Loading data into QGIS Desktop

One strength of QGIS is its ability to load a large number of data types. In this section, we will cover loading various types of data into QGIS Desktop.

In general, data can be loaded in a number of ways. The main way, which will be covered in detail in this section, is to use the Data Source Manager.

Alternatively, using the Browser panel, navigate to the data you wish to load, and then either drag the data onto the Map Canvas or right-mouse click on it and choose Add Selected Layer(s) to canvas.

Under Settings | Add Layer from the main Menu.

Also, you can drag and drop data/files from your native operating systems file manager. Even ZIP files that contain .shp files can be added to the Map Canvas in this way.