How to Explore the World with Google Earth on Your Phone

Google Earth lets you virtually fly to any place on the planet — your childhood home, famous landmarks, remote landscapes — right from your phone.

In this guide (5 steps):

1.Download and open Google Earth
2.Search for any place
3.Navigate the view
4.Explore with Voyager and 360° photos
5.View historical imagery

Download and open Google Earth

~15s

Search "Google Earth" in the App Store or Google Play Store. Install the free app. Open it — you'll see the rotating globe on your screen. You can also use Google Earth in your web browser at earth.google.com.

Search for any place

~24s

Tap the search icon (magnifying glass) and type any address, city, landmark, or country name. Examples: your childhood address, "Grand Canyon," "Eiffel Tower Paris," "Vatican City," or "Great Wall of China." Google Earth flies you smoothly to that location and shows it from above.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Type any address from your past — a childhood home, old workplace, or a place you vacationed — to see what it looks like today from the sky.

Navigate the view

~17s

To zoom in: pinch two fingers together on the screen to zoom out, or spread them apart to zoom in. Tilt the view by dragging up with two fingers to see a 3D perspective. Rotate by turning two fingers on the screen. Return to straight-down view by tapping the compass icon.

Explore with Voyager and 360° photos

~16s

Tap the ship wheel icon in the bottom right ("Voyager") for guided tours of interesting places — national parks, UNESCO World Heritage sites, and more. Tap blue camera icons on the map to see ground-level 360° photos, similar to Street View in Google Maps.

View historical imagery

~15s

Tap the clock/timeline icon (if available in your view) to see satellite images from past years. Many locations have photos going back 10–20 years or more. You can watch how a neighborhood or landscape changed over time — forests cleared, cities expanding, coastlines eroding.

You Did It!

You've completed: How to Explore the World with Google Earth on Your Phone

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Google Earth is a free app that gives you a three-dimensional view of our entire planet, powered by satellite imagery, aerial photography, and geographic data. You can zoom in to see streets and buildings, fly to any address or landmark in the world, and explore places you've always wanted to see — all from your couch.

People use Google Earth to: revisit places they lived or grew up in decades ago, show grandchildren where the family came from, virtually visit national parks and monuments, view famous architecture, or simply spend a relaxing hour exploring the planet.

Google Earth is completely free and available on iPhone, Android, and web browsers.

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