How to open .DAE files (COLLADA 3D models) on Android, Windows and Linux

You downloaded a model from an online 3D library, a colleague exported a building from SketchUp, or a game asset pack arrived as a folder of .dae files and pictures. Windows has no built-in program for them, and neither does your phone.

A .dae file is a COLLADA 3D model. Folders opens it, and the 3D models packed into Google Earth .kmz files, in its built-in 3D viewer on Android and Windows, for free and offline.

What is a .DAE file?

DAE stands for Digital Asset Exchange, the file extension of COLLADA, a format designed for moving 3D scenes between programs. It started at Sony Computer Entertainment and is now looked after by the Khronos Group, the same group that maintains glTF.

A DAE file is XML text. It describes meshes, materials, cameras, lights, skeletons and animations, and it points to texture images that are stored as separate files beside it. It also records which axis is “up”, since some programs work with Y up and others, SketchUp among them, with Z up.

glTF has largely taken over for finished models, but you still meet DAE in SketchUp exports, robot descriptions, older game assets and model libraries.

Extension	What it is
.dae	A COLLADA model or scene: XML text, with textures as separate images
.kmz	A zipped Google Earth file: a KML document, and sometimes a COLLADA model with its textures

A KMZ is mostly about maps: places, routes and overlays. When it carries a 3D building or object, that object is a .dae inside the zip.

How to open a .DAE file with Folders

1. Install Folders from the download page and let it see your files.
2. Find the model. If you’re not sure where it went, search for .dae from any folder.
3. Keep the textures with it. If the model came in a ZIP, open the ZIP in Folders and use Extract all first, then open the .dae from the extracted folder, so its pictures sit next to it.
4. Tap the .dae (or .kmz). The 3D viewer opens it, with a progress bar for big scenes.

From another app on Android, choose Open with → Folders (a .dae sent on its own arrives without its textures). On Windows, right-click the file in File Explorer and choose Open with → Folders, or open it from Folders itself. On Linux the 3D viewer isn’t available yet, because it needs a web view the Linux build lacks; Folders offers Open with… to pass the model to another program.

What you can do with it in Folders

• Textures. Folders loads the images the model names, looking in the model’s folder. If any are missing, a notice headed Part of the model is missing lists the file names it couldn’t find.
• Animations. COLLADA files can carry animated characters or machinery. Open Animations to pick a clip, or Play all together.
• Details. Meshes, vertices, triangles, materials, textures, animations and the size in model units.
• The right way up. The viewer follows the up axis written in the file; if a model still lies flat, use Z axis is up.
• Wireframe, Ground grid, Axes, Auto-rotate and Save screenshot.
• KMZ files. Folders shows the COLLADA model inside, with the textures packed alongside it. Placemarks and routes aren’t drawn.

It’s a viewer: no editing, measuring or converting.

Other ways to open .DAE files

• SketchUp: imports DAE and KMZ, and is where many of these files come from.
• MeshLab (free, Windows and Linux): opens DAE for viewing and converting.
• Online 3D Viewer (3dviewer.net): opens DAE in a web browser, a phone’s included.
• Google Earth Pro (free): the natural home for KMZ files, placing models and placemarks on the globe.

Problems opening a .DAE file?

The model is white or grey. Its textures are missing. DAE keeps them as separate image files, and they’re often lost when only the .dae is sent. Ask for the whole folder or a ZIP, extract it, and open the model from there. The Part of the model is missing notice tells you which files to look for.

The texture paths point to someone else’s computer. Exporters sometimes write full paths such as C:\Users\…\textures\wall.jpg. Folders also looks for those file names in the model’s own folder, so putting the images next to the .dae usually fixes it.

A KMZ says it doesn’t contain any visible geometry. That KMZ holds only map data, such as placemarks, routes or image overlays, with no model inside. Open it in Google Earth instead.

It won’t open at all. A cut-off download leaves the XML unfinished. Download it again, or re-export it from the original program.

Questions people ask

Can I open a DAE file on Android? Yes. Folders opens it in its 3D viewer, offline. Keep the textures in the same folder for the full look.

How do I convert DAE to OBJ or STL? Folders doesn’t convert models. MeshLab can export a DAE as OBJ or STL, and SketchUp and other 3D programs can re-export it.

DAE vs FBX: what’s the difference? Both carry whole scenes with materials and animation. DAE is an open XML standard; FBX is Autodesk’s format, usually binary, and more common in game and animation work today.

What is a KMZ file? A Google Earth file: a zipped KML document, sometimes with a 3D model inside. Folders shows that model; Google Earth shows the whole thing on the map.

See also: GLB and glTF files and FBX files, or the list of all 382 file types Folders opens.