How to go back in time using Google Maps

There is a lot to explore in Google Maps, but you may not always know where to look for. It is great if you try to cross a crowded city or to discover which local coffee has the best rated bagels, but there are also other less known features that deserve to be studied. These include historical images on Google Street View.

Google Maps facilitates the passage between different periods. On the desktop or mobile, you can come back when Google’s Street View cars started to patrol the streets – in some regions, you can return until 2007 – and see what roads and places were years ago.

So, whether you have a practical purpose or just wanted to make a nostalgia trip, here is how to proceed. These instructions apply to the latest versions of Google Maps for the web,, AndroidAnd iOS.

Google Map showing a highway with vignettes on the same scene at different times.

The street view dates appear as options at the bottom of the screen.

Screenshot: Google

If you use Google Maps in an office browser, you can go to Street View by clicking anywhere on the card where Street View is available (which is most of the famous roads and monuments), then clicking on the Street view Panel below. (It will look like a small square photo with an curved arrow.)

Alternatively, select a specific destination on the card, such as a bar or a park, to display its information panel – then click on the same thing Street view bottom panel or click Street view and 360 ° In the photo gallery on the pop-up. Both methods take you to the same place.

If historic street view images are available (and it’s not everywhere), look for a See more dates Link in the address box at the top left.
Select this link to display a series of miniatures at the bottom of the screen, labeled with all the available dates. Scroll straight to see the oldest.
Click on any thumbnail to see photos of the street view from this moment. Click and slide on the images themselves to look around.
You can always move as normal by clicking on the arrows images of the street view. If you sail to a place where there are no older images, you will be brought back to the most recent photos.
If you want to move faster, you can click inside the mini map (bottom left), then click again on a specific point to jump there. The areas with the cover of the street view are marked in blue.
Click See the last date (top left) to return to the most recent images of the Street View database.

Left photo showing photos of in-n-out burger under several miniatures, including one that says

Left: you can find the street view category in the miniatures of a place. Right: once you have chosen “see more dates”, you find the dates passed at the bottom of the screen.

Screenshots: Google

If you use Google Maps on Android or iOS, you still have two ways to go to Street View: you can press and hold on any place on the card, and if Street View imaging is available, a street view photo appears in the lower left corner of the card. (You can also get the same photo in the lower half of the screen, depending on the configuration of your Google Maps version.) Whatever, press it to go to Street View.

You can also press a labeled location name to display your information card, then choose Photos And Street view and 360 ° (If it appears) to arrive at Street View and start looking around.

If the imagery of other dates is available, you get a See more dates Link at the bottom of the screen. Press this to see the same selection of miniatures as on the computer, labeled with the month and the year. Press any sticker to jump there.
Press and slide on the screen to look around or press one of the arrows on the screen to navigate around the location in which you are.
As on the desktop, if you go to a place that does not have older photos, you will be brought back to the most recent images.
You can also come back to the latest photos by pressing the most left miniature in the date selection or by pressing X In the upper left corner.

Historical satellite imaging in Google Earth

Photo by Google Earth showing New York City of satellite.

Google Earth gives you access to older satellite imaging.

Image: Google

You can also explore historic satellite imaging using Google Earth. You can either use it on the web or obtain applications for Android And iOS.

In the web interface, click on the Activate historical imaging button in the upper toolbar. (It looks like a globe with an arrow around it.) You then get a chronology of images available for the region you watch: just click for a year to go back in time. You can also go from Historical imaging has Timelapse Use the button at the top left of the screen and choose the speed at which you want time to get started in time.

With the mobile applications, you press the Layers button (two squares, at the top right), then switches to Historical imaging. A contextual window at the bottom of the screen will show you the same chronology as on the desktop, and you can travel backwards and forward in time by dragging your finger along the chronology. If you want to make a timelapse, search for the icon showing a round rear arrow at the top of the context window.

Satellite imagery dates back to the 1970s in certain parts of the world, but of course, as you return over time, image resolutions will be lower and more, according to the satellite technology available that year.

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