Does Google My Maps work offline? What Google's help pages say

Does Google My Maps work offline? Not according to Google: its My Maps help says "You can't use My Maps offline", and a browser session needs an internet connection. A map opened inside the Google Maps app is a separate case, and the pages I read do not say it loads without signal. Test it in airplane mode before you travel.

Disclosure: I built NomadSwipe (Android), and I wrote this page. Every statement about Google comes from Google's own help pages, which I read on 11 November 2026 (see Sources). Where those pages were silent, this page says so, and silence does not mean a feature is missing. I did not test My Maps on a phone. Published 11 November 2026.

The short answer, and why it is thinner than it looks

The one direct sentence I found sits on Google's page about the retired My Maps app for Android. It says the app "will be shut down and removed from the Play Store" on 15 October 2021, that you can use the web version at mymaps.google.com, and that "You can't use My Maps offline." A tip on the same page adds that to use My Maps through a web browser you must be connected to the internet. The page was last updated on 12 July 2021.

That settles the editor: building a map in My Maps needs a connection. It does not settle the case most travellers care about, which is looking at a finished map on a phone with no signal. Google's page for viewing a My Map in the Google Maps app does not mention offline use at all, and the pages about downloading offline areas in Google Maps do not mention My Maps. So for that case the honest status is "not stated", and the answer for your phone is whatever the airplane-mode test shows.

What Google says, surface by surface

I split Google's statements by where you would touch a My Maps map: the website, the old app, the Google Maps app, and a downloaded Google Maps area.

How to open a My Map in the Google Maps app: Google's steps

This is the viewing path from Google's help page, quoted as steps, not something I recorded on a phone. The Android and iPhone versions of the page give the same route; the iPhone version adds a third step.

1. Sign in and open the Google Maps app.
2. Tap You, then Maps.
3. On the iPhone version, tap the map to open it.

Two details differ between Google's pages. The Android and iPhone versions of the viewing page say You, while the computer version and the 2021 deprecation page say Saved, so the tab name depends on the version of the page and the app. The computer version also says Google Maps shows only "your 5 most recent maps", and to edit you choose the map and click Open in My Maps. That 5-map limit is stated on the computer page only, and I did not find it on the phone versions.

To remove a My Map from view, Google gives four steps: tap a place, line or region from the map, tap the My Maps icon at the bottom, tap View Map Legend, then tap Close. None of these pages says what happens to the map when you lose your connection.

What a downloaded Google Maps area adds

Google Maps can save an area to your phone, and that is the only offline mechanism in these pages. I cover it in full in Google Maps offline for a trip, so here are just the stated limits that matter for a custom map: navigation works only if the entire route is inside the downloaded map, driving has no traffic information or alternate routes, transit, bicycling and walking directions are unavailable, and offline maps cannot be downloaded in some countries or regions. Downloaded maps expire and must be updated, and Google Maps tries to update one automatically with 15 days or less left on Wi-Fi.

Put those two sets of pages side by side and the gap is visible: a downloaded area is documented as a map and a driving route, and a My Map is documented as something you build online. Nowhere do the pages connect the two, so I will not claim that your custom pins appear on a downloaded area.

Ways to carry the plan without a signal (my reading, not Google's)

These are my suggestions built on what the pages list, and Google does not describe any of them as an offline feature.

• Print the map. Print map is in the My Maps menu on a computer. A printout needs no connection, though it does not move or update.
• Export the data. Export to KML/KMZ downloads the map's info, and Export data as CSV works on one layer at a time. Google's page says you can download the info "for other apps"; whether a given app opens the file is that app's question.
• Write down the stops that matter. Names, addresses and the order of the day, kept somewhere that opens with no connection.
• Test before you go. Switch on airplane mode, open Google Maps, go to the Maps list and open your map. You will know for that phone, that account and that map.

If your plan is still a list of ideas rather than a map, Google My Maps alternatives for trip planning compares six apps with My Maps, and how to plan a trip on a map covers building the map step by step.

Where NomadSwipe fits, and where it does not

I built NomadSwipe (Android) to turn a city into a shortlist of real places: you swipe cards, keep the ones you like, see them on a map and build a trip. For offline use, the Play listing says up to 20 saved trips are available offline after you open them online. Offline copies expire, so open a trip online again to refresh it. I do not claim offline maps: the listing does not describe them, so for navigation without signal use a downloaded Google Maps area or another offline map app. NomadSwipe does not import a My Maps file, and it is Android only today; iPhone is coming soon. For six offline options side by side, see offline trip planners for Android.

Summary: what to remember

• Google's My Maps help says "You can't use My Maps offline", and a browser session needs an internet connection (page updated 12 July 2021).
• The My Maps app for Android was shut down on 15 October 2021. Creating and editing happen in a web browser.
• You can view a My Map in the Google Maps app (You, then Maps on the phone versions of the page). The pages say nothing about whether it loads offline.
• Google's offline-area pages do not mention My Maps, and they say transit, bicycling and walking directions are unavailable offline.
• The only way to know is to open your map in airplane mode while you still have Wi-Fi.
• Print map and the KML/KMZ and CSV exports exist on a computer. Treating them as offline copies is my inference.

Questions about Google My Maps offline

Does Google My Maps work offline?

Not according to Google. The My Maps help page about the retired Android app says "You can't use My Maps offline" and that using My Maps in a web browser needs an internet connection. That page was last updated on 12 July 2021, so I treat it as the only direct statement I found, not as a test of today's apps.

Can I view a My Maps map in the Google Maps app without internet?

Google's pages do not say. The help page for viewing a My Map in Google Maps says to sign in, open the app and tap You, then Maps, and it does not mention offline use or an internet requirement. Silence is not a yes. Open the map in airplane mode while you still have Wi-Fi to find out for your phone.

Is there a Google My Maps app for offline use?

No. Google's page says the My Maps app for Android was shut down on 15 October 2021 and removed from the Play Store. Maps you already created can be found in the Google Maps app or on mymaps.google.com in a web browser.

Does a downloaded offline area in Google Maps include my My Maps?

The offline maps pages I read do not mention My Maps or saved lists, so I cannot say. What they do say is that a downloaded area gives navigation only while the entire route is inside it, and that transit, bicycling and walking directions are unavailable offline.

How can I take a My Maps map with me without a signal?

Google's My Maps help page lists Print map, Export to KML/KMZ and, for individual layers, Export data as CSV, all from a computer. Google does not describe these as offline features. A printout or a written list of names and addresses is a copy that needs no connection, but that is my reading, not Google's claim.

Does NomadSwipe work offline?

Up to 20 saved trips are available offline after you open them online. Offline copies expire, so open a trip online again to refresh it. I built NomadSwipe (Android), and I do not claim offline maps: the listing does not describe them.

What we checked: findings, method and sample

Sample and method. On 11 November 2026 I made 12 fetches with a web-fetch tool, covering eight Google help articles and the My Maps Help home page: the deprecation page for the My Maps Android app (twice), the introduction to My Maps, create or open a map, add places, share, download or print, view your My Maps using Google Maps (Android, iPhone and computer versions), and the offline maps article in two Google help centers. For each I recorded only what the text said about offline use, the internet requirement and the Google Maps app, and marked silence as silence. The fetch tool returns a summary of the page, several pages came back truncated, and I could not read every line, so a statement I did not record may exist in the omitted part. I did not run My Maps or Google Maps in airplane mode, and I did not read Google's changelogs.

• One page states that My Maps is not usable offline: the deprecation page, last updated 12 July 2021. Of the other seven articles, none mentioned offline use for My Maps.
• The viewing page has three versions (Android, iPhone, computer). Android and iPhone say You, then Maps; the computer version says Saved, then Maps, and is the only one with the "5 most recent maps" statement.
• The offline maps article (Google Maps Help, 6291838) and the Android-only offline overview (gmm, 2650218) agree on the three limits: transit, bicycling and walking directions unavailable, navigation only inside the downloaded map, no traffic or alternate routes offline. Neither mentions My Maps or lists.
• Of the six rows in the table, two are stated limits (browser use and the retired app), one is a stated browser-only rule for creating and editing, two are not stated for My Maps (the Google Maps app and a downloaded area), and one lists export and print tools that Google does not call offline features.
• Silence list: whether a My Map opened in the Google Maps app loads with no signal, whether a downloaded area shows My Maps layers, how the 5-map limit applies on a phone, and whether Google has changed the "offline" sentence since July 2021.

Limits: Google can change its help pages at any time, the one explicit offline sentence is more than four years old, and the suggestions in the section on carrying a plan are my inference. NomadSwipe statements come from its Google Play listing as checked on 2 November 2026 and are limited to what the sibling offline page already says. I did not copy any third-party text.

Sources

• My Maps Help, deprecation of My Maps for Android (offline sentence, internet tip, app shutdown date, last updated 12 July 2021, where existing maps are found), read 11 November 2026: support.google.com/mymaps/answer/10656656
• Google Maps Help, view your My Maps using Google Maps, Android, iPhone and computer versions, read 11 November 2026: support.google.com/maps/answer/3045850
• My Maps Help, share, download, or print your map (print, KML/KMZ and CSV export), read 11 November 2026: support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3109452
• My Maps Help, introduction to Google My Maps, create or open a map, and add places to your map (no offline statement found), read 11 November 2026: support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024396, support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024454 and support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024925
• Google Maps Help, download areas and navigate offline (offline limits, 15-day update rule), read 11 November 2026: support.google.com/maps/answer/6291838
• Google Maps Help, offline maps overview (Android), read 11 November 2026: support.google.com/gmm/answer/2650218
• NomadSwipe facts: the public Google Play listing of NomadSwipe: Trip Planner, checked 2 November 2026.

More on choosing a planner: Google My Maps alternatives, Google Maps offline for a trip and all comparisons.