Beginners' guide
This Beginners' guide will show you how to add data to OpenStreetMap. Tutorials 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.
This guide is organised into five stages as follows:
- To join the community so that you can contribute.
- To collect data using a GPS unit or by other methods.
- To upload GPS data (skip this section if you are not using GPS).
- To edit maps to make changes to OpenStreetMap.
- To edit data, add tags and upload changes.
- To render maps.
- Finally, there is a page of additional resources and next steps including some other excellent tutorials.
At the end of this tutorial you will have added a small amount of unique new data to OpenStreetMap which will be available to millions of people around the world forever for free. Some people make only a few small adjustments or additions to the map. They may correct the name of single street name, or add one point of interest and then move on; others become prolific contributors and add thousands of features over a long period of time. Whatever your plans, thank you for making OpenStreetMap just that bit better!
There is a panel on the right of every page of the tutorial. The page you are on will be in bold text and you can move to any other page by clicking on the relevant page title. The bottom of each page has 'next' and 'previous' links, as appropriate, to take you through the tutorial page by page.
