How Far Back Does Google Maps Timeline Go?
Google Maps Timeline goes back as far as your auto-delete setting allows, and no further than the day you switched it on. Since the 2024 move to on-device storage, the default is 3 months. If you chose 18 or 36 months, that is your limit. With auto-delete off, it keeps everything recorded since Timeline was turned on. Defaults checked October 2026.
One more limit applies to almost everyone: when Google moved Timeline from its servers to your phone, history that was not kept before your account's deadline was deleted. This page explains the settings, how to check yours, and how to find the earliest day you still have.
The auto-delete options
Timeline's auto-delete setting removes history older than a chosen age. These are the choices Google offers:
| Setting | Timeline keeps | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 3 months | Roughly the last 90 days | Default when you turn Timeline on, since 2024 |
| 18 months | A year and a half | The default from June 2020 until the move to the phone |
| 36 months | Three years | Longest automatic window |
| Off (keep until you delete) | Everything since Timeline was switched on | Required to turn on the backup |
The default matters more than the options, because most people never open this setting. If you turned Timeline on and changed nothing, it holds about three months.
What changed in 2024
Until then, Timeline lived in your Google account. Google announced in December 2023 that Timeline would move onto your device and that auto-delete would default to 3 months when you first turn it on, down from 18 months.
The move rolled out account by account, each with a deadline around six months after Google's notice; press reports of Google's emails put the last one at 9 June 2025. Google said that, after the deadline, it would try to move the last 90 days of Timeline to your phone and delete older history that had not been saved. That is why many long-standing Timelines now start in 2025.
How far back could it ever go?
Timeline itself appeared in Google Maps in July 2015, built on Location History that some accounts had been recording for years before that. An account that kept Location History on, never set auto-delete, and saved its history through the move to the phone can still reach back that far.
Such accounts are the exception. Timeline is off by default and only records once you opt in, so the real start date is whenever you, or a phone setup screen, switched it on.
See exactly how far back your history goes
Drop your Timeline export into the viewer. It shows your history year by year, so your earliest year is right there. Free, in your browser.
Open your Timeline fileHow to check your own setting
- Open the Google Maps app and tap your profile picture.
- Tap Your Timeline, then open the menu.
- Choose Location & privacy settings.
- Look at Auto-delete Timeline: 3, 18 or 36 months, or off.
If you want to keep more from now on, choose a longer period or turn auto-delete off. Turning it off is also what Google's help pages require before you can switch on the encrypted backup. Neither change brings back history that was already deleted.
A Takeout export records the same setting. The Settings.json inside it holds your retention window, and the Google Maps Timeline viewer reads it out as the number of days Google keeps.
How to find your earliest day
Scrolling back through the calendar in the Maps app works, but slowly. The quicker way is to export your Timeline and open the file in the viewer, which lays out your history year by year and shows where it begins.
If the first year is later than you expected, the cause is one of a short list: auto-delete, the move to the phone, a new phone without a backup, or Timeline being off. Our guide on Google Maps Timeline missing helps you tell which.
Frequently asked questions
How far back does Google Maps Timeline go?
As far back as your auto-delete setting and the day you switched Timeline on allow. Since the 2024 move to on-device storage, auto-delete defaults to 3 months when you turn Timeline on. You can choose 18 or 36 months, or turn auto-delete off to keep everything since Timeline was switched on. Defaults checked October 2026.
Can Google Maps Timeline go back 10 years?
Only if your history has never been deleted. That means auto-delete was off, your account kept its history through Google's move of Timeline to the phone, and Timeline was on for those ten years. For most people one of those conditions failed, so their Timeline is far shorter.
Why does my Timeline only go back 3 months?
Because 3 months is the default auto-delete period when Timeline is turned on, and accounts that did not keep their history when Timeline moved to the phone kept only about the last 90 days. History older than that has been deleted and cannot be restored.
How do I check my Timeline auto-delete setting?
In the Google Maps app, tap your profile picture, then Your Timeline, open the menu, choose Location & privacy settings, and look at Auto-delete Timeline. The Settings.json file inside a Takeout export also records the retention window, and the Timeline viewer reads it out for you.
If I turn auto-delete off now, do I get my old history back?
No. Turning auto-delete off only stops future deletions. History that was already deleted is gone. Change the setting now to protect what you have from here on.
Does Google keep Timeline data after it disappears from the app?
Not in a form you can get back. Google's tools offer no way to restore history removed by auto-delete or by the move to the phone. If you need older history, look for a Timeline file or Takeout archive you saved earlier.
Read every year your Timeline still holds
Drop Timeline.json, location-history.json, Records.json or the Takeout ZIP. See your history on a map, year by year. Free to read, $12 one-time for the mileage log and GPX, KML and GeoJSON files.
Open your Timeline fileRead in your browser. Nothing uploaded. TakeoutReader is not affiliated with Google.