Guide

How to export your Google Maps Timeline (Android and iPhone)

Your Google Maps Timeline now lives only on your phone. Exporting it gives you a single file with your whole location history: a copy you control, that you can back up, and that you can open on a computer. It takes about a minute.

Before you start

• An export only contains what's on that phone. Since Google moved Timeline onto devices, each phone keeps its own history. If you changed phones, see moving to a new phone below.
• The file holds your precise location history. Treat it like a passport scan: keep it somewhere private, and only open it in tools you trust.
• Timeline has to be switched on for there to be anything to export. You'll find the switch in the same settings as the export button.

On Android

1. Open your phone's Settings app.
2. Go to Location, then Location services, then Timeline. (On some phones the menu names differ slightly; searching Settings for "Timeline" usually finds it.)
3. Tap Export Timeline data, then Continue.
4. Choose where to save the file. It's usually called Timeline.json.

You can also reach Timeline from the Google Maps app: tap your profile picture, then Your Timeline, and look for the export option in its settings.

On iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Tap your profile picture (top right), then Settings.
3. Under Account settings, tap Personal content.
4. Under Location settings, tap Export Timeline data. In the share sheet, choose Save to Files, pick a folder and tap Save.

On iPhone the file is called location-history.json. It's the same kind of file, just a different name.

Getting the file to your computer

Any of these works: email it to yourself, save it to Google Drive, iCloud Drive or Dropbox, use AirDrop to a Mac, or connect a cable. Exports covering several years can be large, so cloud storage is often easier than email.

Older history from before the move to phones

Google used to keep Timeline (then called Location History) in your Google Account, and you could download it with Google Takeout. For most people that cloud copy has since been deleted or moved to a phone, so a new Takeout export is likely to be empty. But if you downloaded a Takeout zip in the past, keep it: it's often the only record of those years. There I Went reads those zips too, and combines them with a newer phone export without counting anything twice.

Moving to a new phone

Because Timeline lives on the device, switching phones can leave your history behind. Google Maps offers an encrypted backup of Timeline (look for the cloud icon at the top of Your Timeline). Turn it on before you change phones, then restore it on the new one. If you still have your old phone, you can also export from it directly. The backup and new-phone guide has the full steps.

Troubleshooting

I can't find "Export Timeline data"

Update the Google Maps app, make sure Timeline is switched on, and check you're in the right Google account. On Android, try both routes above.

Some trips are missing from the export

The export only contains what your phone recorded. Gaps usually mean location or Timeline was off, battery saver or airplane mode was on, or the trip was recorded on a different phone. If the Google Maps app shows those days but the export doesn't, export again.

The file is very large

That's normal for years of history. A computer handles it best; save it to cloud storage rather than attaching it to an email.

What to do with the file

Keep a copy somewhere safe as a backup of your history. To actually see it, with every trip on one map, your countries and cities, nights away and days per country, you can open it in There I Went. See how to view your Timeline on a computer.