Beginners' guide

Help

Available languages — Beginners' guide

• azərbaycanca • Bahasa Melayu • bosanski • català • čeština • dansk • Deutsch • eesti • English • español • français • hrvatski • italiano • latviešu • lietuvių • magyar • Nederlands • norsk nynorsk • polski • português • português do Brasil • română • shqip • slovenčina • slovenščina • suomi • svenska • Tiếng Việt • Türkçe • српски / srpski • русский • українська • Ελληνικά • ไทย • 한국어 • 日本語 • 中文（简体）‎ • 中文（繁體）‎ • עברית • العربية • فارسی

Other languages — Help us translate this wiki

• Afrikaans • Alemannisch • asturianu • Bahasa Indonesia • Bân-lâm-gú • Basa Jawa • Baso Minangkabau • brezhoneg • corsu • Esperanto • euskara • Frysk • Gaeilge • Gàidhlig • galego • Hausa • Igbo • interlingua • Interlingue • isiXhosa • isiZulu • íslenska • Kiswahili • Kreyòl ayisyen • Kréyòl gwadloupéyen • Kurdî • Lëtzebuergesch • Malagasy • Malti • Nedersaksies • norsk bokmål • occitan • Oromoo • oʻzbekcha/ўзбекча • Plattdüütsch • Soomaaliga • Vahcuengh • Wolof • Yorùbá • Zazaki • беларуская • български • қазақша • македонски • монгол • тоҷикӣ • Հայերեն • ქართული • नेपाली • मराठी • हिन्दी • অসমীয়া • বাংলা • ਪੰਜਾਬੀ • ગુજરાતી • ଓଡ଼ିଆ • தமிழ் • తెలుగు • ಕನ್ನಡ • മലയാളം • සිංහල • မြန်မာဘာသာ • ລາວ • ភាសាខ្មែរ • ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ • አማርኛ • 吴语 • 粵語 • ייִדיש • اردو • پښتو • سنڌي • ދިވެހިބަސް

Get help

About OpenStreetMap

Browsing

How to contribute

Contribute map data

Editors

±

Beginners' guide Introduction Join the community Sources of information Pick your data collection technique Using satnav tracelog (optional) Convert tracelog to GPX (optional) Upload tracelog Tracing aerial imagery (optional) Enable and align aerial imagery Edit OSM data General tips Adding Tags Simple online editor JOSM Uploading changes See your work and start using data Additional help and resources (optional) This Beginners' Guide will show you how to add data to OpenStreetMap. Translations are available in many languages which you can select from the table at the top of this page. You need a computer connected to the Internet and some time to gather information and then enter it. A GPS unit and connecting cable are purely optional, but will be required if you want to collect data that way. Given the excellent aerial photography available in the editors these days, a GPS is less important than in the early days of the project. Navigate this guide "Core topics" (see below) will take 5-7 minutes of your time, but may save hours Use "Next step" section or a panel on the right. The page you are on will be bold. You can skip (optional) headings and links, but you may miss some important information. It may take 15-20 minutes to read all relevant information. You can safely skip "See also" sections, they are to show you where to seek for additional help No need to hurry, you can return to this guide at any second with your questions Core topics Join the community - you will start here Sources of information - you will use mainly your memory Pick your data collection technique - memory, pencil & paper, or more advanced techniques Edit OSM data provides quick overview of our data model and editors Adding Tags will explain how to seek information about tags See your work and start using data will explain why OpenStreetMap is not the map at openstreetmap.org Next step Join the community