How to Share Live Location in Google Maps—and Stop Sharing

Why a point can freeze or show the wrong device

An old timestamp does not, by itself, tell you whether the share ended or why updates stopped. First check the sharing method and its displayed end time: a timed share or link may have expired, while trip progress ends when navigation stops or you arrive. A paused device can leave a share listed without supplying fresh updates.¹²³

Refresh a shared location on Android or iPhone

To request a fresh point, open Location Sharing, choose the person, then tap their icon → More → Refresh. Google documents this recipient-side control for both Android and iPhone/iPad.¹²

Read the timestamp again afterward. Refresh requests an update; it does not extend an expired share, turn on another person’s settings, or prove why a fresh point was unavailable. If the point remains old, contact the sharer through an agreed channel and have them check their own device. Do not infer their movements or intentions from the timestamp.

Check a paused Android sharing device

On the Android device supplying the location, open Settings → Location → Location services → Google Location Sharing and check Use Location Sharing. Confirm the selected account and device before changing it.³

Turning Use Location Sharing off pauses real-time updates; it does not stop the existing shares. Turn it back on only if you intend those shares to resume updating. Google says the control cannot be switched on or off before you have shared with someone; it is off by default. Being able to navigate in Maps does not establish that this separate sharing setting is on.³

On iPhone or iPad, check that device’s Location Services and Maps permission rather than looking for Android’s settings path. Review the iPhone or iPad permission steps below; do not assume one battery or background-setting change will fix every case.

Fix common Location Sharing problems

Choose the right kind of location share

“Share my location” can mean several different jobs. Choose the smallest one that fits.

What the other person can see

Sharing is more than a dot. Google says a Maps recipient can see the following information, depending on the share and feature availability.

A live share does not expose the sender’s complete Timeline history as such. It does expose sensitive present-or-recent device information. Ask first, use the shortest useful duration, and communicate directly instead of inferring behaviour from a point, label, battery level, or timestamp.⁴

Check these things before you start

1. Consent: agree on the purpose, recipient, and end time.
2. Google Account: check the profile photo or initial in Maps.
3. Sharing device: identify the phone or tablet whose location should update.
4. Connectivity: connect to the internet before starting an ordinary live share.
5. Location access: turn on device location and give Maps the location access needed for the intended result.
6. Recipient: decide between a named Google Account and a link.
7. Duration: choose the shortest supported option that covers the event.
8. Afterward: set a reminder to stop and audit all active shares.

On iPhone or iPad, review Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Google Maps if the point cannot update; Precise Location affects how specific the app’s location can be.⁵ On Android, check device Use location, the Maps app permission, and the current account’s Google Location Sharing state. Menu names can vary by OS version and device maker.

Share live location on Android

Google’s current Android Maps workflow is:

1. Open Google Maps and confirm the intended Google Account.
2. Tap the profile photo or initial, then Location sharing.
3. Tap New share.
4. Choose a supported duration.
5. Select the intended person. For the documented Android person-share workflow, add the intended person’s Gmail address to Google Contacts.¹
6. Tap Share and review any permission prompt before accepting it.
7. Reopen Location Sharing and verify the person, duration, device, and current timestamp.

Do not select a longer period merely to avoid a later check. If the interface limits a longer direct share, verify the recipient’s Google Account details and follow the age or account prompts shown rather than switching to a public link.

Share live location on iPhone or iPad

Google documents the iPhone/iPad path separately:

1. Open Google Maps and verify the intended Google Account.
2. Tap the profile photo or initial, then Location Sharing.
3. Tap New share.
4. Select the shortest useful duration.
5. For Google’s documented direct-person flow on iPhone or iPad, first add that person’s Gmail address to Google Contacts. Choose the intended person; use the separate link workflow when appropriate.²
6. Tap Share.
7. Return to Location Sharing and verify who can see the device, until when, and whether the timestamp updates.

If the device cannot provide a useful current point, review iOS Location Services and the Google Maps permission. Do not grant broader background access than you understand merely to silence a warning.

You cannot start live Maps sharing on a computer

Current Google Maps Help does not provide a computer workflow for starting a live share; it tells you to use a mobile device.⁶ A computer can open Maps Menu → Location Sharing to view someone who shares with you and to hide or show that person on your map.

To review or stop your own shares on a computer, use the Google Account path: People & sharing → Info you can share with others → Location Sharing → Manage Location Sharing. Choose the intended person, then Stop.⁷ Sharing a map, directions, or a place from desktop is not the same as starting live person sharing.

Share with a person or by link

A direct person share is tied to the selected Google Account and can offer duration choices that a link does not. It is the better choice when the recipient has an eligible account and the share should remain limited to a named person.

For someone without a Google Account, current Maps Help provides a link workflow. Copy the link and send it privately. Google currently limits Maps link sharing to up to 24 hours. Anyone who receives the still-valid link may be able to open it, so treat forwarding as a real expansion of the audience. Stop the share early if the link reaches the wrong place.

Do not publish a live link in a class chat, public group, website, calendar, or presentation. A fixed venue link is safer when people only need the meeting place.

Choose a duration without assuming one universal menu

Maps, Find Hub, account type, age, region, and share method can expose different choices. Current Maps Help documents a time selector, a link maximum of 24 hours, and an eligible direct-person option that continues until you turn it off. Find Hub currently documents choices such as one hour, end of day, a custom duration, or until stopped; its link shares cannot use the until-stopped option.

If you need a person share for more than 24 hours

For sharing beyond 24 hours, Google’s Android and iPhone/iPad Help says the recipient must have a Gmail account. This is the documented longer person-share path, not an extension of a Maps link’s up-to-24-hour lifetime.¹²

If a longer share is failing, first use Google’s Verify your age check. If age verification does not resolve the issue, use Location sharing → New share → Until you turn this off in Maps. Swipe across the people suggestions, choose More, search for the intended person’s name, phone number, or email, then choose Share.¹²

Use that option only when a continuing share is intended and the account is eligible. Do not use a link to bypass age or account restrictions.

Use the shortest choice that covers the agreed purpose. If a control is absent, do not work around an age, supervision, Workspace, or regional restriction. If you choose an open-ended person share, create your own calendar reminder and perform the audit below.

Verify that the share actually started

Before relying on it, reopen Location Sharing and check:

• the selected Google Account;
• the phone or tablet supplying the point;
• the exact person or whether a link was used;
• the displayed end time or open-ended state;
• the location timestamp and whether it advances;
• whether the recipient received the intended share through a trusted channel;
• whether any older share remains active for someone else.

After checking the share, use direct communication and ordinary judgement.

Stop sharing in Google Maps

On Android, iPhone, or iPad:

1. Open Google Maps with the account that created the share.
2. Tap the profile photo or initial, then Location Sharing.
3. Tap the person whose access should end.
4. Tap Stop.
5. Repeat for every other person or link that should no longer be active.
6. Reopen Location Sharing and check that you are no longer sharing with the intended person.

Stopping is per selected share. Do not stop one person and assume a second person, link, account, or device changed too.

Audit sharing in your Google Account

Open myaccount.google.com, choose the correct account, then go to People & sharing → Info you can share with others → Location Sharing → Manage Location Sharing. Review each person and choose Stop for any access that should end.

Google Location Sharing is account- and device-specific. Repeat the review for another relevant account or device. This is especially important after changing phones, using an old tablet, or noticing that Maps displays the wrong device.

Maps and Find Hub use the same person-share state

Google describes Location Sharing as a setting used across supported services such as Maps and Find Hub. Existing person shares can appear in Find Hub, and stopping one there stops that share for the account across apps using Google Location Sharing. In Find Hub, a person who still shares with you can remain visible after you stop sharing with them.⁸

That parity does not make every Find Hub feature identical to Maps. Finding a lost phone, sharing an item or tag, and viewing the People tab are different jobs. Audit People shares, not unrelated device or accessory entries.

Live location and trip progress are different

Use Share trip progress when the recipient needs one active journey rather than an open-ended view. Start navigation, open the information card, and choose Share trip progress. Google says it ends when you arrive or stop navigation; you can open the card and choose Stop sharing earlier.

Trip progress can include destination, estimated arrival, and current progress. It is still sensitive. If the journey contains several planned destinations, keep the multi-stop itinerary and the live person share as separate decisions.

A fixed place or pin does not follow you

Share a venue, public meeting point, or dropped pin when the recipient only needs to know where, not where a device moves. The link opens that place and stays static.

A place link is not trip progress and not live Location Sharing. Confirm that it does not reveal a private residence or student location before sending it.

Location Sharing and Timeline are separate

Timeline is a device-based record of past visits and routes. Live Location Sharing lets chosen recipients see current or recent device information. Google explicitly says Location Sharing can work when Timeline is off.¹

Turning Timeline off does not stop a live share. Stopping a live share does not delete Timeline. If past visits or routes are the concern, use the separate Google Maps Timeline privacy guide and change only that history surface. Searches and directions requests belong to another record; the Maps search-history guide explains that boundary.

Family Link, school, and supervised accounts

Family Link has separate rules. Google currently says a child under 13—or the applicable age in that country—with a Family Link-managed account can share real-time location only with parents.⁹ Rules differ for older supervised accounts, and a Workspace domain may make Location Sharing unavailable.

This guide is not a child-location workflow. Parents, guardians, and administrators should follow current Family Link and Workspace documentation. For a school event, follow the Google Maps teacher workflow and district policy; never ask students to broadcast personal live locations or work around a school restriction with a personal account.

Hide, stop, pause, or block?

Use Stop when your exposure should end. Use Hide only to change your own map. Pause only after understanding that share entries remain. Reserve blocking for the broader account action you actually intend.

Asking for someone’s location requires a choice

Google documents a request option only when you and the other person have shared before or one of you currently shares. The recipient is notified and can share, ignore the request, or block the requester.

Your decision to share does not entitle you to another person’s location. Ask directly, explain the purpose and end time, accept “no,” and never send repeated requests to pressure a response.

The Google Maps privacy checklist covers the other places to check after live sharing: saved history, public posts, Street View and shared maps.

Stop and audit when the purpose ends

• Stop every intended person share and live link in Maps.
• Review Google Account Location Sharing with the correct account.
• Check Find Hub People for the same sharing relationships.
• Check other accounts and devices that may still supply a point.
• Confirm that a device-level pause did not merely leave recipients listed.
• Remove any arrival/departure notification permission you no longer want.
• Keep recipient identities, live links, private addresses, routes and locations out of shared screenshots and notes.

Field-trip example: share for the event, then stop

Suppose two adult coordinators agree to share during a visit between fictional public meeting points Museum Gate and Library Plaza. They choose a duration that covers the event, verify the correct devices, and keep student names and locations out of the share. The group uses a fixed venue link for participants; only the consenting adults use live location.

At the end, both coordinators stop the shares and audit their account lists. If the itinerary has several public stops, use the multiple-stops guide for route order. If service may fail, prepare with Offline Maps—downloaded map coverage does not make live sharing work offline. When students build a project map instead, use My Maps view/edit permissions rather than personal live location.

Emergency and satellite sharing are special cases

Do not rely on ordinary Maps Location Sharing as an emergency service or a guarantee that someone can be reached. Personal Safety emergency sharing is a separate feature with device, account, and regional limits.

Google also documents a narrow satellite option: on eligible Android devices, supported carrier networks, and supported regions, a person can send a one-time location update to people with whom a share already exists. It cannot create a new share and is not ordinary continuous live sharing.¹⁰ Use current device and carrier instructions for that exceptional case.