How to See and Edit Your Google Maps Timeline to Add or Remove Location Data
Your Google Maps timeline is a historical record of every place that you have visited in person. Your Google Maps location appears in Google Maps, but it can also be viewed in Chrome web browser as well. Your Google Maps timeline is location data tracked using Google Maps. However, Google makes a significant portion of its income from selling user behavior and interest data to advertisers.
If you have your phone’s location data turned on, then you are tracked across all Google products like YouTube and Google Pay. Where you have been, for how long, and possibly did you make a purchase are all being recorded and sold as aggregate data to advertisers who want to sell something to you.
Google Maps timeline information also appears in your Chrome web browser and can be synched across devices that are using the same Google account. Some people are think the Google maps timeline is creepy out by Google tracking because your phone is tracking your every movement, everywhere you go, how long it take you to get there, and how long you stayed at a particular location Google tracking and your phone’s GPS location data is so accurate your Google Maps timeline will display what mode of transportation you used between each place in your map history.
For example, your Google Maps timeline understands if you are driving or using public transportation like a train or bus. It can tell if you walked, ran, or rode a bike to get somewhere. Many people may use their Google Maps timeline to track workouts. Friends and family can also share location data in real time to stay in touch with loved ones or to tell where their children are.
To view your Google Maps timeline, you’ll have to be logged into your Google account. Although you can have Google Maps open to see your movements you don’t have to have any Google app open to record location data to your timeline. Being logged into Chrome web browser works too. Google location timeline works on any device as long as you are logged into a Google account and location data is turned on.
How Do I See My Google Timeline on Android?
View your timeline places visited on Android by opening the Google Maps app to view location history
- On an Android device
- Open Google Maps app.
- Tap your profile icon at the upper right corner of the screen
- Choose Your Timeline.
How Do I Add Google Maps Timeline History?
Sometimes Google location tracking makes mistake and your Google Maps timeline will be missing a place that you’ve been for example if you left home and stop by a local coffee shop on the way to work Google mate and not understand the place that you’ve been this is likely to happen it’s a place of business is not part of Google local business you’re able to add you’re able to clarify to Google where you been by adding a location
- Log into any Google account
- Open the Google Maps app
- Tap your profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen
- From the dropdown menu, choose Your Timeline
- From the menu at the top of the screen, select the date you wish to edit from the calendar at the top of the screen
- Scroll down the Google Maps timeline to see all the places you visited that day
If more information is needed about a location, you’ll see an orange bar asking you to fill in missing places. Sometimes Google Maps makes mistakes. The note indicates that Google Maps timeline needs more information and clarification about where you have been and for how long. To fix this entry, add the required information about your location. You will have to manually enter the start time and stop time to accurately show how long you stayed.
Google Maps Timeline – How Do I Delete a Location?
Sometimes you might want to delete a stop on your Google Maps timeline because the data for your day is incorrect or maybe you’re trying to hide where you’ve been! It’s very easy to remove a place from your timeline, but you will have to edit two parts of the information to make your timeline look authentic.
- Open Google Maps
- Be sure you are logged into the account that you need to delete a location history for
- Open the Google Maps app
- Tap your profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen
- From the dropdown menu, choose Your Timeline
- From the top menu, select the day you wish to edit
- Scroll down to all the places you have visited and find the location data you want to delete
- Tap the location to delete and a menu will open showing the location details
- Tap the trash can icon to remove the location
Although the location history is deleted for this stop, your timeline looks strange. The travel time from your previous location to wherever you want to after the deleted location will be unusually long. Your midway stop is now missing so the path between two pints in the same distance, but the time is off as well as the mode of transportation. Your timeline is now missing a location but still has all the travel time.
Awkward if you are trying to hide something – eh!
If you want to erase your entire history, read our post on How to Erase Your Google Timeline
For example, let’s say you went from point A (Home) and stopped at point B (a coffee shop) then went on to point C (your friend’s house) If you remove the coffee shop stop from your Google Maps Timeline your travel time from home to your friends will look suspiciously long. To fix this edit the arrival time at point C – your friend’s house – to cover your fibbing tracks. Regardless of your mode of transportation, Maps is likely to show your edited information as walking.
To put it another way, if it normally takes 15 minutes to walk one mile from your house (point A) to your friend’s house (point C) your coffee shop stop will add time. Let’s say the coffee shop stop adds on 20 minutes of time to walk and wait for your drink. When you remove the midway stop, the total of travel remains the same unless you edit that too. Your Google Maps timeline will show that it took 35 minutes, rather than the usual 15 minutes, to get to your friend’s house. No big deal, but you’ll leave a big clue that the data is altered.
So next time you fool with the waypoints in your Google Maps timeline be sure to get the start and stops times as well as modes of transportation edited too.
Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers
