Timeline

How to see your Google Timeline on a computer

Google Maps no longer shows Timeline on a computer. Here’s how to export the file from your phone, open it, and see your days on a map with free viewers.

Marcel Marais

Updated 4 min read

Can you see Google Timeline on a computer?

Not in Google Maps any more. Timeline moved to your phone, and timeline.google.com no longer shows your visits. To see your history on a big screen, export it from your phone and open the file in a viewer.

What happened to timeline.google.com

Google started moving Timeline from your account onto your phone at the end of 2023, with deadlines running into 2025. Once your history moved, the web version went blank. Each phone now keeps its own Timeline, and the optional backup is encrypted so only Google Maps can read it.

You can still turn Timeline off, or delete all of it, from a computer in My Google Activity. Anything more needs the app.

Get the file onto your computer

Export it on your phone first:

  • On Android, open the Settings app and go to LocationLocation servicesTimelineExport Timeline data.
  • On iPhone, open Google Maps, tap your profile picture and go to SettingsLocation & PrivacyExport Timeline data.

Then move the file across by AirDrop or a cloud drive. How to export your Google Maps Timeline has the full steps. If you've used Timeline on two phones, export from both.

The file is plain JSON, so any text editor opens it. Firefox shows it as a tidy tree you can fold open, with a filter box for finding a date.

Google Timeline viewers

These free tools draw your file on a map. Their source code shows where your file goes.

ViewerWhere your file goesReadsCost
googlemapstimeline.comStays in your browseriPhone exports onlyFree
Google Maps Timeline ViewerStays in your browserAndroid and iPhone exportsFree, with your own Google Maps API key
DawarichYour server, or Dawarich CloudPhone exports and old Takeout filesFree to self-host. Cloud Lite €59.99 a year on its website
ReittiYour serverPhone exports and Records.jsonFree to self-host

Checked October 2026.

For a quick look, googlemapstimeline.com is the easiest. Drop your file on the page and pick some dates. It only reads iPhone exports, and the page carries Google's ad and analytics scripts.

Google Maps Timeline Viewer is the closest thing to the old Timeline, with each day on a map, search and yearly summaries. It's a single file you open in Chrome or Edge. The catch is setup: it needs a Google Maps API key, which means a Google Cloud project, and it looks up place names with Google.

Dawarich and Reitti are for keeping everything in one place for good, old Takeout files included. You run them with Docker on your own computer or server. Dawarich also sells a hosted version if you'd rather not.

Before you upload your history anywhere

Your Timeline shows where you live and work, so only open it on a site you'd trust with that.

If a viewer still opens your file with Wi-Fi off, it can at least read it on your computer. That doesn't prove it never sends anything once you're back online, so prefer viewers whose code is public, or run one yourself. Keep your original export somewhere safe, and delete any copies you left in cloud folders while moving it.

Keep future history in a file you control

If you're on iPhone, Timeline for iPhone records the places you visit automatically and keeps them on your phone, with no account. It shows each day on a map and exports to plain text or JSON whenever you like. It's coming soon to the App Store. It can't open Google's file, so keep that for the viewers above.

Questions

Does Google Takeout still include Timeline?

Not once your Timeline has moved to your phone. If you downloaded Takeout before then, its Records.json and Semantic Location History files still open in Dawarich.

Why won't my Timeline file open in a viewer?

Android and iPhone exports are laid out differently, and some viewers only read one. Check the table above. If a viewer asks for Timeline.json, rename your file.

Can I see all my phones' history in one place?

Not in Google Maps, because each phone keeps its own. Export from each phone and import them all into Dawarich or Reitti.

Can I delete Google Timeline from a computer?

Yes, all of it, in My Google Activity. To delete single visits or days, use the Google Maps app.

Sources

Checked on 18 October 2026. For each viewer we read its source code to see where your file goes. We haven't yet tried the export steps on a phone.