Garmin makes waypoints work differently depending on what you're holding. A handheld like an Oregon or Montana treats a GPX file as something to browse and navigate to. An Edge cycling computer treats it as a course to ride. A DriveSmart treats it as a favorite to route toward. A fenix or Instinct watch barely reads a GPX file at all until you go through its app instead of a USB folder. Google Maps doesn't know or care about any of that, it just gives you pins. This page covers all four categories, so you're not stuck guessing which folder or app applies to your specific device.
Whatever you're loading it onto, the first step is the same. Paste your list's share link into the converter above and download the GPX file. Every place from the original Google Maps list becomes a waypoint in that file, named and positioned exactly as it was pinned. What happens after the download is what actually differs by device, which is the rest of this page.
This matters more than it sounds like it should. A Garmin Montana clipped to a hunting pack, a DriveSmart mounted on a truck dash, an Edge bolted to a bike, and a fenix strapped to a wrist are functionally different computers running different software, even though they all say Garmin on the case. Treat them the same and the file either doesn't show up, or shows up somewhere you'd never think to look for it.
Handheld outdoor GPS (Oregon, Montana, eTrex, GPSMAP, Overlander): the simplest case. Any of the three transfer methods below puts your waypoints straight onto the unit.
- Garmin Express (simplest for most people): open Garmin Express, connect your device over USB, and once it's detected, go to the device's page and use its waypoint/map management option to import the GPX file.
- Garmin BaseCamp: connect your device, open BaseCamp, use File → Import and select the GPX file, then drag the imported waypoints from BaseCamp's list onto your connected device.
- Direct USB drag-and-drop: connect the Garmin as a mass storage device and copy the GPX file into the Garmin/GPX folder at the root of the drive. Create the GPX folder inside Garmin if it isn't there already, not every model ships with one by default.
Newer eTrex SE and eTrex Solar units run Garmin Explore instead of the classic file browser. That app imports the same GPX file over Bluetooth if you'd rather skip the USB cable.
Automotive (DriveSmart, Drive, nuvi): newer DriveSmart models, DriveSmart 66, 76, and 86 among them, read a GPX file the same way handhelds do. Connect the unit over USB, copy the GPX file into its Garmin/GPX folder, and eject the device properly. Check Favorites (sometimes labeled Saved Places) on the unit itself, each waypoint should show up there as a location you can route to.
Older nuvi and Drive models, and any DriveSmart on older firmware, don't read a raw GPX file this way. On those, Garmin's own POI Loader tool converts the GPX file into a .gpi custom points-of-interest file first, then that gets loaded instead. It's an extra step, but the underlying data, your list's coordinates and names, carries over the same either way. This isn't a MapsLinkQuest limitation, it's the same wall anyone hits loading custom GPX data onto an older automotive Garmin, so check your model and firmware version before assuming the file itself is broken.
Cycling computers (Edge series): Edge units, Edge 530, 840, 1040, 1050, and similar, don't have a general-purpose waypoint folder the way handhelds do. Connect the Edge over USB, copy the GPX file into its Garmin/NewFiles folder, and eject the device. The Edge processes the file on its own the next time it powers on, turning your list into a course you can browse and start from the Courses menu.
If you'd rather skip the cable, Garmin Connect handles the same import from your phone or a browser. Upload the GPX file as a course there and sync it to the Edge over Bluetooth instead.
Points loaded this way arrive as part of a course, not standalone points you can browse independently the way a handheld does. Most Edge units still show each waypoint from the course on the map view, just nested under that course instead of a separate Waypoints list.
Watches (fenix, Instinct, epix, Forerunner): this is the one category where dragging a GPX file into a folder over USB doesn't reliably work, and trying to force it by overwriting the watch's own location file is a good way to corrupt it. The supported path is the Garmin Explore app: install it, sign in, import the GPX file there, and it syncs the waypoints to any paired watch over Bluetooth the next time they're in range of each other.
Garmin Connect handles the course side of this the same way, if what you actually want on the watch is a route to follow rather than a list of individual points to mark.
Garmin's reasoning here is fair even when it's annoying: a fenix or Instinct doesn't have a real file browser, and letting any GPX file overwrite its internal location data risks corrupting the watch's own saved places. Explore exists specifically to be the supported middle layer instead.
Exact folder paths, at a glance:
- Handheld (Oregon, Montana, eTrex, GPSMAP): Garmin/GPX
- Automotive, newer models (DriveSmart, Drive): Garmin/GPX, older models use Garmin's POI Loader instead
- Cycling (Edge series): Garmin/NewFiles
- Watches (fenix, Instinct, epix, Forerunner): no USB folder, use the Garmin Explore app instead
Troubleshooting:
- The device doesn't show up as a drive at all. Try a different USB cable, some are charge-only and don't carry data. On a handheld, confirm it's powered on and past its startup screen before plugging it in.
- There's no Garmin or GPX folder to drop the file into. Create it yourself, Garmin/GPX at the root of the drive, spelled exactly like that. Some units don't have the folder until you add a waypoint the first time.
- The waypoints don't show up after copying the file. Eject or safely remove the device before unplugging it. A lot of Garmin units only read new files on the next power-on, not while they're still connected.
- Waypoint names look truncated or garbled. Older Garmin firmware caps waypoint names at a set number of characters and drops characters it doesn't recognize. Shorten unusually long names before converting if this happens.
- Garmin Express or BaseCamp doesn't detect the device. Reconnect the cable, and on Windows, check Garmin Express's own device list under its settings, it sometimes needs a manual "add device" the first time.
- A really long list doesn't fully load. Some older handhelds cap the number of waypoints they'll store, generally in the hundreds to low thousands depending on the model. Split an unusually large list into smaller GPX files if this happens.
- The file uploads but shows zero waypoints on the device. Open the GPX file in a text editor first and confirm it actually contains <wpt> entries, not an empty shell. If the converter above returned an empty file, the original Google Maps list link is the problem, not the Garmin.
- BaseCamp shows the waypoints, but Send to Device is grayed out. Select the waypoints in BaseCamp's list first, they have to be highlighted before BaseCamp will let you drag or send them to a connected unit.