Manage your Location History

 

In the coming months, the Location History setting name will change to Timeline. If Location History is turned on for your account, you may find Timeline in your app and account settings.

Location History is a Google Account setting that creates Timeline, a personal map that helps you remember: 

• Places you go
• Routes to destinations
• Trips you take

It can also give you personalised experiences across Google based on where you go.

When Location History is on, even when Google apps aren’t in use, your precise device location is regularly saved to:

• Your devices 
• Google servers

To make Google experiences helpful for everyone, we may use your data to:

• Show information based on anonymised location data, such as:
  • Popular times
  • Environmental insights
• Detect and prevent fraud and abuse.
• Improve and develop Google services, such as ads products.
• Help businesses determine whether people visit their shops because of an ad, if you have Web & App Activity turned on.
  • We only share anonymous estimates, not personal data, with businesses.
  • This activity can include info about your location from your device's general area and IP address.

Learn more about how Google uses location data.

Things to know about Location History:

• Location History is off by default. We can only use it if you turn Location History on.
• You can turn off Location History at any time in your Google Account's Activity controls.
• You can review and manage your Location History. You can:
  • Review places you’ve been to in Google Maps Timeline.
  • Edit or delete your Location History at any time.

Important: Some of these steps work only on Android 8.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Turn Location History on or off

You can turn off Location History for your account at any time. If you use a work or school account, your administrator needs to make this setting available for you. If they do, you'll be able to use Location History as any other user.

1. Go to the 'Location History' section of your Google Account.
2. Choose whether your account or your devices can report Location History to Google.
   • Your account and all devices: At the top, turn Location History on or off.
   • Only a certain device: Under 'This device' or 'Devices on this account', turn the device on or off.

When Location History is on

Google can estimate your location with:

• Signals like Wi-Fi and mobile networks
• GPS
• Sensor information

Your device location may also periodically be used in the background. When Location History is on, even when Google apps aren’t in use, your device’s precise location is regularly saved to:

• Your devices
• Google servers

When you’re signed in with your Google Account, it saves the Location History of each device with the setting ‘Devices on this account’ turned on. You can find this setting in the Location History settings on your Google Account.

You can choose which devices provide their location data to Location History. Your settings don’t change for other location services on your device, such as:

• Google Location Services
• Location Sharing
• Find My Device

When Location History is off

Your device doesn’t save its location to your Location History.

• You may have previous Location History data in your account. You can manually delete it at any time.
• Your settings don’t change for other location services on your device, such as:
  • Google Location Services
  • Location Sharing
  • Find My Device
• If settings like Web and app activity are on but you turn off Location History or delete location data from Location History, your Google Account may still save location data as part of your use of other Google sites, apps and services. This activity can include info about your location from your device’s general area and IP address.

Delete Location History

You can manage and delete your Location History information with Google Maps Timeline. You can choose to delete all of your history, or only parts of it.

Important: When you delete Location History information from Timeline, you won't be able to see it again.

Use the Google Maps app

Delete all Location History

1. On your Android device, open the Google Maps app .
2. At the top left, tap Menu Your timeline .
3. At the top right, tap More Settings and privacy.
4. Under 'Location settings', tap Delete all Location History.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Delete a range of Location History

1. On your Android device, open the Google Maps app .
2. At the top left, tap Menu Your timeline .
3. Tap More Settings and privacy.
4. Under 'Location settings', tap Delete Location History range.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Delete a day from Location History

1. On your Android device, open the Google Maps app .
2. At the top left, tap Menu Your timeline .
3. Tap Show calendar .
4. Select which day you want to delete.
5. Tap More Delete day.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Delete a stop from Location History

1. On your Android device, open the Google Maps app .
2. At the top left, tap Menu Your timeline .
3. Tap Show calendar .
4. Select the day with a stop that you want to delete.
5. Tap the stop that you want to delete Delete .
6. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Use a web browser

Delete all Location History

1. In your web browser, open your Google Maps Timeline.
2. Tap Delete .
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Delete a day from Location History

1. In your web browser, open your Google Maps Timeline.
2. Choose a year, month and day that you want to delete.
3. Tap Delete .
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Delete a stop from Location History

1. In your web browser, open your Google Maps Timeline.
2. Choose a year, month and day that you want to delete.
3. Next to the stop that you want to delete, tap More Remove stop from day.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Automatically delete your Location History

You can choose to automatically delete Location History that’s older than 3 months or 18 months.

Use the Google Maps app

1. On your Android device, open the Google Maps app .
2. At the top left, tap Menu Your timeline .
3. At the top right, tap More Settings and privacy.
4. Scroll to 'location settings'.
5. Tap Automatically delete Location History.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Use a web browser

1. In your web browser, open your Google Maps Timeline. 
2. At the bottom right, click Settings   Automatically delete Location History. 
3. Follow the on-screen instructions. 

What happens after you delete some or all Location History

If you delete some or all of your Location History, some personalised experiences across Google may be degraded or lost. For example:

• Albums in Google Photos automatically created from places that you’ve visited
• Recommendations based on places that you’ve visited
• Real-time information about the best time to leave for home or work in order to beat the traffic

Important: If you have other settings like Web & app activity turned on and you pause Location History or delete location data from Location History, you may still have location data saved in your Google Account as part of your use of other Google sites, apps and services. For example, location data may be saved as part of activity on Search and Maps when your Web & app activity setting is on, and included in your photos depending on your camera app settings.

Usage & diagnostics for Location History

When you turn on Location History, your device may send diagnostic information to Google about what’s working and not working for Location History. If you turn Location History off, you can decide whether to share usage and diagnostics information.

All usage and diagnostics information is used in accordance with Google’s privacy policy.

What information your device could share

Your device may send information to Google to help improve Location History. For example, sent information could include:

• Quality and length of your connections to mobile networks, GPS, Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth
• State of your location settings
• Restarts and crash reports
• Apps used to turn Location History on or off
• Battery levels

How shared information helps Google improve

Usage and diagnostics information can help improve Google apps, products and Android devices. For example, Google can use information to improve:

• Battery life: Google can use information about what's using the most battery on your device to help reduce battery consumption for commonly used features.
• Location accuracy: Google can use information from location sensors and settings to help improve location estimates for apps and services.

Learn more about other location settings

• Choose which apps can use your location: Learn how to manage app location settings.
• Learn how to turn your device's location on or off.
• Find your location on a map: Learn how to find and improve your location’s accuracy in Google Maps.
• Manage your history of the places that you've been and the routes you've travelled: Learn how to edit your timeline on Google Maps.