RouteConverter
DE

Google Maps Timeline exports

Google Maps keeps a Timeline of where you have been. RouteConverter 3.7 or later reads the on-device Timeline export (location-history.json) and turns it into routes, tracks and waypoints like any GPS file.

Last checked: October 2026.

Getting the export file

Timeline is no longer on the web, and Takeout no longer carries it: Google moved it onto your phone in 2024, so the export is made on the phone itself. Both paths below are from Google's Manage your Google Maps Timeline help page.

Android

  1. Open the Settings app (the phone's, not Google Maps').
  2. Location → Location services → Timeline.
  3. Under Timeline, tap Export Timeline data, then Continue.
  4. Choose where to store the file and tap Save.

iPhone and iPad

  1. Open the Google Maps app, tap your profile picture or initial, then Settings.
  2. Under Account settings tap Personal content.
  3. Under Location settings tap Export Timeline data.
  4. On the share sheet tap Save to Files, choose a location and tap Save. The file is named location-history.json.

Menu labels shift between app and OS versions; if yours differ, search the settings for "Timeline". Google does not name the Android file — expect a .json, possibly Timeline.json. Then move it to your computer (cloud drive, USB, email to yourself).

Which file do I get, and which one does RouteConverter open?

  • Timeline export (location-history.json / .json from Android): RouteConverter opens it — this page.
  • Saved places and lists: a different export, made with Google Takeout — see Saved places from Google Maps.
  • Old Takeout "Location History" (Records.json, Semantic Location History): not read. RouteConverter's reader accepts only the two on-device shapes below.

What RouteConverter makes of it

  • Open the .json like any GPS file — drag-and-drop onto the window or File → Open.
  • Both export shapes are read: the iOS bare array of positions and the Android semanticSegments structure.
  • One track is created per calendar day, named by ISO date such as 2026-09-06, with the points sorted by time. A single journey chopped across the 2-hour buckets of the export becomes one day track.
  • All visited places become one extra waypoint list named Visits. Each waypoint's description is the place's semantic type such as Home or Work.
  • Activities (driving, walking, cycling, …) are not separate lists — they appear as position descriptions on the day tracks.
  • The export carries no elevation. See Complete elevation data to fill it in.
  • The format is read-only: RouteConverter can view the day tracks and convert them to other formats, but it cannot write back a Timeline .json.

Save as GPX or KML

Once the day tracks are loaded, pick GPX or KML in the Save as dropdown and use File → Save as. Step by step: Google Timeline to GPX.

See also