Travelling abroad, driving through remote rural areas, or simply running out of mobile data can make relying on GPS navigation incredibly stressful. Fortunately, you do not need an active internet connection to find your way around an unfamiliar city.
By learning how to download Google Maps for offline use, you can access turn-by-turn navigation, search for local businesses, and view detailed street maps entirely without an internet connection.
What Can You Do With Offline Maps?
When you download an area in Google Maps, the app stores the critical road and location data directly on your device’s internal storage. While offline, you can:
- Get accurate driving directions and turn-by-turn navigation.
- Search for places, businesses, and addresses within the downloaded boundary.
- View business hours and basic contact information.
However, because the map cannot communicate with Google’s servers, you cannot access live traffic updates, alternative route calculations, transit schedules, or walking and cycling directions until you reconnect to the internet.
How to Download a Map for Offline Navigation
The process for downloading a map is identical whether you are using an iPhone or an Android device. We highly recommend doing this over a Wi-Fi connection before your journey begins to save your cellular data.
- Open the Google Maps app on your smartphone.
- Ensure you are signed in to your Google account.
- Search for your intended destination (for example, “London” or “Scottish Highlands”).
- Swipe up on the information card at the bottom of the screen to expand it.
- Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner of the card and select Download offline map. (Alternatively, you can tap your profile picture in the search bar, select Offline maps, and tap Select your own map.)
- A blue selection rectangle will appear on your screen. You can pinch, zoom, and pan the map to adjust the exact area you want to save.
- The app will display an estimated file size at the bottom of the screen (larger areas require more megabytes).
- Tap the Download button.
Google Maps will download the data in the background, allowing you to continue using your phone normally.
How to Manage and Update Your Offline Maps
Because roads change and businesses close, Google requires offline maps to be updated regularly. By default, downloaded maps expire after one year if they are not refreshed.
- To manage your saved areas, open Google Maps and tap your profile picture in the top right corner.
- Select Offline maps from the menu.
- Here, you will see a list of all your downloaded regions.
- Tap on any map to Update, Delete, or Rename it.
To make this process effortless, tap the gear icon (Settings) in the top right corner of the Offline maps screen and ensure Auto-update offline maps is turned on. This ensures your maps remain accurate and ready to use whenever you lose signal.
