Google puts a (new) date on Maps Timeline’s shutdown

After several rumors and a period of uncertainty, Google has set a final date for the shutdown of its Timeline feature in Google Maps. Emails are going out to users informing them the service will end on June 9, 2025. User data will be deleted unless users save it on their device before that date.

Timeline was originally known as Location History. It is a fun feature that lets you revisit all the places you explored and the routes you took in the past. It’s a geographic recap of sorts, like a logbook of everywhere you went. But since 2023, we’ve been tracking Google’s plans to change it from a cloud-based service to a more private on-device feature. Then we received an email from Google this past June announcing the service would be killed off on December 1st of this year. Well, December 1st came and went and Timeline is still around. Now we know Google has extended its life another six months.

So what’s changing with Timeline, anyway?

The email received by Android Police’s inquisitive reporter Chandraveer Mathur outlines several significant changes for Google Maps Timeline users. These include:

• Device-specific tracker: Timeline will now be saved independently on each individual smartphone instead of in the cloud.
• Auto-deletion of data: Visits and routes older than three months will be automatically deleted unless users take specific action to save individual trips.
• Older data is at risk of deletion: Only 90 days of data will be migrated to a user’s device after the June 9, 2025, deadline.

Also, users will no longer be able to access Timeline on the Google Maps website after June 9. However, there are steps you can take to save your data.

Here’s how to save your Timeline data

Do this before the June 9, 2025, sunset date if you want to save more than 90 days of timeline data.

1. Open Google Maps on your Android device and tap the You tab at the bottom of the app.
2. Choose Explore Timeline.
3. Tap Next on the card that pops up alerting you of the change.
4. Choose how many months worth of Timeline data you want to keep on your device.
5. Choose if you want to continue sending user data to Google.
6. Tap Done.

Your Timeline will live on your phone from this moment on.

Users should prepare for the transition. There’s no word yet about what happens if someone gets a new phone. We’re not sure if Timeline data can be migrated from one device to another. In any case, it’s time to say goodbye to Google Maps Timeline as we knew it.