To turn a spreadsheet into a map with pins, each row needs an address or a pair of coordinates. With that, CSV to map puts every row on the map as a point, colored by any column you choose, and you can tap a point to see its row. The file never leaves your computer. Google My Maps does something similar with a Google account and up to 2,000 rows. Here’s how to set up the sheet, the two ways to map it and the mistakes that come up most.
The columns you need
The first row holds the headers. Below it, one row per point and, in each one, where it is:
- Latitude and longitude, in two columns or together in one. Decimal degrees, degrees-minutes-seconds, UTM and Google Maps links all work.
- Or the address: street and number, city, state and ZIP code, in one column or spread across several.
Every other column (name, type, sales, rep) travels with its point and can be used to color it.
Here’s the example we used: the six largest cities in Texas, with their point from the Census Bureau’s Gazetteer Files and their population on July 1, 2025 (Census Bureau estimates). Copy it and paste it into the tool:
| City | Latitude | Longitude | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 29.7857 | -95.3888 | 2397315 |
| San Antonio | 29.4628 | -98.5246 | 1548422 |
| Dallas | 32.7933 | -96.7665 | 1329491 |
| Fort Worth | 32.782 | -97.3486 | 1028117 |
| Austin | 30.2986 | -97.7541 | 1002632 |
| El Paso | 31.8478 | -106.4311 | 683012 |
Pasted as is, the tool shows 6 of 6 rows on the map.
On Mapsfera, step by step
- Open CSV to map.
- Press Upload a file (Excel .xlsx, CSV or TXT), or paste cells copied from Excel or Google Sheets and press Show on map.
- Check Where each row is: the tool finds the latitude and longitude columns, or the address, on its own. If it gets them wrong, change them in the drop-downs.
- If you have addresses, choose Addresses, tick the columns that make up the address and run the lookup. Addresses are looked up 100 at a time.
- Under Color by, pick a column: by category (store type, sales rep) or by amount (sales, population).
- Download the map as a PNG image, or the points as CSV with coordinates, GeoJSON or KML.
It takes up to 10,000 rows with coordinates. Rows it can’t place are listed below the map with the reason: empty cells, coordinates it can’t read or addresses not found.
With Google My Maps
If you want the map in your Google account to share it, import the sheet into Google My Maps:
- Open a map or create a new one.
- In the map legend, click Add layer.
- Under the new layer, click Import.
- Upload the file and click Select.
It takes CSV, TSV, XLSX, KML, KMZ, GPX and Google Sheets. Its limits, per Google’s help: no more than 2,000 rows and files up to 40 MB. The first row must hold the column titles, and at least one column needs latitude and longitude, addresses, place names or WKT geometry.
A tip: if your list has more than 2,000 rows, or some addresses aren’t found, place them on Mapsfera first and download the KML or the CSV with coordinates. My Maps imports it without looking anything up.
What about Excel’s map chart?
Excel has map charts, but they can’t do pins. Microsoft’s help is clear: they only plot high-level geography, such as countries, states, counties or ZIP codes, and don’t support latitude and longitude or street addresses. They also need a Microsoft 365 subscription and an internet connection. They do work for coloring states or counties by a number, and for that there’s also the guide to mapping Excel data by state or county.
For a long list of US addresses
The Census Bureau runs a free geocoder that turns US addresses into coordinates, one at a time or in batches, and also tells you the county and census tract of each one. Its batch option is handy for long lists: add the coordinates it returns to your spreadsheet and the map is instant. For a few dozen addresses, Mapsfera’s address to coordinates tool does the same in the browser.
Common mistakes
- Headers not recognized. If a header has numbers in it, like “Population (2025)”, the tool may read the first row as data. Tick The first row has the headers and you’re set.
- Latitude and longitude swapped. US latitudes are positive and longitudes negative. If rows come back as out of range, or points land far from where they should, the columns are swapped: pick each one in the drop-downs.
- Longitudes without the minus sign. The whole US mainland is west of Greenwich, so its longitudes are negative. Without the sign, points jump to Asia.
- Incomplete addresses. “100 Main St” exists in a great many towns: add the city and state in other columns and tick them too.
- ZIP codes that lost their leading zero. Excel turns 02108 into 2108. Format the column as text, or use the city and state as well.
If all you have is a list of ZIP codes, the ZIP code map puts them on the map directly.