Manage your Location History for iPhone & iPad

Location History is a Google Account–level setting that saves where you go with every mobile device where:

  • You're signed in to your Google Account,
  • You have turned on Location History, and
  • The device has Location Reporting turned on.

When you turn on Location History, you may see a number of benefits across Google products and services, including personalized maps, recommendations based on places you've visited, help finding your phone, real-time traffic updates about your commute, and more useful ads.

  • Location History is turned off by default for your Google Account and can only be turned on if you opt in.
  • You can pause Location History at any time in your Google Account's Activity controls.
  • You control what's saved in your Location History. You can view the places where you've been in Google Maps Timeline, which you can edit or use to delete your Location History.

See & manage your Location History in Timeline

  1. Go to your Timeline.
  2. At the top left, choose the time period you want to see.

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.

Automatically delete your Location History

You can choose to automatically delete Location History that's older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app Maps.
  2. Tap your profile picture or initialAccount Circleand then Your Timeline Timeline.
  3. In the top right, tap More And then Settings.
  4. Under "Location settings," tap Automatically delete Location History.
  5. 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 personalized experiences across Google may be degraded or lost. For example:

  • Albums in Google Photos automatically created from places you've visited
  • Recommendations based on places 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.

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. Open the Google app Google app.
  2. At the top right, tap your account photo and then Manage your Google Account. You might need to sign in.
  3. At the top, tap Data & privacy.
  4. Scroll to "History settings."
  5. TapLocation History.
  6. Turn Location History on or off. If you turn Location history off, confirm and tapPauseand then Okay.

If you're on a browser, go to the Location History section of your Google Account. You might need to sign in. Turn Location History on or off.

When Location History is on

  • Google only receives Location History for each device where you are signed in and you have Location Reporting turned on.

    To see what devices have Location Reporting turned on, under "Google Location History," tap Devices on this account.

    • To turn on Location History on your iPhone or iPad, give your Google app permission to see your location: Open your device's Settings, then tap Google and then  Location. Choose Always.
  • You can change the Location Reporting setting for each device where you're signed in, and limit which devices provide location data to be included in Location History. If you want to change your Location History settings, you can choose to:
    • Report your location from only some of your devices, but not others.
    • Report your location from all your devices.
    • Turn off Location History for your Google Account. Your location won't be reported from any of your devices and you will not have new Location History recorded to your account.
  • Your settings for other location services on your device, like Google Location Services, Location Sharing, and Find My Device, aren't changed.

When Location History is off

  • Your device's locations will not be automatically saved to your Location History.
  • Previous activity is not deleted from your Location History. You can manually delete your Location History.
  • Your settings for other location services on your device, like Google Location Services, Location Sharing, and Find My Device, aren't changed.
  • Some location data may continue to be saved in other settings, like Web & App Activity, as part of your use of other services, like Search and Maps, even after you turn off Location History.

Common issues with location services

Availability

Location History may not be available if:

  • It's not available in your region.
  • You don't meet certain age restrictions.
  • Your Google Account is through your work, school, or other group. Your administrator might need to make this setting available for you.
  • You've turned off Location Services or Background App Refresh.

Background App Refresh

Location History can only work properly if Location Services is set to Always and Background App Refresh is on.

  • Location Services uses GPS, Wi-Fi hotspots, and cellular network towers to determine your location.
  • Background App Refresh allows Location Reporting to work when you're not actively using a Google app.

Learn more about how to manage Location Services and Background App Refresh.

Data use

Location History can use a lot of data. Before using this feature, review the data plan of your device.

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