Locus Map can also work with external offline maps acquired from other sources - PC software, cartography publishers, and other map providers. The easiest way to get the maps into the app is to import them.

You can import a map file from both Locus Map and from any file browser.

• open the Map Manager
• tap + and select Import map
• choose from a selection of available drives
• choose the map file to import (unsupported files are greyed out):
  

• find the map file in your local storage
• long-press its name and select open or send to
• choose Locus Map from the list of available apps
• confirm importing the map file:
  

Another option is to add the map files manually. Choose this if you need to insert multiple map files, vector maps or map themes. The files can be inserted into the /Android/Media directory:

• maps in SQLiteDB, MBT, Gemf etc. formats
• /Android/Media/menion.android.locus/Maps directory. It is placed both in the internal storage and on the external SD card so if you want to save some space in your internal storage, use the latter.
• Copy the map files into this directory via a system or third-party file manager
• Restart Locus Map

• maps in .map format, .db POI databases
• /Android/Media/menion.android.locus/MapsVector directory. It is placed both in the internal storage and on the external SD card, so if you want to save some space in your internal storage, use the latter.
• Copy the map files into this directory via a system or third-party file manager
• Restart Locus Map

• open the Map manager > Offline tab
• tap in the bottom right corner
• select External maps:
  
• browse your device's internal storage or SD card
• select the map file (or the whole directory with external map(s)) and confirm
• the map emerges in the Map manager Offline tab in a folder named after the map file's parent directory. The directory appears as a new folder below, the default Maps folder Offline tab.

There is a huge amount of map file formats, and Locus Map is proud to be one of the few to support so many of them:

• SQLite (*.sqlitedb, sometimes referred to as RMaps) - plain SQLite database, with a tile table, that contains x, y, z, image columns with required data. Coordinates are computed by the Slippy map system. SQLite files created by Locus Map when downloading online maps work fine, but there can be problems with some SQLites from other sources. Some of corrupted SQLite databases can be repaired >>
• TAR - as we mentioned before, it is an obsolete map format, however, with wide support and available map material. For example famous OZI Explorer. This software uses its own OZFX v2/v3 map format together with a calibration *.map file. TAR format is a very simple archive containing one *.map calibration file (including name, calibration points, datum, projection specifications, and more) and map images.
• MBT - MBTiles is SQLite based map format, maintained by MapBox company.
• RMAP - an undocumented map format. Support by Locus Map is limited, and not all projections and map format versions work.
• IMG - Garmin maps format. To some extent, Locus Map can work with non-paid and unlocked maps in this format, but it is not able to detect their coverage; therefore, some map features like auto-load or Quick map switch do not work with them.
• GEMF (*.gemf) - GEMF Map Store Format is fast and efficient. It enables storing raster map tiles in the same format (PNG, JPEG only) as SQLite, but in a faster and more efficient way. Unfortunately, it is not widespread much.
• MapsForge (*.map) - The MapsForge project is aimed on supporting OpenStreetMap-based Android applications. It provides its own binary format for OSM data, enabling applications to render their own maps on the fly from raw information. More on MapsForge homepage.
• OruxMaps - SQL-based format of maps designed for the OruxMaps application.
• Backcountry Navigator, Gaia GPS, Maverick - their designated map formats

If you come across a map file in a format not included in this list and you would like to use it in Locus Map, there is no need to worry. There is a lot of desktop conversion software to solve the problem.