Timeline

How to export your Google Maps Timeline

Google Maps Timeline now lives on your phone. Here’s how to export it on Android or iPhone, back it up for a new phone, and what the JSON file contains.

Marcel Marais

Updated 4 min read

How to export Google Maps Timeline

Your Timeline lives on your phone now, so that's where you export it. You get a single JSON file you can keep anywhere.

On Android it's in the phone's Settings app, under LocationLocation servicesTimeline. On iPhone it's inside Google Maps, under your profile picture, then SettingsLocation & Privacy.

Used Timeline on more than one phone? Export from each one. They don't share a history.

Export on Android

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Go to LocationLocation servicesTimeline.
  3. Tap Export Timeline data, then Continue.
  4. Pick a folder and tap Save.

You'll see Export complete when it's done. If you can't find Location services, search Settings for "Timeline".

Export on iPhone

  1. Open Google Maps and tap your profile picture.
  2. Go to SettingsLocation & Privacy.
  3. Tap Export Timeline data.
  4. Tap Save to Files, pick a folder and tap Save.

The file is called location-history.json.

Why Takeout no longer has your Timeline

Timeline used to live in your Google account. You could browse it at timeline.google.com or download it with Google Takeout. During 2024 and 2025 Google moved everyone's history onto their phones, and since then the phone is the only place you can read it.

If you downloaded a Takeout copy before the move, keep it. It may hold older years that didn't come across, especially if auto-delete was on.

Back up Timeline for a new phone

An export is a file for you. A backup is for Google Maps: an encrypted copy that lets you restore your Timeline on another phone. You can't open it yourself.

  1. In Google Maps, tap your profile picture, then Your Timeline.
  2. Tap the cloud icon at the top right.
  3. Turn on Backup.

Backup only works with auto-delete off. If it's on, go to MoreLocation & privacy settingsAuto-delete Timeline and choose Don't auto-delete activity first. Turn on backup on each phone you use.

On a new phone, open the same screen, choose your old phone under Your backups, then tap More and Import.

If Export Timeline data is missing

  • Check you're in the right place. On Android it's the phone's Settings app. On iPhone it's Google Maps' own settings.
  • Update Google Maps. Timeline needs version 11.106 or later on Android, or 6.93 or later on iPhone.
  • Make sure Timeline is on for that phone, under Your TimelineMoreLocation & privacy settings.

What's in the file

Google doesn't document the format, and Android and iPhone lay it out differently. An iPhone export is a list of visits and trips, each with a start and end time. An Android export has three parts: semanticSegments for visits and trips, rawSignals for individual location readings, and userLocationProfile for places like home and work.

Years of history can run to tens of megabytes. Any text editor will open it, but it's much nicer in a viewer. How to see your Google Timeline on a computer suggests a few.

Old Takeout downloads look different: a Records.json file with every raw location reading, and a Semantic Location History folder with a file for each month.

Keep it somewhere safe

The file shows where you live, work and go, so treat it like any private document. Keep two copies, and export again now and then if you keep using Google Maps.

Recording your history on iPhone from here

If you'd rather your history lived outside Google Maps, Timeline for iPhone records the places you visit with Apple's visit detection and keeps them on your phone, with no account. It's coming soon to the App Store. It can't import Google's file, so hold on to your export. Google Timeline alternatives for iPhone compares other options.

Questions

Does exporting delete my Timeline?

No. It saves a copy and leaves your Timeline as it was.

Can I still download Google Timeline from Takeout?

Not for history that's on your phone. Use the export in Google Maps or your phone's settings. A Takeout download from before the move still has your history up to then.

Can I export Google Timeline from a computer?

No. Google Maps on a computer doesn't show Timeline any more. Export on your phone and copy the file across.

Can I put an export back into Google Maps?

No. Google Maps only restores from its own backups. The export is your copy to keep.

Sources

Checked against these pages on 18 October 2026. We haven't yet tried every step on an Android phone and an iPhone.