MBTiles (SQLite Tiles)
Open BetaMBTiles is a format for storing map tiles in a single SQLite file. Compact, fast, and convenient for offline maps and mobile applications. Here I hand over rendered raster tiles: the map is already drawn in the chosen style and opens without a server. If you need to restyle it yourself, take MBTiles Vector — the same container with vector tiles.
Key Features
About MBTiles Format
MBTiles is a Mapbox specification describing how to pack map tiles into a single SQLite file: a tiles table with zoom level, coordinates and the image, plus a metadata table with the name, bounds and zoom range. Instead of thousands of small files on disk you get one portable container understood by QGIS, TileServer GL, MapLibre and mobile apps.
The format is chosen when the map has to work without internet or be served from your own server: an offline layer in a mobile app, a backdrop on a field tablet, a local tile service for an internal portal. Copying and handing over one file is easier than a folder with tens of thousands of images.
The OSM2CDR export delivers raster MBTiles: the selected area is rendered on the server in your style and cut into 256x256 PNG tiles. By default zooms 10 through 16 are built, and the range is set at export time; rows are numbered in TMS order, as the specification requires, and the name, area bounds and zoom bounds are written into metadata. Inside are images, not vector tiles — the style is chosen at export and cannot be changed on the client.
What Program Opens MBTiles Files
The following programs and applications can open, edit, and work with MBTiles (SQLite Tiles) (.mbtiles) files exported from OSM2CDR:
Format specifications
- Open standard
- 2D only
- Lossless (no quality loss)
- No attributes
- Output: 1 file
- MBTiles SQLite container with rendered raster tiles. Opens in QGIS, OsmAnd, Locus Map, TileServer-GL. For restyleable vector tiles pick MBTiles Vector.
Who Uses MBTiles Maps
How to Export MBTiles
How to Open After Export
- QGIS (free) — drag the .mbtiles into the program window or add it through the Browser panel: the layer will sit as a backdrop under your data.
- TileServer GL or mbview — run a local tile server over the file and get an address of the form /{z}/{x}/{y}.png for Leaflet, MapLibre and OpenLayers.
- mb-util — unpack the container into a plain folder tree z/x/y.png if your hosting can only serve static files: mb-util map.mbtiles tiles/.
- DB Browser for SQLite — look inside: how many tiles were written, what is in metadata, which zoom range actually got built.
- A mobile app with MBTiles support — put the file into its maps folder; that is how an offline backdrop appears on a tablet with no internet.
Popular maps in MBTiles
Get MBTiles (SQLite Tiles) map exports
Download professional MBTiles maps from OpenStreetMap. Instant generation, any area.
Frequently Asked Questions
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