Guide

Why is my Google Maps Timeline missing days?

You remember the trip, but your Timeline doesn't: a week is blank, or a whole month is gone. Here are the usual causes, how to tell which one applies to you, and what you can (and can't) get back.

First, check whether the data exists at all

Open Google Maps on the phone you carried at the time, tap your profile picture, then Your Timeline, and scroll to one of the missing days. If the day is empty there too, the phone never recorded it (or it has since been deleted). If Google Maps shows the day but an export or another app doesn't, the problem is with the export, and exporting again usually fixes it.

The most common causes

1. Auto-delete removed it

Timeline can delete old history automatically after 3, 18 or 36 months, and when Timeline is switched on for the first time it typically starts at the shortest setting of 3 months. If your history seems to begin a few months ago, this is the likely reason. Check it in Google Maps under Your Timeline → ⋯ → Location & privacy settings → Auto-delete Timeline, and choose a longer period or Don't auto-delete.

2. The trip was recorded on a different phone

Since Google moved Timeline onto devices, each phone keeps its own history. If you changed phones, used a second phone while travelling, or reset your phone, those days live (or lived) on that device. Your Google account doesn't hold a combined copy unless Timeline backup was turned on.

3. The phone wasn't recording

Timeline needs location access in the background. Days go missing when location was switched off, Timeline was paused, the phone was in a deep battery-saving mode that stopped Google Maps from running in the background, or location permission for Google Maps was reduced (for example to "only while using the app"). A trip where the phone was mostly off or out of battery will also leave gaps.

4. It was deleted

Deleting a day, a place, or a range of history from Timeline is permanent on that phone. Google also confirmed in 2025 that a technical problem deleted some people's Timeline data; for those people, only a backup or an earlier export can bring it back.

5. It's there, but blurred together

Sometimes the days aren't empty but wrong: Timeline shows one long "stay" at home spanning weeks, or skips the places in between. This happens when the phone recorded very little and Google filled the gap with its best guess. The history looks complete, but the trips inside it are missing. There I Went flags stays longer than three weeks for exactly this reason.

Can I get missing days back?

• From a backup: if Timeline backup was on, a new or reset phone can import it. See how to back up and restore your Timeline.
• From the old phone: if you still have it, export its Timeline directly; it may hold days your current phone doesn't.
• From an old Google Takeout download: history from before the move to phones may be in a Takeout zip you saved years ago. See what's in each Timeline file.

If none of those exist, deleted Timeline history can't be recovered: Google doesn't keep a copy of on-device history without a backup.

Stop it happening again

1. Set auto-delete to 36 months or Don't auto-delete.
2. Turn on Timeline backup (the cloud icon at the top of Your Timeline). Google requires auto-delete to be off first.
3. Every so often, export your Timeline and keep the file somewhere safe, a copy that doesn't depend on any phone.

How There I Went shows gaps

When you open an export, There I Went doesn't quietly skip missing stretches. It tells you how many days in the selected period have no data and lists the longest gaps, flags suspiciously long single stays, and marks empty stretches with red lines along the timeline bar. That way a missing trip is visible rather than a mystery.