Exporting your collection — KML for Google Earth, CSV for Excel

Your collection is yours. Premium users can pull it out of DetectID at any time as either a KML file (for Google Earth, Garmin BaseCamp, OziExplorer, locus.app, and most handheld GPS units) or a CSV file (for Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet). Privacy settings carry through to both exports — nothing leaks that you haven’t already chosen to expose.

Where to find the export

Go to /settings and scroll to the Export your collection section. Two buttons:

• Download KML — for mapping software and GPS devices.
• Download CSV — for spreadsheets and analytic tooling.

Both files are generated on demand. Nothing is cached, nothing is shared with third parties, and we don’t log the export action against your account beyond standard request logs.

The KML export

KML (Keyhole Markup Language) is the open XML-based format Google Earth uses, supported by almost everything mapping or GPS-related. Our KML is standards-compliant and tested against:

• Google Earth Pro — drag the file onto the window.
• Garmin BaseCamp — File → Import.
• OziExplorer — Load from File → Load Waypoints from KML.
• locus.app (Android) — Data Manager → Import.
• QGIS — Add Vector Layer.

What’s in each KML pin

Each find is one Placemark element with:

• Name — the find’s top-line identification (e.g. “Edward I London penny, Class 3g”).
• Description — HTML block with predicted grade, period, date range, material, and the DetectID find ID.
• Point/Coordinates — lat/lng at the precision your privacy setting allows.
• TimeStamp — the find date you recorded, in ISO 8601.
• ExtendedData — key/value pairs for ruler, denomination, mint, weight, diameter, detector brand, detector model, session label.

Importing into Google Earth

1. Open Google Earth Pro (free download from google.com/earth).
2. Drag the detectid-collection.kml file onto the open window. Alternatively: File → Open → select the file.
3. Your finds appear in the Temporary Places sidebar. Right-click → Save to My Places to keep them permanent.
4. Click any pin to see the description, including the DetectID find ID for cross-reference.

Importing into Garmin BaseCamp / Garmin GPS

1. Open BaseCamp on your computer.
2. File → Import into ‘My Collection’.
3. Select the KML file. BaseCamp converts it into waypoints.
4. Connect your Garmin handheld (Etrex, GPSMAP, Montana, etc.) by USB.
5. Drag the imported waypoint set from My Collection onto the device.
6. Your finds now appear as waypoints on the handheld — useful for navigating back to a permission, or for off-line reference when you don’t want to use phone data in the field.

Importing into locus.app on Android

1. Email the KML to your phone or save to Google Drive.
2. Open Locus Map. Menu → Data Manager → Items.
3. Tap the ‘+’ icon → Import → select the KML file.
4. Finds appear as points on the in-app map, off-line.

The CSV export

The same data, in spreadsheet form, with one row per find. The full column list is documented inReading your collection stats and exporting to CSV— including Ruler, Denomination, Period, Date range, Grade, Diameter, Weight, Material, Region, Lat, Lng, Precision, Detector brand + model, Public flag, Shared-at timestamp, Notes, and Find ID.

File is UTF-8 with byte-order mark, RFC 4180 quoting, comma-separated. Opens cleanly in Excel, Numbers, and Google Sheets without an import wizard.

A worked example

Suppose you have 217 finds in your DetectID collection across three permissions and four years. You’re presenting at your detecting club’s AGM and want a printed handout of your top finds plus a Google Earth view of where the productive corners of one permission sat.

1. Settings → Export → Download CSV.
2. Open in Excel. Filter Grade column ≥ VF. You’re down to 34 rows.
3. Sort by Period, then Date range ascending. Print to a two-page A4 handout. Bring to AGM.
4. Back at the computer: Settings → Export → Download KML.
5. Open the KML in Google Earth. Use Earth’s built-in filter (Edit → Find) to restrict to one permission. You see the cluster pattern visually.
6. Take a screenshot for the AGM slide.

Total elapsed time: about ten minutes. No third-party tools, no data leaving your laptop after the initial download.

Privacy specifics by precision setting

• Exact precision finds.Lat/lng to roughly 1m. Export at exact. This is the precision you chose — we honour it. If you don’t want exact precision in the export, change the precision on the find before exporting.
• 1km grid finds.Lat/lng at the centroid of the 1km OS grid square the find sits in. The exported number looks precise but is grid-anchored — a recipient of the file can’t back-derive the exact pin.
• 10km grid finds. Lat/lng at the 10km grid centroid. Useful for regional analysis, useless for finding the field.
• County precision. Lat/lng at the geographic centroid of the county. Effectively a regional tag, not a location.
• Hidden precision. Lat/lng columns are blank. The find still appears in the export but without location data. KML pins are not generated for hidden-precision finds.

Common use cases

Archival backup

Save a fresh CSV and KML to your computer (or to a 1Password attachment, or an encrypted backup) once a quarter. If DetectID went away tomorrow — we don’t intend to, but you’re not wrong to plan for it — you’d rebuild your collection from the file in another tool.

Sharing with a club secretary

For club records, a CSV is usually more useful than a KML. Send the secretary the CSV with location columns redacted (or with all finds at county precision), and they get a clean finds list for the club’s annual report.

Off-line field reference

Import the KML into your handheld Garmin or into locus.app on your phone. When you’re in a field with no signal, your own historic finds are still on the map. Useful for working a permission methodically and not re-detecting the same corner you cleared last winter.

Cross-tool migration

Some detectorists use iAuctionLog, Detecting365, or a custom Notion database alongside DetectID. The CSV is the bridge — a one-time mapping script in Python or via a spreadsheet’s import wizard and the records line up cleanly in the other system.

Next steps

• Reading your collection stats and CSV columns — the full column documentation.
• Privacy and location precision — how the precision settings work.
• Insurance-grade PDF reports — the other export format Premium unlocks.