How to export your Google Maps Timeline (Android, step by step)

Blog10 November 2026

Timeline now keeps your history on your phone. That makes an export worth doing: if the phone is lost, replaced or reset without a backup, the history goes with it. This takes a couple of minutes.

The steps

1. Update Google Maps from the Play Store, so the export option is available.
2. Open the Settings app, then Location, then Location services, then Timeline. On some phones the Location menu is under Security or Privacy.
3. Tap Export Timeline data.
4. Confirm with your screen lock if Android asks, then choose where to save the file.
5. Open your Files app or Drive and check the file is there.

If you cannot find it in Settings, try Google Maps instead: tap your profile picture, open Settings, then Personal content, and look for the export option there.

What you get

A single JSON file. It holds timestamps, coordinates, and the visits and trips Timeline worked out from them. Opened in a text editor it is a wall of brackets, so you will want a viewer or a script to read it.

Things to know

• Timeline data is stored per device. Export from the phone you actually carried.
• The export covers what is on that phone. History Google deleted from its servers earlier is not in it.
• Export again every so often if you want a recent copy, because each export is a snapshot.

Keep the file private

This file records where you have been, down to the minute. Save it somewhere only you can open, and think twice before dropping it into an online converter. Anything you upload leaves your control.

Missing history?

If your export looks short, read where your Google Maps Timeline went for the places an older copy might be hiding.

One note on Tarry: it does not read this file today. If you are moving to Tarry for work days, it starts a fresh timeline from the day you install it. The export is for your own records.