How to Go Back in Time on Google Maps (View Historical Data for Locations)

Last Updated: September 1, 2022

This wikiHow will show you how to change the date on a location on Google Maps so you can go back in time. Luckily, Google Maps is backed by data from Google Earth, so you can view historical data of a location using Google Maps; however, the feature is only available in a web browser, not the mobile app.

Steps

1
Go to https://maps.google.com/ in a web browser. Log in if prompted. You can use any web browser on your computer or laptop to do this.
2
Drag and drop the orange human icon to a location on the map. The icon is in the bottom right corner of your browser and will switch you to Street View, which will show you photographs of the area with a first-person view.

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3
Click the clock icon. It's in the panel in the upper left corner of the map view and will drop down a date selection slider.
4
Drag and slide the slider to the year you want to see. Click the slider and drag it to the left to see what the area looked like in previous years. Dots will mark the slider where there is data and pictures available from previous times.
- Once you slide over a date with previous data, you'll see the preview of it above the slider.
5
Click the preview image to select it. This will switch your Street View to the selected date. You can now walk the streets and see photographs of your surroundings from that date.
- Alternatively, you can press Enter or Return on your keyboard instead of clicking the preview image.

Community Q&A

Question

I want to see Disraeli close London in1999 on Google Maps. How do I do this?

Community Answer

Google Maps was created in 2005. You can't go back on it before about 2007.