How to drop a pin on Google Maps

Since Google Maps first went online in 2005, the little red pin has been its defining symbol, and it’s one you can take charge of. Even if your location doesn’t correspond to a specific business or address, you can easily drop a pin in the app to save a location. Whether you’re trying to meet up with friends in the park, mark a scenic overlook for an upcoming visit, or remember where you left your bike, dropping a Google Maps pin can be incredibly helpful.

Over its lifetime, Google Maps has released many advanced features, from 3D mapping to showing how active a business is. Sometimes, though, the simplest feature is the most useful: telling you how to get from point A to point B. If your point A or B isn’t officially on the map, it’s easy to place it there yourself.

To drop a pin on mobile:

1. Open it Google Maps application.

2. Find the location you want to pin, then tap and hold there.

3. If desired, add a label by scrolling through the options next to Instructions and hit Add a label. This allows you to set a custom name for the location instead of using its GPS coordinates and adding it to the Tagged section of the Registered tongue.

4. To save the PIN for yourself, tap To safeguard in the same list. Choose a listing and add a note about the spot if necessary.

5. To share the location with others, scroll down and tap Sharethen choose your sharing method.

On a computer, there is a very quick step, but it is still easy to access and share the exact contact details provided with a PIN:

1. Go to the Google Maps website.

2. Click on the area you want to share. A gray dot will appear on the map and you will see the GPS coordinates appear in a small box at the bottom of the screen.

3. Click on these GPS coordinates to open the standard Google Maps information panel for that location. From there, follow the same steps as above to To safeguard, Add a label Or Share the place.

4. As an alternative, you can right-click anywhere on the map to display a list of options. Click on the GPS coordinates to copy them or click Share this location to do it faster. Directions from here And How to get here can also be useful if you don’t need to save the PIN.

Instead of sharing a PIN to direct people to a location, you can also live share your own location for a set amount of time by doing the following:

1. Open the Google Maps app.

2. Tap your profile picture in the upper right corner and select Location sharing.

3. Select Share location (Or New share), then choose how long you want to share your location. Alternatively, choose Until you turn that off to do it indefinitely.

4. Finally, select a contact’s Google account to share directly on their Maps app, or select More options to send via another method.

For an even more personalized experience, you can also create an entire map using Google’s My Maps feature. With this, you can add multiple layers for different types of locations (like parks, restaurants, and tourist attractions). This is ideal for having a complete vacation itinerary in one place or for keeping a detailed map of business clients for quick navigation.

Each custom map can contain up to 10,000 lines, shapes or places, which means that in addition to precise addresses, you can also designate custom areas. These can only be created on desktop, but are viewable in the mobile app.