How to Time Travel in Google Maps Street View

The Google Street View feature in Google Maps allows you see the current street view of a location. Did you also know that you can time travel using Google Maps Street View and view a location as it was back in the day? Let’s see how you can use Google Maps Street View to travel back in time.

How to View Old Street View Images

Google refreshes Street View data in a set time for many areas. This way, it allows you to view older images of places. However, do note that you can only use this time travel feature on Google Maps Street View on the desktop version.

1. Open any web browser and head over to maps.google.com.

2. Enter a location that you wish to see how it looked in the past. For this example, we are searching “85 West Street, New York, NY, USA.”

3. You need to select the Street View icon for the location. For more precision, you can first click on the location, then click on the Street View icon. Both work the same.

4. You will see a circular arrow-shaped icon with clock-hands in between. Notably, you won’t be able to see older images of every location. If it is available for that particular location, this icon will show up.

5. Tapping on it will reveal a timeline you can slide to go back in time and view older images of the same place. Moreover, you can change your perspective and view the updates as they happened.

6. To view the image in full-screen mode, simply tap on the “Magnifying Glass” icon.

7. That’s it!

As mentioned above, this feature is not applicable for every location. When it is available, you will see the time travel icon. For more tips on Google Maps, you can learn how to show the speed limit on Google Maps and save a route on Google Maps.