How to delete Google Maps history

Google Maps tracks your location history to provide faster search results, more accurate recommendations, and wait time estimates. The more data you share with Google, the more personalized your experience with the service becomes. While this can be helpful, it can alarm privacy-conscious individuals that Google is recording all of your movements. To delete your Google Maps history, follow these steps.

Read more: How to delete your Google search history

How to delete Google Maps search history

When creating an account, Google will enable by default Web & App Activity to collect your data and use it to provide you with more personalized experiences across all Google services. Google Maps uses this data to keep track of recent places you’ve visited, reviewed, shared, or searched. Fortunately, if you don’t want to share specific directions or a location you’ve visited with Google, you can delete it.

Delete Google Maps history from the app

Open the Google Maps app on your phone or tablet and sign in. Then tap your Account icon in the top right corner and select Settings.

Under the Settings menu, tap Map history.

From this page, you can view your activity, delete it manually, or choose to delete it automatically. Next to the items you want to delete, tap the X icon and remove to confirm your decision.

Delete Google Maps history from a computer

Open Google Maps in your web browser, then click Menu in the top left corner. From there click Cards activity.

Here you can view your activity, delete it manually or choose to delete it automatically using specific controls.

You will find your recently visited locations listed below and can clear them by clicking the X icon and choosing remove.

To delete previous trips or locations, you can search for them or select a date range by pressing the remove drop-down menu to the right of Filter by date.

How to delete all or part of Google Maps history

If you don’t want Google Maps to be recorded wherever you’ve been or where you’ve been, you can delete your entire history. This is an excellent method for sharing data with other Google services, but not with Google Maps. Otherwise it’s probably best to disable Web & App Activity in your account settings.

Keep in mind that deleting your entire Google Maps history won’t delete the places you’ve saved, shared, or rated.

Delete Google Maps history from the app

Open the Google Maps app on your Android phone or tablet and sign in. Then tap your Account Circle in the top right corner and select Settings.

Under the Settings menu, tap Map history.

This is where you will find your Maps activity settings. Press remove to display a menu of different time ranges that can be cleared.

If you select Automatically delete, Google will delete your map history every 18 months, so you don’t have to do it manually every time.

Delete Google Maps history from a computer

Open Google Maps in your web browser and then click Menu in the top left corner. From there click Cards activity.

Here you can view your activity, delete it manually or choose to delete it automatically using specific controls.

First click on the remove menu next to the Filter by date section to delete all your history.

Finally select Always and then click remove. You can return to this page to set up automatic deletions of your Maps history to prevent this from happening automatically every time.

Clear Location History in Google Maps

Location history is a setting in your Google Account that keeps track of where you go on every device you’re signed in to. Benefits include access to personalized cards, get recommendations based on places you’ve visited, help you find your phone, and get real-time traffic updates on your commute. You can restrict which devices provide location data or disable it to stop the process completely. However, the previous activity is not removed from your location history when it is turned off.

Clear all or a range of location history from the app

Open Google Maps on your phone or tablet. Tap you Account Circle in the top right corner and tap Your timeline.

You’ll see a timeline for the stops you’ve made so far today. To remove a particular stop, select the three-dot icons next to it. Tap on . to delete all your trips for that day Today and choose Remove.

To clear all your location history or a specific range, navigate to your Settings and privacy and select Delete all location history or Scope Delete Location History.

Clear location history from a computer

open you Google Maps Timeline from a web browser. Then click on the trash can icon at the bottom right.

To clear a single day of location data or a single stopover on your journey, first select the appropriate date in the Timeline in the top left corner.

Then click the trash can to delete all day, click the three dots next to a single stop and click Remove stop from day.