In today’s fast-paced world filled with endless activities and destinations, keeping track of where you've been can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, Google Maps offers a powerful tool that maintains a detailed record of your phone’s location history, helping you recall past visits and relive memorable moments with ease.

Viewing your location history on Google Maps is straightforward and functions nearly identically across both Android and iPhone devices. As long as the feature is activated, it acts like a private digital diary—mapping out every place you've been, accessible only to you. If you're curious to explore this function and start rediscovering old adventures, continue reading for a step-by-step guide.

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Enable Location History

To begin accessing your location history, ensure the feature is turned on. If it hasn’t been enabled before, your past data won’t be available—yet—but tracking will start from the moment you activate it.

Launch Google Maps and tap the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner to open the side panel. Then, select "Settings" on Android or the gear icon on iOS. Next, choose "Personal content."

Accessing settings for Google Maps on Android (left) vs. iOS (right).

Accessing settings for Google Maps on Android (left) vs. iOS (right).

Scroll down to find the "Location History" option. If it says "Location History is off," the feature is disabled. If it’s active, you’ll see either "Location History is on" or "Location History settings." Tap on it, then toggle it on. On Android, confirm by tapping "Turn On." This setting syncs across all devices linked to your Google account.

Additionally, on Android, make sure your current device is toggled on under the "Devices on this account" section within the Location History settings.

Turning on Location History on Android (left) vs. iOS (right).

Turning on Location History on Android (left) vs. iOS (right).

Enable Always-On Location Access

For the Timeline feature to work accurately, Google Maps needs continuous access to your device’s location.

On Android, go back to "Personal content" settings and tap on "Location is on" or "Location is off." Ensure that "Use location" or "Location" is enabled. For Android 10 and later, tap "App permission," locate Google Maps in the list, and set its permission to "Allow all the time" if it isn’t already.

Enabling location services for Maps on Android.

Enabling location services for Maps on Android.

On iPhone, if the toggle is already on in the Location History settings, you’re set. Otherwise, from the "Personal content" screen, tap "Location Services is not set to always," which redirects you to the iOS settings for Google Maps. Alternatively, open the Settings app, select "Google Maps," then go to "Location" and set it to "Always."

Enabling location services for Maps on iOS.

Enabling location services for Maps on iOS.

Access Your Timeline

Once everything is properly configured, open Google Maps and tap the hamburger menu again. This time, select "Your timeline." You’ll be taken to your current day’s location log. To browse previous days, simply swipe right on the info card located at the bottom half of the screen.

For deeper exploration, tap the calendar icon in the top-right corner to view a monthly summary. The current month will appear with gray and white dots indicating days with recorded locations.

Gray dots represent days with a single recorded location, while white dots indicate multiple stops. No dot means no data was logged. To navigate to earlier months, swipe right.

Tapping any highlighted date opens a detailed view of that day’s journey. You can either tap a location pin or swipe up from the bottom to see exact arrival times, duration of stay, and any photos taken at that spot.

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