How to View and Delete Your Google Maps Timeline History

If you carry a smartphone logged into your Google Account with location services enabled, Google Maps acts as a highly accurate, continuous GPS tracker. A feature called Timeline (formerly Location History) records exactly where you go, what routes you drive, the stores you visit, and how long you stay at each location, storing this data for years.

While Timeline is incredibly useful for remembering a great restaurant you visited on vacation three years ago, it is also a massive privacy concern. You have complete control over this data and can view it, delete specific days, or wipe the entire database completely.

How to View Your Timeline History

You can access this data from both your smartphone app and a desktop web browser. (Note: Google is transitioning Timeline data to be stored locally on your device rather than in the cloud, so the mobile app is the most reliable way to view it).

On a Smartphone (iOS or Android)

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Ensure you are logged into your primary Google Account.
3. Tap your Profile picture in the top right corner.
4. Select Your Timeline from the menu.

The interface will open to the current day. You will see a map tracing your exact route. You can swipe left or right on the top calendar section to browse past days, or tap the “Places” or “Cities” tabs to see categorized lists of every business you have ever visited.

How to Delete Specific Locations or Days

If you want to keep the feature active but remove a specific trip or a place you visited yesterday:

1. Open your Timeline to the specific day you want to edit.
2. Scroll down the list of locations until you find the specific stop you want to remove.
3. Tap the three dots next to that specific location.
4. Select Remove (or “Edit” if you just want to correct a mistake Google made).

To delete the entire day’s history, tap the three dots in the top right corner of the screen and select Delete day.

How to Delete Your Entire History and Turn Off Tracking

If you are uncomfortable with Google maintaining a database of your physical movements, you can wipe the slate clean and disable the tracking feature entirely.

1. Open the Google Maps app and tap your Profile picture > Your Timeline.
2. Tap the three dots in the top right corner and select Settings and privacy.
3. Scroll down to the “Location settings” section.
4. First, tap Delete all Location History. Check the confirmation box acknowledging that this data will be permanently erased, and tap Delete.
5. Next, you must stop Google from recording new data. Under the same menu, tap Location History is on.
6. This will open a new Google Account settings page. Look for the “Turn off” button.
7. Google offers two options:
   • Turn off: Stops tracking immediately.
   • Turn off and delete activity: Redundant if you just performed step 4, but good to use as a failsafe.

The Auto-Delete Feature (The Compromise)

If you like having the Timeline feature to remember recent trips, but don’t want Google holding onto your data for a decade, you can set up an Auto-Delete schedule.

In the same “Settings and privacy” menu, tap Auto-delete. You can configure Google Maps to automatically erase any location data older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months on a rolling basis.