APG File

What are APG files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening an APG file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your APG files.

What is an APG file?

An .APG file is an ArcPad Graphics Layer file.

ArcPad Graphics Layer files store spatial sketches and annotations in an XML-based format used by the ArcPad field mapping software. They hold features such as text labels, point symbols, lines, polygons, and freehand drawing shapes to support redlining or making georeferenced notes when out in the field.

These graphics layer files are generated and edited within ArcPad itself (or via ArcGIS tools that export graphics features into this format). The features in a graphics layer live in a single layer, allowing a mix of feature types like points, lines, polygons, rectangles, circles, ellipses, text, freehand shapes. Files created in ArcPad can be imported into ArcGIS Desktop. During editing, standard tools allow vertex insertion, moving, scaling, labeling, and styling of each feature.

Internally the file is an XML document whose root element is ArcPad, and it includes a FEATURESET element that defines the geometries and text elements in the layer. The schema includes elements such as COORDSYS for the projection information, ENVELOPE for spatial extent, and FEATURES containing individual FEATURE elements each with a GEOMETRY child defining shape (POINT, PART, etc.). Symbol styles for point, line, polygon and text are also included. Byte signatures for these files include an opening byte 0x3C (the character "<") at offset 0, and the presence of strings like "FEATURESET", "ARCPAD", and "TYPE" somewhere in the content.

How to open APG files

Important: Different programs may use files with the APG file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your APG file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested two different APG openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 18, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of APG files. Remember, different programs may use APG files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about APG file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.