Summary
- Google Maps Timeline history is vanishing for some users for no known reason.
- The transition to on-device location history may be the cause, or the new Find My Device setup could be at fault.
- Users are advised to check settings and wait for Google’s response.
Google Maps’ recent change to on-device location history appears to have hit a snag. Dozens of reports are now surfacing that user’s Maps Timeline history has simply…vanished.
Related
Users affected by this problem report that years of location history appear to have been wiped from their account (via 9to5 Google). Opening Google Maps Timeline results in a ‘No visits for this day’ message across all dates, despite Timeline being turned on.
Why is Google Maps location history disappearing?
The problem may be related to Google Maps’ transition to on-device location history. Google wants to stop storing location history in the cloud and move this data to user’s
devices
. Google claims this is for privacy reasons. Users have until June 9, 2025, to migrate to on-device location history. Any location data still stored in the cloud will be deleted after that date.
But it seems some people cannot access any backup, whether in the cloud or on-device. The only option these users are given is to delete all of their data. It’s unclear if this is a display bug preventing Timeline history from showing up, or if the data has been wiped by a glitch.
It could also stem from a new location-sharing feature for the Find My Device app, which relies on Google Maps location history. There’s still no evidence that the Maps Timeline is being replaced by Find My Device, but the timing certainly raises some eyebrows.
Here’s what you can do if your Timeline history is missing
There’s no confirmed fix for it as of the time of this writing, but there are a few steps you can take to try and recover your Timeline history, if it is missing:
- Check to see if location history is still enabled in Google Maps settings.
- Restart your device and check to see if Timeline data appears.
- Check for Google’s response to the issue in a day or so, as this may simply be a small bug.
Avoid deleting anything for now. It’s still unclear what’s causing the issue, and a simple server-side patch may fix it. Why not try out a
different map service
until then?
