Map Download Coverage Toolkit

Loading zone files onto your drone or app

You've downloaded the zones for your area. Here's how to get them onto the tool you actually fly with - accurately, with no myths. Each guide states exactly which file format the platform accepts and what the imported data does once it's there.

The one thing to understand first. On most drones, importing a polygon creates an area the aircraft flies (a mapping mission) - that's the opposite of a keep-out. Only a few tools treat your file as an enforced no-fly boundary, and no consumer drone lets you replace its manufacturer's built-in geofencing. Each guide is explicit about which is which.
Enforced keep-out

QGroundControl · ArduPilot · PX4

The only mainstream path to a geofence your aircraft will actually enforce. Use our .plan export.
Advisory / overlay

DJI (Pilot 2, Fly, C-class)

What KML import really does, the EU geo-awareness ED-269 route for C-class drones, and why DJI's GEO system can't be replaced.
Advisory geo-fence

Autel Robotics

Autel's "Import Geo-fence" loads a zone file into the aircraft as advisory warnings - plus KML mission import.
View in the field

Google Earth · Avenza · Gaia

See the zones as filled areas on your phone, offline, before you fly. Use our KMZ export.

Which format for which tool?

Your toolDownload thisWhat it does
QGroundControl, PX4, ArduPilot.planEnforced exclusion geofence
Mission Planner (ArduPilot)KMLFence outline (import as polygon/line)
DJI C-class geo-awarenessED-269Advisory in-app warnings
Autel "Import Geo-fence"ED-269 (validate on device)Advisory warnings + slowdown
Google Earth, Avenza, Gaia GPSKMZView filled zones, offline
DroneDeploy, QGIS, web mapsGeoJSONGIS / boundary layer
Compliant ED-269/318 toolingED-269The official zone data

Flying this for a client? The flight is not what you are selling - the report you hand over is. Operators who deliver an annotated, structured report charge more for the same job.

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