View OSM PBF files in your browser
OpenStreetMap's data packed small, as Geofabrik and the planet file hand it out. Open an OSM PBF right here as a map of what it holds. The file never leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your file opens on a map, framed to fit, its layers drawn over OpenStreetMap's streets and what it holds listed beside it.
- OpenStreetMap, dark or light • Flat or a globe
- Every layer and feature in a list • Search their names and fields
- Click a feature for its fields • Measure distances
- Export • PNG, GeoJSON, GPX, KML and CSV
About OSM PBF
OpenStreetMap's data grew too big for XML, so in 2010 its developers packed it into the PBF format: blocks of nodes, ways and relations, each compressed with zlib, with ids and places stored as differences. Geofabrik's extracts, BBBike's cut-outs and the whole planet come as .osm.pbf.
It holds the same data as an .osm file in a fraction of the room, and osmium, osm2pgsql and routing engines all read it.
Filepeek unpacks the blocks in your browser with its own reader and draws the data as layers by what it is: roads, rail, buildings, water, green spaces, boundaries and places. Click anything for its tags, search the names, and save the features as GeoJSON, KML, GPX or CSV.
OpenStreetMap Protocolbuffer Binary Format
.pbf
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-protobuf
- Made by
- OpenStreetMap contributors
- Released
- 2010
Inside the file
- Holds
- Nodes, ways and relations
- Packed in
- Blocks compressed with zlib
- Ids and places
- Stored as differences
- Built on
- Protocol Buffers
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens OSM PBF files on a map in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. On their own, browsers download them.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open OSM PBF
- WindowsQGIS • osmium converts it
- MacQGIS • osmium converts it
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I open an .osm.pbf file?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek an OSM PBF. It opens on a map, its roads, buildings, water and places as layers.
Can it open a whole country?
A city's or a small region's extract opens. Filepeek draws up to 3 million points on a computer and 750,000 on a phone, and Show details says when it left some out.
Is every .pbf an OpenStreetMap file?
No. Vector tiles and other data are saved as .pbf too. Filepeek opens a .pbf on a map when it starts with OpenStreetMap's header.
Can I convert PBF to GeoJSON?
Yes. Open it, choose Export, then Save the features as GeoJSON, each feature with its tags.