Google Maps Has 15-Year-Old Pictures of Your Home (and You Can See Them)
Street View lets you go back as far as 2007.
For more than 15 years, Google’s fleet of Street View trucks has been taking pictures of cafes, apartments, parks, and pretty much anything else you can view from a street. Google has repeatedly retraced its movements throughout that time, taking better-quality pictures that you can view in Google Maps.
In fact, if you use the Street View feature on your home in Google Maps right now, you’ll get a current image, possibly from the past year or two. You just need to know where to look. Google Maps, on the other hand, has every photo shot there since 2007.
Do you want to see how your house appeared more than ten years ago? We’ll demonstrate how to use Google Map’s time-travel function on a PC and mobile device.
While you’re here, you should also have a look at why you might want to blur your home from Google Maps and how to use Google Maps even if you don’t have access to the internet.
How to see older Street View images on your phone
Enter an address or lay a marker down on a location for which you want to see images in the Google Maps app for iOS or Android.
The next step is to hit the Street View preview, which is located directly above the information box and will launch Street View in full-screen mode. Tap the sizable map after that.
In the white window at the bottom of Street View, a blue option that says “Show more dates” ought to now be visible. If you tap it, a carousel of photographs with the month and year they were taken by Google will appear. To navigate between the various Street View photos, swipe left and right.
There should be selections as far back as 2007, with new photographs added every few years or so. The earlier the date, the worse the quality of the image you might view. You might anticipate more Street View selections if you reside in a major city.
Check out vintage Street View images on your computer
On your PC, you may also browse the same Street View pictures from earlier times.
Go to the Google Maps page in your preferred web browser and select a point on the map or input an address. Once you’ve chosen a location, click the image that displays directly over the address on Google Maps’ left side. If the image is one from Street View, clicking it will take you there; if not, find Street View & 360° and click the image that appears below.
In Street View mode, the top-left corner of the map should display a grey, transparent pane. A carousel of Street View photographs over the past about 15 years will appear at the bottom when you select the See more dates option. Go through the many old photos with your mouse by clicking and dragging.
