Google Maps Timeline disappeared? How to restore it (and when you can't)

You open Google Maps, tap Your Timeline — and the months you remember are just blank. Or you export Timeline.json and it comes out empty. This happens to a lot of people, usually right after a new phone, reinstalling Maps, or a big system update. Here is what actually happened, and the only way to get the data back.

Why it disappears

Since 2024, Timeline is stored on your phone, not in your Google account. Google keeps an encrypted backup on its servers only if you turned backup on — and you have to turn it on separately on each device. So:

• New phone without a backup → the history stayed on the old phone.
• Reinstalled Maps or wiped the phone without a backup → the history is gone with it.
• Backup was on → everything below applies, and you will get it back.

Step 1: check that Timeline is on

Google Maps → profile picture → Your Timeline → ⋯ → Location & privacy settings. It must say "Timeline is on". If it says off, turn it on — but note this only starts recording from now; it does not restore anything by itself.

Step 2: see whether you have a backup

In Your Timeline, tap the cloud icon at the top right. If you see a device listed under "Your backups", you have one. If the screen only offers to turn backup on, there is no backup to restore from — skip to the last section.

Step 3: import the backup

1. Tap the cloud icon → under "Your backups", pick the device (usually your old phone).
2. Tap ⋯ → Import.
3. On the "Import Timeline from backup" screen, tap Import.

Give it a few minutes, then reopen Your Timeline: the days should be back. A backup can lag a few days behind what was on the old phone — the most recent days may be missing, that is normal.

The "encrypted data is locked" trap

If Maps says "your encrypted data is locked on this device", the backup was encrypted by another device and this one cannot open it yet.

• Still have the old device? Open Maps on it → Your Timeline → cloud icon → Backup, re-enter your password when asked. Then go back to the new phone and import again. If you see a backup alert on the old device, tap "Fix now".
• Old device gone? The only option Google offers is to turn off backups and delete the existing ones — which permanently deletes that history. Don't do this unless you have accepted that the data is lost.

Only some days or trips are missing

If most of your history is there but a few days or a whole trip are blank, it is usually not a "disappearance" but one of three things. Timeline was recording on another device at the time (a second phone, a tablet): each device keeps its own history, so import that device's backup with the steps above. Or the phone had Low Power Mode or location set to "While Using" during the trip, so nothing was recorded while Maps was closed. Or the days were deleted from the device — a factory reset, clearing Google Play services data, or reinstalling Maps removes Timeline data on that phone, and a backup is the only way back.

Why does my Timeline start in 2024?

Because 2024 is when Google moved Timeline from your account to your phone. Everything recorded before the move stayed in the old account-based Location History, and unless it was migrated to the device at the time, it is not in the phone's Timeline now. What you can still check: an old Google Takeout archive of Location History, if you ever downloaded one, still holds those years; the phone's Timeline never will. Anything from 2024 onwards follows the rules above: on the device, in a backup if you turned one on, and subject to auto-delete.

If there is no backup

Honest answer: the history cannot be recovered. Nothing on our side or anyone else's can rebuild it — it existed only on that phone.

What you can do is make sure it never happens again: Your Timeline → cloud icon → turn on Backup. Two details: you must turn off auto-delete first (⋯ → Location & privacy settings → auto-delete), and changes take a few days to reach the backup — so turn it on today, not the day before you switch phones.

After restoring: export again

Once the days are back, export a fresh file (Google Maps → Settings → Location & Privacy → Export Timeline data on iPhone; Settings → Location → Location services → Timeline → Export Timeline data on Android). The old empty export will not update itself. Full steps in our export guide; if the new file still looks empty, see why Timeline.json is empty. Want to check the days came back before making anything? Open the file in the Google Timeline viewer — it shows your visits and routes day by day, in the browser.

Steps above follow Google's help page "Manage your Google Maps Timeline" as of 25 August 2026; Google moves these menus around, so if something looks different on your phone, search that page for "Import".