep One day per stage in the file, or choose One day to join the stages end to end.
Lines (a file with the line twice): tick Include the planned course too to import the route you followed as well as your track.
Waypoints: untick the named waypoints (for example 8 named waypoints) to leave them out. On a planned hike they’re Added as hike highlights. If the file has unnamed points on the line, they’re Skipped: they just repeat the route; tick them to add them too.

Waypoint files

A file of points, such as campsites, water sources or summits for a trip, can come in two ways:

As a waypoint group (the default): every point becomes one of your waypoints, in a new group named after the file. Find the group under Options > Waypoints > View Waypoint Groups.
As a planned hike: choose Planned hike from waypoints and HiiKER joins the points with straight lines, in the order they appear in the file. The points are also added to the hike as highlights; untick them under Waypoints if you only want the line.

The straight lines don’t follow paths. To turn them into a walkable route, open the hike afterwards with More > Edit in Hike Planner.

After you import

The screen closes and a message confirms what was saved, for example “Imported 1 recording and 2 planned hikes”, adding “1 not imported” if you left any out. Then:

Recordings are in My Recordings, labelled Imported. They keep the file’s own times and elevation.
Planned hikes are in My Planned Hikes, with elevation from HiiKER’s elevation data where it’s available. Edit them in the Hike Planner like any other hike.
Waypoint groups are under Options > Waypoints > View Waypoint Groups. If you imported one group from the Waypoints screen, it opens straight away.

Everything is named after its file (without the .gpx or other ending) and is private: only you can see it until you change its privacy.

No signal? You can still import. Your files are saved on your phone straight away and upload to your HiiKER account automatically once you’re back online, so they appear on the website and your other devices too.

Files that can’t be read

One bad file doesn’t stop the rest. Files HiiKER can’t import collect behind an orange bar at the bottom of the list, such as 1 can’t be read. Tap the bar to show them, then tap a file to see What’s wrong, Likely cause and What to do, with a Remove file button.

This file is damaged: the file is damaged or cut off, usually because a download was interrupted. Export it again from the app it came from, then add it with + Add files.
Nothing to import in this file: there are no routes, tracks or waypoints in it, because it was exported without its data. Export it again, choosing GPX with tracks or routes.
Not a route file: it isn’t a GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, FIT or TCX file (a photo or PDF, for example). Look for “Export GPX” in the app or website you got it from.

If nothing could be saved at all, HiiKER tells you why and keeps the screen open, so you can remove or replace the file and try again.

Good to know

It’s free. Import files works on every HiiKER account. You only need to be signed in.
Connected to Strava? Recordings you import are posted to Strava too, once they upload. To avoid duplicates, disconnect Strava first at Home > settings icon > Connect with other apps, then reconnect when you’ve finished.
Importing one file from its own list (a hike from My Planned Hikes, or a recording from My Recordings) offers the same share options as saving one. Bigger batches don’t, so you’re not asked once per file.
Want to add a GPX to a hike you’re planning? That’s still done inside the Hike Planner: tap Hike Days > Import hike > Import GPX. See Plan a hike.
Following a GPX while you record is separate too: on the Record tab, tap More > Import GPX. See How to record a hike on HiiKER.

Quick reference

Open it: upload arrow on Home, or + > Import files on My Recordings or My Planned Hikes, or Options > Waypoints > Import files
Formats: GPX, KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, FIT, TCX, and ZIPs of them (up to 256 MB unpacked)
Timed track → Recording · route or untimed track → Planned hike · points only → Waypoints
Change it: tap the file > Import as; × or Don’t import to leave it out
Find it after: My Recordings, My Planned Hikes, or Options > Waypoints > View Waypoint Groups

Moving from another app? See Move recordings and hikes from AllTrails to HiiKER and Move recordings from Strava to HiiKER. On a computer, see Importing routes on the HiiKER website.