What is a .SHX file?
SHX is the index part of an Esri shapefile, paired with .shp and .dbf.
- Did you know
- A shapefile is really a set of files, and SHX is the index that speeds up access to the shapes.
- SHX records the byte offset and length of every shape in the .shp, letting software jump straight to a feature.
- It is one of a shapefile’s mandatory trio - the .shp, .shx and .dbf must all travel together.
- What Analyser reads
- Inspect geospatial and GIS files without a map: TopoJSON, OpenStreetMap XML, Esri Shapefile siblings (SHP/SHX/DBF/PRJ/CPG), world files, GML, NMEA GPS logs, IGC flight logs, MapInfo TAB/MIF, GDAL VRT, PMTiles, DTED terrain, Esri ASCII grids and SRTM .hgt - surfacing CRS/EPSG, feature/record counts, bounding boxes and elevation ranges. GRIB/NetCDF/GeoPackage/MBTiles/MrSID/ECW identified.
- Depth of analysis
- .SHX is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .SHX file
- Drag a .SHX file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.