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Google Maps is used by millions of people around the world who need directions, suggestions on places to eat or shop and more.
Google continues to be at the center of the data privacy debate because it knows so much about its users, including where they search and where they’ve been. If this creeps you out, you might want to delete your Google Maps history.
In this article, we’re going to show you how to delete your Google Maps history on your phone as well as on your computer in some easy-to-follow steps.
Whether you have an Android or iPhone, the steps are the same. Similarly, the steps are the same whether you have a Mac or PC.
Location data is a hot-button issue when it comes to privacy. Here’s what Google says about your location history:
Location History saves where you go with your devices. To save this data, Google regularly obtains location data from your devices. This data is saved even when you aren’t using a specific Google service, like Google Maps or Search.
Many people are uncomfortable with companies knowing their whereabouts and tracking them, so they are choosing to delete that data.
Locations you’ve searched for can be cleared from your Google Maps history. Here’s how to do in on your phone:
1. Open Google Maps on your Android or iPhone.
2. Tap the stacked-line menu button in the top left corner
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Maps History. This will take you to your Maps Activity page.
5. Scroll down to see Used Maps, Directions and Viewed Area in Google Maps. You have the option of deleting some of these places from your Maps History or all of them.
After that, you’re done. To delete other items just repeat those steps.
To delete your Google Maps history on a Mac or Windows computer the process is similar but fewer steps. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Open Google Maps on your computer. Sign in.
2. Click on the stacked-lines menu button in the top left corner
3. Scroll all the way down to Maps Activity and click it.
4. On the Maps Activity page, just scroll down to see locations you want to delete. You have the option of deleting some of the places from your Maps History or all of them.
Once you’ve deleted the item, you’ll see a box asking you to confirm the action. Here’s the screenshot:
As you can see, deleting your Google Maps directions on your phone or computer is pretty easy and takes just a few minutes.
As a recap, to delete your Google Maps history on your phone, the steps are:
To delete your Google Maps history on your computer, the steps are:
To turn off your Google location history altogether, click here. Just know that if you decide to do that, some personalized Google features will be lost.
When it comes to privacy, securing your account goes way beyond removing map directions. Here are three simple ways to delete your Google data.
This post was last modified on February 4, 2020 10:18 am
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