How to View Google Maps Location History

On Mar 10, 2020

The Google Maps location history lets you see all the places you’ve been to with your phone. It records the locations you go to, stores them in its database, and lets you view it wherever and whenever you want.

This database of the places you’ve been to is accessible from most devices, including your desktop computer, iPhone, and Android devices. All you basically need to do is access the Google Maps app on your device and you can view your Google location history on maps

Enable/Disable Google Maps Location History

You must make sure the feature is enabled in your account before you can use it. It can be turned on and off on all three device types shown below.

Turn On/Off Location History On Desktop

If you’re on a desktop computer and you want to turn Google location history on or off, you don’t actually need to install any apps to do it. You can get the task done from any of the web browsers on your computer.

Open a new tab in your browser and head over to the Google Maps website. Log into your Google account if you aren’t already.
Click on the three horizontal-lines at the top-left corner of your screen and a new menu will appear.

Select Your data in Maps from this new menu.

On the following screen, click on the option underneath Location History.

You can now turn the Location History toggle to ON and OFF.

Turn On/Off Location History On Android

If you’re on an Android device, then you’re going to need to install the Google Maps app on your phone first. It comes preloaded on most phones and you should find it in your app drawer, if it isn’t already on your home screen.

Launch the Google Maps app on your phone.
Tap on your profile icon at the top-right corner.

From the newly opened menu, select the option that says Settings. It’ll open Maps’ settings.

Select the Personal content option on the following screen.

Scroll down until you see the Location settings section. Here, you’ll find an option that says Location History is on. Tap on it to open it.

You should now see a toggle on your screen letting you enable and disable the Google location history feature on your Android device.

Turn On/Off Location History On iPhone

iPhone users also need the Google Maps app to enable and use the Google Maps location history feature. Once you’ve grabbed the app off the App Store, the following is how you manage Google location history settings on your iPhone.

Open the Google Maps app on your iPhone.
Tap on your profile icon at the top-right corner of your screen and select the option that says Settings.

Scroll down on the following screen and tap on the Personal content option.

Tap on the Location History settings option on the screen that follows.

Use the toggle next to Location History to turn the feature ON or OFF.

View Google Location History On Maps

After you’ve enabled the feature and it has recorded some of the places you’ve been to, you can then view your Google Maps location history on any of your devices.

While your Android and iPhone shouldn’t have any difficulties showing you your Maps timeline, the timeline actually looks better on a desktop and is recommended you access it from your computer if possible.

Access Your Location History On The Desktop

Once again, if you’re on a desktop, you don’t need an app or software to access your location history. You can view it on the official Google Maps website.

Launch a new tab in your browser and open the Google Maps website.
Click on the three horizontal-lines at the top left corner of your screen and choose Your places.

There’ll be four tabs on the following screen. Click on the tab that says Visited and it’ll open.

You should now see a list of all the places you’ve visited while the location history feature was turned on. It’ll also tell you the date when you visited a place. You can click on a location to open it in the Maps.

If you want to view your location history in a more interactive and fun way, you can access the Google Maps timeline page. It shows your visited places on a map date-wise.

View Your Location History On Android

On an Android device, you can use the Google Maps app to access your location history.

Launch the Google Maps app.
Tap on your profile icon at the top and choose Your Timeline.

Tap on Today at the top and select the date you want to view the history for.

Tap on Places, Cities, or World to see your visited places on a map.

View Google Maps Location History On iPhone

You can use the Google Maps app on your iPhone to view your location history.

Open the Maps app.
Tap on your profile icon at the top and select Your timeline.

Tap on the calendar icon at the top and choose a date to view your history.

It’ll show your location history.

Share Your Google Maps Location

Google Maps is a lifesaver app for many people as it helps you from getting lost and shows the directions you should be taking. One of its features lets you share your location with your near and dear ones.

If you’re on a trip or somewhere out and about and you want your family to be able to keep track of your whereabouts, you can share your real-time location using the app.

Launch the app on your mobile device.
Tap on your profile icon and choose Location sharing.

Choose the duration you want to share your location. Then select the contact to share the location with and hit Share.

When did you find out that Google has something called Timeline to let you view your location history on your devices? Do you find it useful? Let us know your thoughts about it in the comments below.