We Couldnt Add This Spot to Your Saved Restaurants. To Try Again

If You Utilise Google Maps, You Should Be Using Saved Places Lists

Even if yous've never heard of Google Maps saved places before, you can probably approximate what it is.

It's a fashion to save and manage lists of locations on Google Maps, view them right on the app, and share them with others.

Simple.

Too elementary?

Possibly, considering barely anyone uses saved places to its full potential. Merely they should. Anyone who uses Google Maps should use saved places. Heavily.

This guide will become you started.

Why Utilise Google Maps Saved Places

✧ In that location's Too Much to Remember

Not fifty-fifty the guy who memorized pi to the 70-thousandth decimal place tin proceed track of all the places to see, restaurants to eat at, addresses to become to, and the perfect selfie spot recommendations we're overwhelmed with daily.

But our phones can with just a couple of clicks.

✧ You lot Probably Use Google Maps Already

Unless you're one of those people who's paranoid Google's spying on you, y'all're probably using Google Maps as your go-to navigation app already.

And you should exist. Information technology'due south the almost comprehensive and accurate map app out at that place (…unless y'all're hiking. In that case, use Maps.Me).

So the Saved Places functionality makes what yous're already using even more than useful.

✧ You Can Access Saved Places on Any Device

Changes you make on saved places automatically and instantaneously synchronize across any phone, tablet, or computer that's logged intolis your Google account.

✧ It Even Works Offline

Saved places are visible on Google Maps even when y'all're offline or in airplane mode. Offline info includes the opening hours, phone number, exact address, and boilerplate review score.

Simply make sure to save your Google Map for offline utilize.

And brand sure to charge your phone or bring a charger or bombardment back, before heading out.

Driver looking at a map with tourists — We've replaced physical tourist maps like these with Google Maps' saved places.

✧ It Replaces Tourist Maps

In the adept former days (i.east. only a few years ago), my first end anywhere I traveled was the tourist information office.

There, I'd talk to an employee who'd circumvolve, star, and scrawl all sorts of recommendations on a free newspaper map. I'd then circle more spots I'd read virtually in guidebooks and whatnot.

These were my trip treasure maps.

But I don't employ them anymore. Google Maps' saved places has replaced them as a more durable, detailed, and accurate digital culling.

Kim and Chris cheersing at a wine farm in Plettenberg Bay. — Kim: "However another great appointment, Chris! How practise you come up with these things?"

✧ Information technology Makes Deciding Where to Go Easier

When it's fourth dimension to program my monthly "date night" with Kim, I merely pull upwards my "Want to Go" saved places lists.

Those lists are where I relieve all potential engagement nighttime spots—restaurants, confined, activities—that people recommend to me or that I read virtually.

I pick a couple that are close to each other and merely like that engagement night's planned.

Cover image of Taipei 24 hour layover post. Kim eating on street. — Kim earthworks into food number 13 out of 24 that we ate in Taipei thanks to expert saved places strategy.

✧ It'due south Great for Planning Travel Itineraries

When Kim and I had a 24-60 minutes layover in Taipei, nosotros collected eating house, food, and attraction tips from everywhere and dumped them all onto our saved places list.

This is what we ended up with:

Saved places scattered the pieces to our Taipei puzzle onto a map then we made a masterful itinerary to become to every bit many of them every bit possible in our 24-hour layover there.

Like pieces of a puzzle, we put together a route that would permit us to become to equally many of them as possible in 1 mean solar day.

The result?

We went to A LOT of places in Taipei, eating 24 dissimilar foods in 24 hours.

How to Become Started With Saved Places

Baby beginner using Google Maps saved places. — If our nephew can use saved places, so can you.

Follow these screenshots and their captions to learn the basics of how to create a Google Maps saved places list, salvage locations to those lists, and share them with friends.

If something's unclear, cheque Google'southward official instructions or ask me in the comments.

✧ How to Create a List

✧ How to Salvage a Location to a List

Screenshot of how to save a location using Google Maps step 4 — 4. Add a notation to remember why you added the location.

What if the Location's Not on Google Maps?

Tap and hold to driblet a pivot anywhere. Y'all can and then add a label (if you wish), add information technology to a saved places listing, and add a note to remind you of why you saved it.

Quick Video Walkthrough:

✧ How to Share a Listing of Saved Places

How to Get the Near out of Saved Places

Charcuterie Sandwich Nazi — I only went to my now favorite middle-of-nowhere sandwich restaurant e'er, La Charcuterie, because a few years prior I'd saved it on Google Maps, just in case.

Save Places Indiscriminately

When in doubt, save it.

Whether it be a recommendation from a friend, an interesting location on an Instagram post, a spot you laissez passer by while walking around, or whatever, any fourth dimension you run across, hear, read, (or olfactory property, gustation, or feel) a place worth remembering or returning to, salvage it to a list.

Adding a place to a list doesn't mean you have to visit or you ever will. It'south a reminder to your future self to continue it in mind.

Because y'all never know.

Kim in front of a fancy door of an apartment in Valencia — "What was the apartment lawmaking again?" If we'd saved information technology as a annotation on saved places, we wouldn't accept to inquire our friends every time we visited them.

Always Add a Annotation

When you add together an particular to a listing, add a note to remind your time to come cocky:

Why did you add the item to the list?
Who did you get the recommendation from?
Is there whatever characteristic (similar a dish at a restaurant) of that location to remember?

Without a notation, your future self will have a map full of locations and no thought why your past self added them.

(Refer to Step 4 of How to Save a Location to a List above for how to add a note.)

Make Lots of Lists

Making lots of lists is the primal to avoid getting lost in a constellation of saved places on your Google Maps.

Here in Valencia, where Kim and I are living for three months, I've created split lists for dinner restaurants, luncheon restaurants, tapa confined, attractions, shared cycle parking spots, and outdoor workout areas.

And I fabricated ii lists for each category: one list for desire to become, east.chiliad. "VLC tapa confined want to get" and ane list for where I've been, e.yard. "VLC tapa confined been," so I tin keep runway.

Having lots of lists like this also makes it easier to share with others.

Employ a Proficient Naming Convention

Picking a convention for naming your lists and sticking to it makes information technology easier to keep track of your ever-expanding list of lists.

For example, I name all my lists the following manner:

[city short proper noun] + [category] + [want to go / been]

For instance, "Valencia restaurants want to become" or "Vancouver hikes been."

Saved Places Google Maps screenshot of too many lists at once. — When all my lists are visible, I can't distinguish restaurants from attractions from bars.

Saved Places Google Maps screenshot with just one list at a time. — Showing merely the eating house listing and hiding the other lists makes it like shooting fish in a barrel.

Hide Lists When Not Using Them

Google annoyingly forces us to apply the same turquoise symbol for all lists.

Considering of this, the best way to easily observe locations from a specific listing you're interested in (Valencia lunch restaurants, for example) is to take your Google Maps but testify the spots from the listing you're interested in. You demand to hide all other lists to practise so.

To toggle a list's visibility on Google Maps, click the "…" beside any of your lists and select "Show on your map" or "Hibernate on your map."

The three default lists for Google Saved Places — Google Maps' default lists look pretty enticing, only exist careful with how yous use them.

Be Careful With How Y'all Employ the Default Lists

Use Google Maps' iii default lists—Favorites, Want to go, and Starred places—carefully.

The advantage of these lists is their symbols are visually distinguishable from the turquoise circles of every other list.

The disadvantages are they can get apace out of hand when you use them besides much. You can't share Starred places, either (merely yous can the other ii).

I merely use Starred places for temporary reminders (like a place I'g meeting a friend later in the calendar week), Favorites for the best places that I desire to remember to recommend on this web log, and Desire to become for… nothing anymore because I prefer to Want to go lists for each category.

Problems With Saved Places

Saved places lists are a game-changer compared to newspaper maps nosotros all relied on not too long ago. But that doesn't stop us from complaining almost it. Information technology's like a Google engineer complaining that the pistachios aren't shelled at the free gourmet tiffin spreads at their function.

Here are some functionality issues nosotros've meet and that fellow readers accept pointed out in the comments. Pistachio-loving Google engineers have annotation:

✗It Sucks on Desktop

The desktop functionality of Google Saved Places is glitchy and doesn't sync well with your phone. I recommend y'all stick to using it on mobile.

According to Douglas in the comments, there are like synching problems with Android Motorcar.

✗Missing From Route Planning

When planning a route using Google Maps' directions functionality, you can't access your listing of saved places to cull from there. You have to recollect or note downwards separately the saved places you lot want to add to your route.

✗Sharing Bugs

Quite a few readers report that when they share saved lists with friends their friends don't see all the locations. I suspect this is related to issues syncing between desktop and mobile. Past using Saved never come beyond the upshot.

✗Tin can't Customize Icons

Icons for all custom saved places lists are blueish, so you can't distinguish between them on your Google Maps. Our maps would exist much clearer if we could, for case, make the light-green icon for restaurants, a red eatery for activities, and a regal icon for bars.

✗Tin can't Easily Toggle From "Want to Go" and "Visited"

Nosotros'd like to be able to classify saved places on our lists as "Want to Get" and "Visited" then filter accordingly. For now, nosotros accept to maintain separate lists and move locations from one to the other. Annoyingly, Google Maps deletes notes associated with any location you lot remove from a list, so we take to copy-paste information technology into the new ane to proceed it.

✗No Sorting Or Filtering

It'd be helpful to be able to sort lists alphabetically or by date, for case.

Frequently Asked Questions About Google Saved Places

Tin I interact with a friend on a listing?

November 2019 Update: Yes!

After footstep vi of How to Create a List, select "Group" below the proper name and description of the list. You lot tin can then invite others to join this group and contribute.

Notation a pregnant downside of groups: You lot cannot add comments below each saved place.

Can I consign/import lists of saved places?

Also, no.

If yous demand to collaborate on maps, try Google My Maps, which I explicate in more detail in our Google Maps Tips mail.

As I mention in that post, I don't more often than not recommend Google My Maps considering they aren't editable on mobile and aren't viewable offline aside from with some workarounds.

Another question nigh Google Maps Saved Places?

Ask me in the comments. I tin can't guarantee to take the solution you lot're hoping for, but I'll practise my best.