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How To Download Google Maps Offline – If you’re lost and don’t have phone service, you can still get directions with these tips.
Nelson Aguilar is an LA-based tech how-to writer and UCLA graduate. With over a decade of experience, he covers Apple and Google and writes on iPhone and Android features, privacy and security settings, and more.
How To Download Google Maps Offline
In early January of this year, my friends and I got lost while driving back to our cabin in Mariposa, near Yosemite National Park. A massive snowstorm has just hit the Sierra Nevada mountains, and as a result, many busy highways, roads and streets have been closed. We wanted to save time on our drive, so we decided to take a shortcut (bad decision) — and of course we soon realized we were headed in the wrong direction. Also, neither of us had cell service, so we couldn’t use Google Maps to find our way back.
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Finally, after several hours of trying different roads, we made it to our cabin, but we could have avoided all that trouble by just downloading Google Maps offline (and also by not taking that “shortcut”). Even without internet service, Google Maps can still help you navigate where you need to go — you just need to download the right map.
If you’re planning a trip to a place where you may not have Internet service, you should download a map (or several) offline on Google Maps. Here’s what you need to know.
Want to see other Google Maps tips and tricks? See how to blur your home on Google Maps and three new Google Maps features you’ll want to know about.
First, you don’t need to download Google Maps in its entirety. On the other hand, before your trip, you need to download a specific area, which can be a city, county or region where you will spend time and may not have service on your phone.
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To download maps in Google Maps offline, open the Google Maps app on iOS or Android and tap your profile picture in the top right (you must be signed in to your Google account for this to work). In the menu that appears, tap Offline Maps > Choose Your Own Map.
Use your finger to place the map you want to download within the rectangular border. Use one finger to move across the map, and two-finger pinch to zoom in and out. As you move around the map, you’ll see how much storage space the download will take up on your phone. Once you’re happy with the area, tap Download.
Note: Alternatively, you can type a city or other area into Google Maps and then press the Download button that appears in the pull-down window to download the map offline, but this only works on iPhone.
You must be connected to Wi-Fi to download the map. If you want to download via cellular, go to the offline maps page, tap the gear icon in the top right, tap When to download offline maps and select Via Wi-Fi or mobile network. Once your map is downloaded, you will be sent back to the Offline maps page, where you can view all of your offline maps.
How To Use Google Maps Offline
You can only download maps that are a maximum of 250 MB in size (what will appear in the selected map as roughly the size of Maine). Nelson Aguilar
Now you can use Google Maps even when you’re offline in the area you downloaded — and only in that area. You won’t get very accurate travel times or alternative route options because traffic and other road issues aren’t taken into account, but you’ll get a general idea of how long your trip will take. Transit, biking and walking directions are also not available offline — only driving directions.
You’ll know you’re using your offline map when you see a little cloud icon with a line through it in Google Maps. Nelson Aguilar
If you want more tips about Google in general, be sure to read the Google Home settings you need to change ASAP and this deep dive on Google’s Pixel 7 and the settings you need to adjust . You can already get directions to almost any destination at the push of a button thanks to apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze. But without an Internet connection, this navigation app can only do so much.
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Google aims to fix that with a new update to Google Maps. The company announced on Tuesday that it’s bringing a handful of useful new features to Google Maps that make it work better without an Internet connection. Google Maps users will now be able to search for specific locations, get turn-by-turn driving directions and receive information about the place (hours of operation, contact information, star rating) offline.
Google Maps users will still need to download a map for a specific area before going offline to use the new feature.
If a map for a specific area has been downloaded, Google will automatically start offline mode when the user is in an area without service. The company updates these maps as well, so users don’t have to worry about out-of-date locations. Then, when the user returns to the area with the service, Google Maps will switch back to online mode.
The new feature is available for Android from November 10, with an iOS update coming later this year. Google previously detailed the Maps update during its I/O conference in May, but didn’t offer a release until now.
How To Download Google Maps For Use When You Don’t Have Data Or Internet Connection
Many navigation apps are capable of retrieving directions without an Internet connection, since the GPS sensors in smartphones do not require a connection to track the user’s location. While this new functionality is a big boon for Google Maps users, Nokia’s HERE app has been offering it for some time. With HERE, users can download maps for offline use, find places, and get turn-by-turn directions without a connection similar to the updated Google Maps. Apple Maps does not have an offline mode, but it stores information that users have requested. Google Maps has a great feature built into it that allows you to download maps from specific regions for offline use. This feature is perfect for when you need a map, and you know you won’t have any cellular coverage or you don’t want to waste your precious limited data on navigation tasks.
Just before the big trip, you can follow this tutorial to download any region on Google Maps for your offline viewing pleasure on your iPhone or iPad!
Google states that you can download up to 120,000 square kilometers of map space at a time and downloads can sometimes exceed 1,725 megabytes. The region you want to download is adjustable, so of course, you don’t have to download the full 120,000 square kilometers if you don’t want to.
Also keep in mind that offline maps have an expiration date, so you may need to re-download the map if you downloaded the offline map too long ago and try to access it again in the future.
How To View Maps Offline
1) Open the Google Maps app and find the location you want to save for offline navigation. We will use
2) After loading the area, tap the white banner at the bottom of the Google Maps app to reveal more information about the location.
5) Your download will begin and you will be returned to the Google Maps interface when the download is complete.
1) Launch the Google Maps app on your iOS device and tap your profile picture from the top right.
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4) Now, you will see the offline map download expiration date, you can even delete the offline map or update it manually.
And that’s how you manage your offline maps in Google Maps! Easy right? Have you used the offline map feature in Google Maps before? Share your experience with it below! Spotty cellular reception is a fact of life we all have to deal with, especially when you’re traveling. For those of us who depend on our navigation, driving through areas with poor mobile data service can cause severe headaches.
Thankfully, Google Maps gets around this problem with a feature that lets you download your route, which can be a lifesaver if you get lost in an area with poor reception. This feature works for both Android and iPhone, but the process is slightly different between the two. Either way, we’ve got you covered below, so read on to learn how to download routes in Google Maps for offline use.
Before you start downloading maps, you need to make sure location services are enabled. There are two ways to access these settings for Android devices — you can go to your phone’s Settings app and search for “Location,” then make sure the switch at the top of the Location page is turned on, or you can access your phone’s Quick Settings panel and tap on the “Location” tile if you have tiles set there.
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From there, make sure Google Maps has access to location services by going
