Importance Score: 60 / 100 🔵
As Memorial Day nears, signaling the start of summer and prompting millions to embark on road trips, it’s crucial to ensure seamless navigation. While having a playlist, snacks, and a charged phone for Google Maps is essential, navigating areas with weak or nonexistent cell service can quickly become challenging. Downloading offline maps ensures reliable turn-by-turn directions, even without an internet connection, allowing you to confidently navigate without service. This workaround allows continued access to navigation, mitigating issues such as rerouting, finding petrol stations, or correcting wrong turns when you’re offline.
Download Google Maps for Offline Use: A Comprehensive Guide
Here’s a detailed guide on leveraging offline maps to ensure you’re never lost, even without cellular service. Before delving into the how-to, let’s understand why this is a necessity for modern travelers.
Why Use Offline Maps?
- Avoid getting stranded in areas with poor reception.
- Save on data usage, especially when traveling abroad.
- Ensure reliable navigation, even in remote locations.
How to Download Google Maps for Offline Navigation
Downloading Google Maps for offline use doesn’t involve downloading the entire map database. Rather, it involves downloading specific areas such as a city, county, or region likely to have poor service.
To download offline maps in Google Maps, follow these steps:
- Open the Google Maps app on your iOS or Android device.
- Tap your profile picture in the top right corner (ensure you’re logged into your Google account).
- In the menu that appears, select Offline maps > Select Your Own Map.
Download multiple Google Maps regions for offline accessibility.
Adjust the map area you wish to download within the rectangular border by using finger gestures. Use one finger to pan and two fingers to zoom. As you adjust the map, note the storage space required. Once satisfied, tap Download.
Quick Tip
Alternatively, on iPhone, you can search for a city or region and then tap the Download button in the pull-up window.
Downloading maps requires a Wi-Fi connection by default. To enable downloads over cellular data:
- Navigate to the Offline maps page.
- Tap the gear icon in the top right corner.
- Select When to download offline maps and choose Over Wi-Fi or mobile network.
Post-download, your offline maps will be visible on the Offline maps page.
The maximum downloadable map size is 250MB (approximately the size of Maine).
Using Google Maps Offline
Within the downloaded area, you can now use Google Maps without an internet connection. Precise real-time traffic updates and alternate route suggestions may be unavailable, but you’ll receive a general estimate of your trip duration. Remember that transit, cycling, and walking directions are not available offline, only driving directions.
An icon of a cloud with a line through it in Google Maps indicates you’re using your offline map.