Introduction
Few situations can be more stressful than needing to get somewhere, but not having access to a cellular data or Wifi signal to be able to look up directions. You can avoid this situation by downloading large geographic areas in the Google Maps app on your iPhone or iPad. When you download maps in Google Maps for offline use, you can still use Google Maps to get directions to locations inside of those areas, even when you don’t have a signal. Examples of all instructions in the steps can be seen in the YouTube video below.
Steps to Download Google Maps for Offline Navigation on iPhone or iPad
- Launch the Google Maps app on your iPhone or iPad, and then search for the general area you want to download a map for. In this example I’ll type in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A screen for the location you entered appears.
- Tap the three ellipses displayed in the upper right corner of the screen. If you’re using your device in portrait mode, you’ll have to swipe up from the bottom to see the ellipses. A menu flies up from the bottom of the screen.
- Tap “Download Offline Map” in the menu. The Download This Map screen appears, with the location you searched for in the center of a highlighted section. Use pinch zoom to expand the area to cover the part of the map you want to download for offline use. You can turn your iPhone or iPad between portrait and landscape mode to cover different parts of the map. Tap “Download” to start downloading the data for that area to the Google Maps app on your iPhone or iPad. A Downloading section appears, where you’ll see the progress of the data download. A message will appear along the bottom of your screen when the download is complete. Additionally, Google only lets you highlight so much to download at any one time, so if you’re taking a long trip and you can’t highlight all of the area you want to download to use offline, you’ll need to repeat this part to highlight and download those sections separately.
Now, even when you’re offline in Google Maps on your iPhone or iPad, you’ll be able to go into the app and generate driving directions to and from any map area you’ve downloaded for offline use.
Steps to Delete Downloaded Google Maps
- Launch the Google Maps app on your iPhone or iPad. You’ll land on the Google Maps home screen.
- Tap the “Menu” icon on the left side of the search bar. A menu flies in from the left side of the screen.
- Tap “Offline Maps.” The Offline Maps menu appears, where you’ll see a list of all the maps you’ve downloaded for offline use in Google Maps.
- Tap the downloaded map you want to delete. A screen appears with information about that downloaded map with options for either updating or deleting the downloaded map. Tap “Delete.” The downloaded map will be deleted, and you’ll no longer be able to use it for offline navigation purposes.