NeverChill

Free tool

Crush a bloated GPX down to a clean, shareable track.

Reduce a 10,000-point GPX, FIT, or TCX down to a 500-point file that draws the same route with a fraction of the data. Douglas-Peucker decimation, adjustable target, side-by-side preview, free, in-browser. Perfect for old Garmin units with point caps, route-planner imports, embedded maps, and anywhere file size matters more than per-meter fidelity.

8,412 pointsbecomes500 points

How it works

  1. 1

    Drop a file

    GPX, FIT, or TCX with too many trackpoints - we have all seen them.

  2. 2

    Pick a target point count

    100 to 5,000 points. Default 500 is plenty for most routes.

  3. 3

    Download the simplified file

    Same format in, same format out. The track on the map looks identical.

What you get

  • Douglas-Peucker decimation with an adjustable target point count
  • Side-by-side original vs simplified map preview at the same zoom
  • Live trackpoint-count diff and file-size before-and-after
  • Same format in, same format out (GPX, FIT, or TCX)
  • Elevation field carried through on every kept point - we never resample
  • Works offline - file stays on your device

When to use this

Use it whenever you have a recording file that is too big for its job. Classic cases: loading a route onto an older Garmin Edge with a point cap, importing into a route planner that chokes past a few thousand points, embedding a map on a blog post or share page where load time matters, sending a route over email or chat without hitting attachment limits, or simply tidying up files for archival. The common thread is "I want the shape of the route, not every GPS sample" - simplification preserves the first and reduces the second.

How it works under the hood

Douglas-Peucker works recursively. Start with the first and last points of the track and the line connecting them. Find the trackpoint furthest from that line. If the distance exceeds a tolerance, keep that point and recurse on the two sub-segments. If it does not, drop every intermediate point. Repeat until no segment has an intermediate point further than the tolerance. Our implementation does an inverse twist - instead of setting a distance tolerance, we set a target point count and binary-search the tolerance that produces that count. So you say "give me 500 points" and the algorithm finds the right epsilon. The result is a guaranteed point count with the shape preserved as well as the algorithm can manage.

Common mistakes

The big mistakes are over-simplifying and under-simplifying. Over-simplifying means setting the target so low that genuine route features (a sharp turn, a hairpin, a roundabout) get collapsed into a straight line - which can break Strava segment matches or look weird on a map. Under-simplifying defeats the purpose - if you go from 10,000 points to 8,000, the file is still too big for the platform you were trying to fit. The sweet spot is the lowest point count that still has all the turns visible in the preview. For a typical 50-100km road ride, 500-1000 points covers it. For tight singletrack with constant direction changes, you need closer to 2000-3000.

Frequently asked questions

Why would I want to simplify a route?
Three reasons. First, some platforms cap GPX uploads at a few thousand points - Ride With GPS, older Garmin units (Edge 800, Edge 810, Touring), and several route planners reject files past their limit. Second, embedding maps online is much faster with fewer points - a 500-point route renders instantly on a mobile browser, a 10,000-point route takes seconds. Third, sharing a 50KB file beats sharing a 5MB file, especially over email or messaging apps.
Does this lose elevation detail?
Some, yes. The simplified track skips trackpoints that fall close to the line between their neighbours, and a few of those points carry elevation samples you will no longer have. Total ascent for the activity stays within 1-2% of the original. Per-trackpoint elevation accuracy degrades only at the deleted points - the kept points carry their original elevation untouched.
Is Douglas-Peucker the best simplification algorithm?
For preserving visual route shape at a target point count, yes - it is the standard choice for cartographic line generalisation. For preserving the elevation profile specifically, Visvalingam-Whyatt is slightly better because it considers triangle area rather than perpendicular distance. We are looking at adding it as an option - email hello@neverchill.com if it matters to you.
Will my Strava segments still match after simplification?
Mostly yes, but with caveats. Strava matches segments by detecting whether your route passes through the segment's start, end, and a few interior gate points. If the simplification keeps points near each gate, the segment matches. If you simplify aggressively (down to 100 points on a 50km ride), you may skip a gate by enough meters that Strava rejects the match. For Strava-uploaded rides, do not simplify below ~800 points on a 50km route.
Why not just use a lower-resolution recording in the first place?
Most head units record at 1Hz, which gives you one point per second regardless of how fast you are moving - and that is what produces 10,000+ point files on long rides. The recording side is mostly fixed; the simplification has to happen after the fact. A few units support "smart" recording which adapts the rate to motion, but it tends to under-sample on twisty descents.
Does simplification change the activity's total distance?
Slightly. Distance is summed from segment-to-segment haversine distances, and removing intermediate points means cutting a few short zigzags into straight lines. Expect 0.1-0.3% reduction in total distance for typical simplification targets. Not enough to matter for training, definitely not enough to matter for navigation.
Can I simplify a route to use on an older Garmin Edge with the 500-point cap?
Yes, and this is one of the most common use cases. Set the target to 500 points (or whatever your specific unit caps at - some are 200, some are 1000), download the simplified file, and load it onto the Edge. The unit will accept it cleanly. If you are loading as a FIT course, also run it through our [GPX to FIT Course Converter](/tools/gpx-to-fit-course) afterwards.
What about timestamps and other recorded fields?
Timestamps on the kept points are preserved. Removed points lose their timestamps along with everything else. For recorded activities this means the moving-time math might shift by a second or two; for route files (no recorded times) this is a no-op.

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