Google Maps can give you peace of mind when it comes to your loved ones. Whether it̵
Keep an eye on your kids to see when they are coming home, or contact a close friend who has been traveling. With Google Maps online or on your mobile device, you can see where they are if you’re concerned.
Request the location of a friend or family member
To share real-time locations between you and your contact, you both need the Google Maps mobile app. You can download it for free on Android or iPhone. You must also be willing to share your own location with your contact at least once. This is what gets the ball rolling to request their location.
Open the Google Maps app on your mobile device to start location sharing. You may need to adjust your settings to allow location services for Google Maps if prompted.
Tap your profile picture or initial in the top right corner of the app window and select ‘Share location’.
If you’ve never shared your location in Google Maps before, you’ll need to share your place with your contact before you can request theirs. Tap ‘New Stock’.
Before choosing a contact, use the drop-down list to select a time frame. You can share your location for a specified amount of time or until you turn it off.
Then select your contact or scroll to the right and tap “More” to see all your contacts. Choose one and tap Share.
After you share your location, you can ask your contact to share it with you. Select the contact and tap Request.
You will see a message that your email address is being shared with them and you can choose to disable the same message in the future. Also tap on “Request” here.
If you’ve previously shared your location with someone, you’ll see it at the bottom of the Share location window. From there, you can share your place with them again or simply request that they share theirs with you.
Tap your contact at the bottom, choose “Request” and then tap “Request” again in the next window.
Your contact will receive a notification in Google Maps and via email that you have requested to share their location.
Find someone with Google Maps
Once someone has agreed to share their location with you, you can easily find it in Google Maps on your mobile device or online.
Find someone on mobile
Open Google Maps on your mobile device, tap your profile picture or initial in the top right and select ‘Share location’.
You will see those contacts at the bottom sharing their location (s) with you. Tap to view details about their location, get directions to them, or simply view their place on the map.
Find someone online
Go to Google Maps online and log in. Click the three-line menu button in the top left corner next to the search box and choose Share Location.
Select the contact that shares their location with you. You will see their photo or initials appear on the map, along with the address of their current location on the left.
Hide someone on Google Maps
Even if someone has shared their location with you, that doesn’t mean you always want to see them on the map. Maybe you already know they are safe and now you want to check on someone else. Fortunately, you can hide a contact from the map if you want.
Hide someone on mobile
Go back to the Share location screen in the app by tapping your profile picture or initial and ‘Share location’. At the bottom, choose the contact you want to hide from the map.
Tap the three dots in the top right corner of their location info and choose ‘Hide’ [Name] From card. “
To unhide a contact, tap the contact at the bottom of your location sharing list. When the message appears at the top to let you know they are hidden, tap View.
Hide someone online
Go back to the Share location area of Google Maps online with Menu> Share location.
Select the contact you want to hide and click “Hide from card” under their name. This will remove their photo or initial from your map view, although they will still appear in your location sharing list.
To make a contact visible, hover the mouse pointer over the name in your location sharing list and click ‘Show on map’.
If you don’t want to see the full location of a contact in the future, you can block it. Otherwise, wait until the sharing time frame has passed or hope they decide to stop sharing their place with you.
You know what they say, sharing is caring! So if you want to check in with a loved one to make sure they’re home or at their intended destination, you can put the features of Google Maps to work.
