Google Maps provides you with an excellent travel utility that is an immense help in day-to-day life. It has revolutionized the maps altogether and has eliminated the need to memorize complex routes.

Google Maps work through GPS locations. But the problem is that Google tracks you and your activities to improve its system. Some users are okay with this location tracking. However, some would like to have more control over what they share with Google.

So, let's explore how you can cover your tracks in the Google Maps app and stop it from tracking you.

1. Delete Trips or Days on Your Timeline

The safest way to cover your tracks is to delete your location timeline or parts of it from the Google Maps app. The app stores the details of each of your trips in a timeline.

The timeline will show you the list of places you have visited at different times on different days. Here, you can easily delete that information in the settings.

The app has a handy feature to delete a specific part of your trip. And, of course, you can also choose to delete all visited locations on a particular day at once.

  1. Tap on your profile photo in the top search bar.
  2. A menu will open. Tap on Your Timeline.
  3. Once you are in your timeline, you can delete parts of trips by tapping on the three dots icon (More) next to the trips and then Remove.
  4. You can also delete an entire day's history by tapping on the three dots icon (More) at the top-right corner of your screen and then Delete day.

RELATED: How to Track Your Friends Using Google Maps

2. Turn Off Location History

Turning off your location history is another excellent option that will prevent Google Maps from storing or tracking your locations. The app has location history turned on by default.

It shares your location data with other Google services to show relevant content and ads. You can prevent Google from continuously tracking you across its apps by turning this option off. You can also enable the automatic deletion of your location history every 3, 18, or 36 months.

  1. Tap on your profile photo in the top search bar.
  2. A menu will open. Now tap on Settings.
  3. In the Settings menu, tap on Google Location Settings.
  4. In the following menu, scroll down and tap on Google Location History.
  5. If you have multiple Google Accounts, the following screen will ask you to choose one.
  6. Now, you have reached the location history settings menu, where you can Turn off your location history.

If you're happy to keep some of your location history in the app, select a timeframe under the Auto-delete option.

RELATED: How to Track Your Friends Using Google Maps

3. Use Incognito Mode

Incognito mode is an immensely popular and useful feature of Chrome. Google has also introduced incognito mode for its Maps app now.

Incognito mode is a safe way of browsing maps without having to worry about leaving behind tracks. When the incognito mode is turned on, Google Maps will pause recording your activity and tracking your location.

In this way, the app will not save your recent searches and location history. However, you should note that location sharing, offline maps, media playback, and some other features will also not be available in incognito mode.

  1. Tap on your profile photo in the top search bar.
  2. A menu will open. Now tap on Turn on incognito mode.
  3. To turn it off, tap on the incognito icon in the top search bar and then Turn off incognito mode.

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Take Control of Your Location Data

Location tracking helps Google provide you with relevant services and improve its software as a whole. It is not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, Google is a big and reliable organization, so you won't likely be facing any security threats due to its location tracking.

Still, you have the complete right to protect your location data and limit what you'd like to share with Google. That is why we have mentioned the above three methods that allow you to keep your tracks clear, with minimum to no effect on your usability.