To see an older street-level scene, open Google Maps Street View and select See more dates. To see older overhead satellite or aerial imagery, use Google Earth’s historical imagery timeline instead. The archives are separate, and neither guarantees imagery for a particular place or year.
Choose the right kind of historical view
| What you want to see | Use | How you choose a date | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| An old street scene, storefront, or house frontage | Google Maps Street View | Select a capture in the “See more dates” gallery or carousel | Historical Street View imagery exists only for some locations. |
| Past land use, development, or an overhead view | Google Earth | Choose a date on the historical imagery timeline | Available dates vary by place, and aerial imagery dates can be approximate or cover a range. |
Street View shows ground-level panoramas. Google Earth’s timeline is the control for historical overhead imagery; it is not the same archive as Maps’ Street View gallery.
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View older Street View photos on a computer
- Open Google Maps in a desktop browser and search for an address or place.
- Drag Pegman onto the map and drop him on a blue line, blue dot, or orange dot to enter Street View.
- Click See more dates.
- Scroll through the thumbnail gallery at the bottom of the screen and select a past capture.
- Use Back to leave Street View.
The gallery appears only where historic imagery is available. Google states, “Historic imagery isn’t available for every place that has Street View.”
View older Street View photos on a phone or tablet
Android
- Open Google Maps and find the place or area.
- Tap Layers, choose Street View, then close the layer panel.
- Tap a blue Street View line. If See more dates is offered, tap it and select an available capture.
iPhone and iPad
- Open Google Maps, tap Layers, then choose Street View.
- Tap a blue line to enter Street View.
- If See more dates appears, tap it, scroll the carousel, and select a date.
Google’s mobile instructions confirm these steps, but the date option is not available at every location. See Google’s Street View instructions.
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View older satellite or aerial imagery in Google Earth
- Open Google Earth and navigate to the place you want to inspect.
- Turn on the historical imagery control to display the timeline.
- Move along the timeline and select a date for which imagery is available at that location.
- Zoom as needed; the dates shown on the timeline can change with the view.
The timeline only exposes imagery available in the archive for the area; it does not guarantee a particular year. Google explains the control in View a map over time.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Understand what an imagery date means
Historical overhead imagery is not necessarily a single, complete picture of a place at one instant. Satellite and aerial views may be mosaics assembled from photographs collected on different days or months. A displayed date can be a range, and the date label may change as you move the cursor across the image. For a date range, Google says the displayed imagery date is the oldest possible date.
In Google Earth’s historical imagery timeline, the selected date means the imagery shown was captured on or before that date. If overlapping images were captured on the same day, only one may be available to view. On a computer, time-zone differences can also make a displayed date differ by one day. Three-dimensional imagery does not show a collection date because it is derived from aerial images gathered across multiple dates.
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Neither view is real time: Google imagery is collected over time from providers and platforms. Collection dates may be imprecise or inaccurate, including because of human error or other issues. See How images are collected.
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If you cannot find the year you want
- No “See more dates” in Street View: Historical photos may not be available at that point. Try another nearby Street View-covered spot, but a different point may not have older imagery either.
- You want an overhead view: Switch to Google Earth and check its historical imagery timeline; the Street View gallery does not provide aerial-image dates.
- The timeline skips your target year: The archive does not show an image for every year or location. Do not assume a missing date means an image exists but is hidden.
- You want newer imagery: Google accepts feedback about outdated satellite or Street View imagery, but says it cannot commit to a specific update timeline. The feedback option is described in Google Maps’ Street View instructions.
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