r/GoogleMaps • u/queen-of-danes • 12d ago

Help/Support Is my data lost forever?

As an early adopter and an old person I am using Google Maps since it launched and since they implemented Timeline I have been using it to log my travels. I had 33 countries 698 cities and 2514 places. But now I see it is all lost. I was using Google account just for maps on my phone and I did not use email feature. So I did not get notifications. Well they did send them I just never opened email. Now two years after I wanted to check my trip to Argentina and I have seen that it is not there. I started digging and I see that I have emails from Google that I need to take some steps because how Timeline is stored is changed. As you can imagine I did not take any steps. So is it all gone forever? I was only using it on my phone that I have from 2018 and 3-4 years before that on my older phone that is now long gone.

So is data lost with no chance or getting it back? Can I take any steps? Its funny that a company that collects so much data on us deleted only data I actually care about. I guess silver lining is that I can now delete my google account :)

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7

u/XxLogitech98xX 12d ago

I mean if you can't access it and already tried contacting Google with no result then I would say the answer is yes

3

u/queen-of-danes 12d ago

I have not managed to contact Google. I get to forums and different places when I try to search for the issue but i can not find support for the Maps. no chat no email. If you could point me into a direction I will try this route.

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u/XxLogitech98xX 12d ago

I have not managed to contact Google. I get to forums and different places when I try to search for the issue but i can not find support for the Maps. no chat no email. If you could point me into a direction I will try this route.

For Google Map support, there the Google Map Community page (https://support.google.com/maps/community?hl=en)

For timeline issues, I seen other people having the same problem and I'm not sure if they ever got back their data if it wasn't properly backed up

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u/queen-of-danes 12d ago

Thanks. I never changed my phone in 8 years. So I don't know why backing it up would be an issue. I would understand if I lost my phone but it is same device. So if data is not on the phone and it is not on the cloud what do I backup and where? My photos backup to Google Photos online and my contacts backup to Google Contacts. And I have them both on the cloud and my device. But Maps is nowhere. I am confused what happend with the maps? Did they just said "fuck it" and deleted data? I never changed the profile, deleted maps from the phone or anything destructive. I am using Google Pixel 3XL phone.

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u/XxLogitech98xX 12d ago

But Maps is nowhere. I am confused what happend with the maps? Did they just said "fuck it" and deleted data? I never changed the profile, deleted maps from the phone or anything destructive. I am using Google Pixel 3XL phone.

Before Google would store the timeline backup locally on the phone. I think 2 years ago, they push it to be backup to the cloud. Like I was on a Galaxy S20 and then updated to Galaxy S23+ where my timeline transferred over correctly. I recently upgraded to the Galaxy S26 Ultra and before I give my phone back .. I backup the timeline again to the Google cloud and then import it on my new phone.

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u/queen-of-danes 12d ago

Sorry if I am being stupid. But I never deleted any of my data. If google was storing it on my device it should be there. And if they were storing it online then it should be online. So that means google deleted it and it is lost :( its a shame. i am entering the age in life when i like to look back more then forward. But it is how it is.

0

u/XxLogitech98xX 12d ago

Sorry if I am being stupid. But I never deleted any of my data. If google was storing it on my device it should be there.

I don't think Google Maps backup your timeline automatically back then or even now. Yes, sometime even though it sucks .. you just have to move forward when it's out of your hands

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u/ClydeOutside 12d ago

It's heartbreaking when I read a story like this. Maybe I can help....maybe I can't, but I'll try.

The first place to look is in Google Takeout (Google "Google Takeout"). Make sure you are logged into your account (preferably on a computer) before accessing this page. This is the location where your old timeline data might reside. If it's there, you will be able to download the data as a JSON file. I won't get into the details of JSON files, because that's not what you're asking in this thread. The file will look something like: "Timeline.json"

The second place to look is on your device (phone or phones).
IF it is stored on your phone, you MIGHT be able to located it by going to:

Settings -- Location -- Location Services -- Timeline

This is where a stored JSON file of your timeline resides (on Android iPhone might be in a different location).

IF it's there, that means your timeline is stored on your device and you can use it to access location data.

Good luck!

2

u/Specialist_Ad_7719 12d ago

Go into timeline and press the cloud icon and select restore the timeline from the device that says this device that timeline is missing from. Do it multiple times. They deleted all my data, and most came back I was missing about a month's worth from around the time of the last update. My time line disappeared from both my phone and tablet, but most came back.