Troubleshooting uploads

Troubleshoot upload errors and misplaced data in Felt. Fix missing Shapefile parts, spreadsheet locations, and photos that land in one place.

If an upload fails or your data lands in the wrong place, find the error or symptom on this page. Look up an error message in Upload error messages, and check file size and other caps in Data limits.

Upload error messages

Upload error messages appear on the layer or at the bottom of the map.

Message	Cause and fix
Unsupported file type	Felt didn't recognize the file as geospatial data, a spreadsheet, or an image. Word files and video files, for example, aren't supported. To show a video on the map, paste a YouTube link as a video annotation. See Formats Felt doesn't read for what to upload instead.
Try our QGIS plug-in for this file	QGIS project and style files (.qgs, .qgz, .qgd, .qml, .qmd, .qlr) don't hold data. Upload the data files they refer to, or send the project to Felt with the QGIS plugin.
Data was missing some files	The Shapefile is missing one of its required .shp, .shx, or .dbf files. Select all the parts together, or put them in one .zip file, and upload again. Include the .prj file too, or projected data lands near 0° latitude, 0° longitude.
is larger than the maximum single file size or exceeds the max file size	The first message means the file is over the 100 GB browser limit. The second means an image or PDF is over the image limit. Split or compress the data, or connect it as a data source. See Data limits.
This file did not contain any location data	The file has no geometry or location columns. For a spreadsheet, check the column names in Spreadsheets and geocoding. For a vector file, open it in a desktop GIS and check that it contains features.
Couldn't find a column with address or location data	Felt couldn't find a column it could use to place the spreadsheet's rows. When the message adds Tried "column", but too few rows matched, fewer than 70% of that column's values matched. Choose the column in Geometry settings, which uses it even when fewer values match.
Geocoding addresses is limited to 10,000 rows	Felt geocodes up to 10,000 addresses per file. Split the file, or add latitude and longitude columns. See Geocoding.
This file contains more than 50 layers of data or This file contains more than 500 columns of data	A file can create up to 50 layers, and a layer can have up to 500 columns. Split a file with many datasets, such as a GeoPackage or .zip file, into several uploads, or remove the columns you don't need.
This type of KML file is not currently supported	The KML file has more than 50 folders, and each folder becomes a layer. Merge folders in Google Earth or a desktop GIS, or convert the file to GeoPackage, and upload again.
This file is empty or unsupported or Couldn't process this data	Felt opened the file but couldn't read features from it. The file may be empty, damaged, or a variant Felt doesn't read. Open it in QGIS or another desktop GIS, export it as GeoPackage or GeoJSON, and upload the exported file. For a .kmz file, unzip it and upload the .kml inside.
Something went wrong, and our team is investigating	Felt encountered an unexpected error. Try uploading again. If it fails again, convert the file to GeoPackage or GeoJSON, or contact [e-mail] with the file name and map link.

For link errors, such as Couldn't access data at remote URL, see Troubleshooting URLs.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet uploads as a table, or points don't appear

Felt didn't find location columns it could use. Check that coordinates are latitude and longitude, not UTM or other projected values, and that address columns have clear names. Then choose the columns in Geometry settings.

Addresses are missing or in the wrong place

Incomplete addresses can match a street with the same name elsewhere. Include the city, region, and country in the address or in their own columns, and remove notes from address cells. Then check the report in Review geocoding results.

Regions don't match

Geomatching uses a column when at least 70% of its values match. Spreadsheet apps often drop leading zeros, so store ZIP codes and FIPS codes as text at their full length, and remove ZIP+4 suffixes. Felt also matches at most five rows with the same value. See Rows that share a place.

Data in the wrong place

Vector data or raster lands in the wrong place

The file has no projection, or the wrong one, so Felt guessed. Add the Shapefile's .prj file, or assign the projection in a desktop GIS and export a GeoPackage or GeoTIFF. See Raster and imagery.

AutoCAD drawing lands in the wrong place or is missing objects

To place a drawing accurately, assign an earth-based coordinate system in AutoCAD. Felt also skips some objects from AutoCAD vertical products. See AutoCAD.

Photos all land in one place

Felt places uploaded photos where you drop them, even when they have GPS location data. When photos have location data, Felt shows Images have location data. Click Move to location to move each photo to where it was taken. Photos without GPS data in their EXIF metadata stay where you dropped them.