If you're a long-term Google Maps user who relies on its popular Timeline feature to keep track of your travels — you could be in for a nasty surprise. That's because the Californian company has confirmed that it accidentally wiped data for many users due to a technical issue.
Google has acknowledged the issue in an email to those impacted, which states: "We briefly experienced a technical issue that caused the deletion of Timeline data for some people."
"If you did not have backups turned on, unfortunately, you will not be able to recover lost data," it continues. "We understand that this can be frustrating if you use Timeline to remember places that you've visited, and we are taking steps to improve our systems for the future."
For those who don't know, Google Maps' Timeline feature acts like a digital travel journal, tracking your movements and saving them to a personal map. It records the places you've visited and the routes taken. This data can be used to personalise other Google experiences.
Google offers the ability to view, edit, and delete the data.
According to widespread complaints, the Google Maps glitch has left many without access to years of location history and cherished travel memories.
With over one billion monthly active users, Google Maps is comfortably the most popular navigation service online as well as on mobile platforms like Android and iOS.
For some, Google Maps' Timeline was simply a practical tool for recalling specific routes or daily movements. But for others, it held sentimental value, preserving memories of holidays, trips abroad, and special occasions. If you received an email from Google Maps, it means your account may have been impacted by this deletion.
Google has now resolved the glitch that caused the accidental deletion, and any new visits logged on Google Maps should appear in your Timeline as normal. However, the $1.9 trillion company didn't elaborate on the specific technical details that caused the data loss.
My Google Maps Timeline is gonepic.twitter.com/OjGOCRMfgH
— Dylan Veerasamy
(@DylanVeerasamy) March 21, 2025
It's also stayed quiet on the exact scale of the problem. You'll need to keep a close eye on your email inbox to see if you're impacted by the technical glitch. Numerous Google Maps who have already been contacted by the company have taken to social media to report losing significant amounts of their travel data.
"I saw the email, checked my timeline, and I only had two weeks of timeline data instead of 10 years of it," one Reddit user wrote.
Another user described the situation as "heartbreaking," lamenting the loss of more than 10 years of travel history across the globe.
"Got the same email except everything up until yesterday is gone. Years of travel and memories," reported a third affected user.
The timing of the unknown technical issue couldn't have been worse. The issue seems to have been compounded by Google's recent switch to on-device storage for Timeline data, with backups no longer enabled by default. This means many users who lost their data had no backup to restore from.
Google Maps kickstarted this major shift in how it handles location history in December last year. Instead of storing Timeline data in the cloud, Google is moving to an on-device approach. The company has set a deadline of June 9, 2025 for users to switch over to on-device location history.
After this date, any location data still stored in Google's servers will be permanently removed.
"If you did not have backups turned on, unfortunately you will not be able to recover lost data," Google stated in its email to affected users. However, if you manually enabled encrypted backups before the glitch, it might be possible for you to restore your data. Here's how:
- Open the Play Store or App Store and ensure you've got the latest version of Google Maps installed
- Open Google Maps and tap on your circular Profile Picture
- Select Your Timeline
- Tap the Cloud icon close to the top of the screen
- Select a backup and import your data
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Some users report that selecting "Import" from the backup successfully restored their complete Timeline history. Even if you weren't affected by this incident, it's advisable to enable Timeline backups now to protect your data in the future.
The setting isn't turned on automatically, so you'll need to manually activate it through the cloud icon in your Timeline. This serves as a stark reminder that even data stored with major tech companies isn't immune to technical issues. Without proper backups, years of personal location history can vanish in an instant.
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