How often do you fire up Google Maps without a second thought — only to lose the signal when you need it most? Whether you’re deep in the mountains, coasting through rural highways or navigating a massive national park, poor reception can leave you stranded with no directions and no way to reroute.
In areas with little or no internet, Google Maps can’t help you search for pit stops, change your destination or find your way back if you make a wrong turn. You’re locked into whatever route you started with — unless you’ve planned ahead.
Luckily, there’s a smart workaround. With offline maps, you can still access turn-by-turn navigation even when you’re completely disconnected. Here’s how to make sure you’re never lost, even without service.
Want to learn about other Google Maps tips and tricks? Check out how to blur your house on Google Maps and three Google Maps features you’ll definitely want to know.
How to download Google Maps offline
First off, you won’t download all of Google Maps in its entirety. Instead, before your trip, you’ll want to download a specific area, which could be a city, county or region where you’ll be spending time and might not have service on your phone.
To download a map in Google Maps offline, open the Google Maps app on iOS or Android and tap your profile picture on the top right (you must be logged in to your Google account for this to work). In the menu that appears, tap Offline maps > Select Your Own Map.
You can download multiple Google Maps areas offline.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET
Use your fingers to place the map you want to download within the confines of the rectangle border. Use one finger to move across the map, and a two-finger pinch to zoom in and out. As you move around the map, you’ll see how much storage space the download will take up on your phone. Once you’re happy with the area, tap Download.
Note: Alternatively, you can type a city or other area into Google Maps and then hit the Download button that appears in the pull-up window to download the map offline but this only works on the iPhone.
Read more: Google Maps Cheat Sheet: Most Useful Tricks
You must be connected to Wi-Fi to download the map. If you want to download over cellular, go to the Offline maps page, tap the gear icon on the top right, tap When to download offline maps and select Over Wi-Fi or mobile network. Once your map is downloaded, you’ll be sent back to the Offline maps page, where you can see all your offline maps.
You can only download a map that’s a maximum 250 MB (what will appear in the selected map is roughly the size of Maine).
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET
Now you’ll be able to use Google Maps even when you’re offline in the area you downloaded — and in that area only. You won’t get extremely accurate travel times or alternate route options because traffic and other road issues are not accounted for but you will get a general ballpark idea of how long your trip should take. Transit, bicycling and walking directions also are not available offline — only driving directions.
You’ll know you’re using your offline map when you see a little cloud icon with a line through it in Google Maps.
Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET
If you want more tips on Google, make sure to read which Google Home settings you need to change ASAP and our picks for the best Pixel phones.
