NMEA File

What are NMEA files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a NMEA 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 NMEA files.

What is a NMEA file?

A .NMEA file is a NMEA GPS Log Data file.

NMEA GPS Log Data are plain-text log files that record streams of GPS data conforming to the NMEA-0183 standard. Such files are created by GPS receivers or software like Franson GpsGate when recording position, time, satellite, speed, and fix status for navigation or location tracking. The purpose is to capture raw GPS sentences verbatim so that you can later replay, analyze, plot, or convert them into more user-friendly path or map formats.

These log files are written by tools that access GPS data sources (for example via USB, Bluetooth, COM ports, network sockets) and simply dump the NMEA output, line by line, into a file. Franson GpsGate provides a "File Recorder / NMEA Filter" feature that lets users capture all or a subset of NMEA sentences into files named by date and time. Once saved, other mapping, navigation, or GIS software can import these .nmea logs for tasks such as visualizing travel routes, processing speed/altitude over time, or converting into KML/GPX files.

Internally, each line is a sentence beginning with a dollar sign, followed by a "talker" identifier and a sentence type (for example "GPGGA" for positional fix, "GPRMC" for recommended minimum data, "GPGSA", "GPGSV", etc.), with comma-delimited fields, optional checksum after an asterisk. A file typically starts with bytes corresponding to "$GP", followed shortly by a comma, and must include at least one "$GPGGA" sentence to be recognized as this type.

How to open NMEA files

We have identified one NMEA opener that is compatible with this specific type of NMEA file.

Programs that open NMEA GPS Log Data files

Last updated: August 10, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

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

Help us help others

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