Billions of people worldwide rely on Google Maps to reach their destinations, discover new places, and find nearby public facilities. But the app only works as well as it does with a strong internet connection. As soon as you're off the grid, things can become problematic.

There are times when you need to get somewhere but don't have mobile data. In such a case, having offline maps can be a lifesaver. In this guide, we'll see how to download offline maps in Google Maps on Android, how they work, and how they differ from regular maps.

Why Do You Need Offline Maps?

There are numerous reasons why you should download offline maps on your phone, even if you're on an unlimited data plan. For instance, if there are places in your city with bad network coverage, an offline map can make sure you still reach your destination safely without waiting endlessly for the map to load.

Offline maps can be handy if you live in a town that faces frequent blackouts. Since you never know when the next blackout is coming, having an offline map can save you from getting lost if you're at someplace far away from home.

Offline maps are a necessity for travelers. When going on a road trip, hiking, or traveling internationally, offline maps prove to be a dependable asset if you're out of data and don't know how to get to your destination or need to find the nearest gas station.

How to Download an Offline Map

  1. Open the Google Maps app and search for your desired place, such as New York City.
  2. Scroll up from the slider at the bottom, tap the three-dots menu, and select Download offline map.
  3. On the following screen, you'll be asked to adjust the size of the map. Pinch in or out to include more or less of the surrounding area in your map.
    • The more area you include in your map, the more storage it will take in your device. You'll see an estimate of the same on your screen.
  4. Tap Download to begin saving your set offline map.

There's a slightly faster way to save offline maps. After searching for your desired place, type "OK maps" in the search box. You'll skip ahead to the part where you need to adjust the size of the map.

To view your saved offline maps, go back to the main page by exiting search, tap your profile picture, and select Offline maps. You can update your offline maps by tapping the three-dots menu beside a map and selecting Update.

Also, Google Maps will recommend places you might want to save, such as Home, Work, favorite places, and more. Simply tap the three-dots menu icon beside a recommendation and select Download to save that place.

A second, more manual way to download maps is to tap SELECT YOUR OWN MAP on the Offline maps menu page. Then, set the area you want to save by dragging the map and zooming it in or out. Note that you can't download offline maps for China and North Korea due to reasons we won't get into today.

Before you lose internet access, it's a good idea to take screenshots of the street view of some intersections or local shops that might lie in the middle of your route. This way, you can better judge whether you're going the right way. You can use Google Street View for this purpose.

How Offline Maps Work

As great as offline maps are, they don't give you the full Google Maps experience for obvious reasons. You can use them for navigation, yes, but there are a few things you should keep in mind before using offline maps:

  • Offline maps don't show live traffic data or directions for public transit, bicycling, or walking. They also don't show available cabs, alternate routes, or different map types.
  • There's no official limit to how many offline maps you can save, but there's a limit to how far you can zoom out when selecting the size of the map.
    • If you're a frequent traveler, a quick workaround to this limitation is to simply save multiple offline maps of consecutive regions.
  • Downloading an offline map can take anywhere from 10MB to 2GB or more, depending on how big an area you include in the map and how dense that selected area is. Basically, the more data there is in the selected area, the bigger the file will be.
  • Offline maps last for a year, after which they have to be updated, meaning if you download a map on May 24, 2022, it'll remain usable till May 24, 2023.
  • You can also use turn-by-turn directions, search, and GPS on offline maps.

Offline Maps Settings You Should Change

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To make the most use of your offline maps, it's a good idea to change some of your settings. To do so, go to the Offline maps menu and tap the settings icon. Here, you'll see the following settings:

  • Auto-update offline maps: Helps keep your offline maps up-to-date for the most accurate navigation possible. Google Maps will update your offline maps automatically when you regain internet access.
  • Auto-download recommended maps: Gives Google Maps the permission to automatically download maps for places you often visit for maximum convenience.
  • Download preferences: Keep the preference set to Wi-Fi only to save your mobile data and battery life. Only allow downloading via mobile data when necessary.
  • Storage preferences: If you want to save your internal storage, you can set Google Maps to store your offline maps on the SD card. But do note that offline maps work faster with internal storage, so we recommend not changing this option.

An Alternative to Saving Offline Maps

If you're out of storage or simply don't need the whole area saved, you can still use Google Maps offline via a temporary workaround. While connected to the internet, search for your destination, set your route, and start navigation like you normally do. Google Maps will automatically save this data to help guide you to your destination even if you lose signal in the middle of your transit.

Of course, as soon as you lose signal, you won't be able to see things like live traffic data, but you can still comfortably reach your destination by following the turn-by-turn directions.

This solution is only recommended if you're going somewhere nearby, like a coffee shop or book store. Skipping on offline maps is not the wisest idea if you're traveling or are in a foreign country without an active data plan.

Never Get Lost With Offline Google Maps

There's nothing worse than getting lost in an unfamiliar place and not knowing how to get to your destination, even more so when you don't have internet access to help you out. In that case, the next best thing to rely on is an offline map.

But remember, downloading offline maps is a proactive activity, meaning you have to do it before leaving the comfort of internet access. Google Maps won't be able to help you if you're out of data and haven't already downloaded the map of the area you're in, so it's best to do so as soon as possible to ensure your safety.