On the Mac

KML Explore runs on macOS 15.4 and later. Each file is a window that saves itself; several can be open at once, and the menus act on the front one. With no window open, the welcome window comes back.

The toolbar

From left to right, after the layer list’s button: Find a Place (the magnifying glass), My Location (the location arrow), Map (the style’s icon: Map Style, Names on the Map, Show My Location, Show the File’s Layers, Save Shown Layers to the File, Load Images from the Web), Fit All, Edit (the pencil) and Inspector. Settings is in the app menu (⌘,), and Help ▸ KML Explore Help (⌘?) opens this guide.

While editing, the edit bar sits at the top right of the map beside the inspector, and the Points table opens under the map; drag the line above it to resize it.

The Map menu

Between View and Draw in the menu bar, for the front window: Map Style (Muted, Standard, Satellite, Hybrid, Satellite 3D, Hybrid 3D: ⌘1 to ⌘6), Names on the Map, Show My Location, Fit All (⌘0), Inspector (⌥⌘I), Show the File’s Layers, Save Shown Layers to the File, Load Images from the Web, and, for a file whose web images aren’t loaded, Load This File’s Web Images. The toolbar’s Map button holds the same choices. See The map and the card and the layer list.

The Draw menu

Everything the editor does, for the front window’s selection: Edit (or Stop Editing), the seven tools (Select and Move, Placemark, Path, Area, Freehand, Circle, Rectangle), New Folder, Show Points Table (or Hide Points Table), Simplify…, Reverse Direction, Make an Area (or Make a Path for an area), End Path or Area, Add a Hole, and Lines (Straight Lines, Follow Paths (Walking), Follow Roads (Cycling), Follow Roads (Driving)). Items that don’t apply to the selection are dimmed; for a circle the point-by-point items are. Choosing a tool, or a command that changes the file, turns editing on.

The File menu adds Export…, and the Edit menu Delete Selection and Find a Place….

Drawing and editing need KML Explore Pro.

The mouse on the map

• Click selects what is under the pointer; with a drawing tool it adds a point, a placemark, a circle or a corner.
• Press and drag a point to move it; the loupe shows the ground under it. Click a point to pick it (its callout has a delete button). Click a + to add a point on that edge.
• ⌥-drag with Path or Area traces freehand into the shape being drawn; with Freehand, a plain drag traces.

In the layer list, a double click frames a feature.

Keyboard shortcuts

Command	Shortcut
File ▸ New	⌘N
File ▸ Open…	⌘O
File ▸ Export…	⇧⌘E
Edit ▸ Undo / Redo	⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z
Edit ▸ Delete Selection	⌘⌫
Edit ▸ Find a Place…	⌘F
Map ▸ Map Style ▸ Muted / Standard / Satellite / Hybrid / Satellite 3D / Hybrid 3D	⌘1 – ⌘6
Map ▸ Fit All	⌘0
Map ▸ Inspector (show or hide)	⌥⌘I
Draw ▸ Edit / Stop Editing (the toolbar’s Edit)	⌥⌘E
Draw ▸ Select and Move / Placemark / Path / Area / Freehand / Circle / Rectangle	⌃⌘1 – ⌃⌘7
Draw ▸ New Folder	⇧⌘N
Draw ▸ Show Points Table / Hide Points Table	⌥⌘P
Done (leave editing)	⌘↩
KML Explore ▸ Settings…	⌘,
Window ▸ Welcome to KML Explore	⇧⌘0
Help ▸ KML Explore Help (opens this guide)	⌘?

On the map while editing:

Key	What it does
Delete	Deletes the picked point, or with none the selected placemark
Return	Ends the path, area or hole being drawn; then lets go of the picked point
Esc	Ends the drawing; then lets go of the picked point; then clears the selection
⌥ + ↑ ↓ ← →	Nudges the picked point north, south, west or east by the Points table’s step

In the layer list, ↑ and ↓ move through the rows, and Delete deletes the selected feature while editing. In the Points table, ↑ and ↓ move through the rows (in a cell being typed in, they write it and move a row), ⌥ + an arrow nudges, and Delete deletes the selected points. In Find a Place, Return picks the typed coordinate or the first suggestion.