Fix Google Earth errors

Select the problem you'd like to fix.

Repair problems with Google Earth Pro

To more easily do things like clear your cache or fix startup issues, use the Google Earth Repair Tool.

1. Open Google Earth Pro.
2. At the top, in the drop-down menu, click Help  Launch Repair Tool.
   • If you're asked which product to repair, choose Google Earth Pro.
3. Leave the Repair Tool open but close Google Earth Pro.
4. Choose how you want to fix Google Earth Pro:
   • Clear disk cache: Delete the files that make content load quicker from your computer. These files will be recreated when they're needed again.
   • Turn on Safe Mode: Turn off advanced graphics.
   • Turn off the atmosphere: Remove the glow around the globe and blacken out the sky.
   • Restore default settings: Return Google Earth preferences to their original settings.
   • Delete My Places: Remove the content you saved in My Places to prevent crashes when loading Google Earth. Note: your saved places file will be renamed as myplaces.repairtoolbackup.kml.
   • (Windows only) Switch between OpenGL and DirectX: Google Earth Pro is drawn with one of two programming tools: DirectX or OpenGL. To fix graphics issues, switch between the two and check if one works better for your system.

Sign in with your Google Account

If you're using Google Earth version 7.1.4 or earlier, open your web browser and upgrade to the latest version.

To check which version of Google Earth you have:

• Windows: Click Help About Google Earth.
• Mac: Click Google Earth About Google Earth.

Fix blurry or outdated imagery

You might find an error message if:

• The imagery has not streamed completely.
• We don't have high-resolution imagery for that area.

Fix blurry imagery

1. To verify that you're not blocking the imagery with an overlay, turn off all layers in your Places panel.
2. Clear your cache.
   • Windows: Google Earth Pro  Preferences  Cache  Clear disk cache
   • Mac: Google Earth  Preferences  Cache  Clear disk cache
3. Turn off Anisotropic Filtering.
   • Windows: Tools Options  3D View
   • Mac: Google Earth  Preferences  3D View
4. Check the status bar at the bottom of the image:
   • If the status bar is at 100% and the image still looks blurry: We don’t have high-resolution data for this location.
   • If the status bar is incomplete after several minutes: There may be an issue with your internet connection, firewall settings, or graphics card drivers.

Fix crashes and graphics issues

Here are some steps to try if you have display issues:

Step 1: Clear your cache

1.  Open Google Earth Pro.
2. At the top, in the drop-down menu, click Help  Launch Repair Tool.
   • ​If you're asked which product to repair, choose Google Earth Pro.
3. Leave the Repair Tool open but close Google Earth Pro.
4. Click Clear disk cache.

Step 2: Turn off atmosphere

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Click View.
3. Deselect Atmosphere.

Step 3: Remove myplaces.kml file

1. Open Google Earth Pro.
2. At the top, in the drop-down menu, click Help  Launch Repair Tool.
   • ​If you're asked which product to repair, choose Google Earth Pro.
3. Leave the Repair Tool open but close Google Earth Pro.
4. Click Delete my places.
5. Click Delete.

Note: To recover the saved places you deleted, open the "myplaces.repairtoolbackup.kml" file.

Step 4: Switch graphics displays (Windows only)

On Windows, either DirectX or OpenGL is used to display 3D images in Google Earth. OpenGL shows higher-quality images, but it doesn't work with certain graphics hardware or driver software. If some images or parts of the globe don't display correctly:

1. Open Google Earth Pro.
2. At the top, in the drop-down menu, click Help  Launch Repair Tool.
   • ​If you're asked which product to repair, choose Google Earth Pro.
3. Leave the Repair Tool open but close Google Earth Pro.
4. Click Switch between OpenGL and DirectX.
   • ​Note: The button text changes based on the mode you chose, like "Google Earth is currently using DirectX."

If you still have problems, update your graphics card drivers.

Stop Earth from spinning

The Google Earth globe may spin if your controller is not calibrated.

If you're using a controller: Follow the manufacturer's instructions on how to calibrate your controller.

If you're not using a controller: Open Google Earth, then:

• Windows: Click Tools  Options  Navigation. Then, uncheck Enable Controller.
• Mac: Click Google Earth  Preferences  Navigation. Then, uncheck Enable Controller.

Remove old files to add memory space

Google Earth stores images and info from previous searches so you can go to those places faster. Clearing out this info saves memory space.

Mac

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Click Google Earth  Preferences  Cache.
3. Click Clear disk cache.

Windows

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Click File  Server Sign Out.
3. Click Tools  Options  Cache.
4. Click Clear disk cache.

Improve performance

To boost performance for tasks like printing or making movies, adjust the memory or disk cache size.

Note: this may impact the performance of other applications.

Increase memory or disk cache

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Windows: Click Tools  Options.
   Mac: Click Google Earth  Preferences.
3. Click Cache.
4. In the "Memory Cache Size" field, enter a value. Google Earth automatically limits the size according to the physical memory available on your PC.
5. In the "Disk Cache Size" field, enter a number below 2000.

Delete disk cache

To recover some disk space:

1. Open Google Earth.
2. Click File  Server Sign Out.
3. Windows: Click Tools  Options.
   Mac: Click Google Earth  Preferences.
4. Click Cache  Clear disk cache.