How to get a GPX of a run from your Apple Watch
Apple doesn't let you export a single workout. As of iOS 27 and watchOS 27, the Fitness app shows your run, route and all, but has no export or save-as-file option. The route is there, though, and there are three good ways to get it out as a GPX.
Not sure whether you want GPX or FIT? The short version is here: GPX for the route, FIT for everything.
First: make sure the route was recorded
A run only has a route if Workout was allowed to use your location. On your iPhone, go to Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Apple Watch Workout, and choose While Using the App. Runs recorded with this off, and treadmill runs, have no route to export.
The easiest way: through Strava
If you already use Strava, let it pull the run from Apple Health, then export it from the Strava website.
- 01In the Strava app, go to Settings, Manage Apps and Devices, Health, and turn on Automatic Uploads. Or tap Import next to the run you want.
- 02On a computer (or your phone's browser in desktop mode), open the run on strava.com.
- 03Click … (More), then Export GPX.
Strava imports runs recorded in Apple's Workout app from the past 30 days. The full steps, including exporting from a phone, are in how to export a GPX from Strava.
With an export app
A few iPhone apps read your workouts from Apple Health and export them as files. Two well-established ones, with App Store prices as of October 2026:
HealthFit ($6.99 once) exports any workout as FIT, GPX or CSV to iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive, and can sync automatically to Strava, TrainingPeaks, COROS and others.
RunGap is free to download and connects to about 50 services, but exporting and sharing files needs its subscription ($4.99 a quarter or $14.99 a year).
Free, from Apple Health (every run at once)
Apple Health can export everything it holds, routes included. It's free, but it's all or nothing, and the file can be large.
- 01Open the Health app on your iPhone and go to Summary.
- 02Tap your picture or initials in the top right.
- 03Tap Export All Health Data, confirm, and wait. It can take a while.
- 04Save or send the export.zip it produces (Save to Files or AirDrop to a computer is easiest), then unzip it.
- 05Open the workout-routes folder. Each route is its own GPX, named by the date and time it started, like route_2026-11-01_9.45am.gpx.
These GPX files carry position, elevation, time and speed, but not heart rate.
Things to know first
A GPX is exact. If the run starts at your door, so does the file. Trim the first and last few hundred meters before posting it anywhere public.
Pick by what you need. Already on Strava: use Strava. Want one run now, with heart rate: an export app. Want everything, free, and don't mind digging: Apple Health.
What to do with it
A GPX is the shape of the run as your watch saw it. Laurels draws from exactly that: shorts embroidered with the route, the time and the weeks behind it. The free tools (Race Wrapped, Run Receipts, Run Song) will take a GPX when they open.
Common questions
Can you export a GPX from the Apple Fitness app?
No. As of iOS 27, the Fitness app shows a workout's route but has no export option. Use Strava, an export app like HealthFit, or Apple Health's Export All Health Data.
Where are Apple Watch routes in the Health export?
In the workout-routes folder inside the unzipped export, one GPX per workout, named by the date and time it started.
Why doesn't my Apple Watch run have a route?
Location access for Apple Watch Workout was probably off, or the run was indoors or on a treadmill. Check Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Apple Watch Workout, and set it to While Using the App for future runs.
Does the Apple Health GPX include heart rate?
No. The route files in Apple's Health export hold position, elevation, time and speed only. Export through Strava or an app like HealthFit if you need heart rate in the file.
Keep reading
Laurels makes custom embroidered running shorts, drawn from your own GPS data.
See the shorts →