Display driving directions

Author: Anna Shetty

Driving directions and maps, find the shortest routes and directions for your itinerary using Google maps. Driving directions, find driving directions, maps, live traffic updates and road conditions. Find nearby businesses, restaurants and hotels. Explore! Enter your destination and get accurate driving directions. Plan your trips and vacations and use our travel guides for reviews, videos, and tips. Display driving directions. Click the map to add an origin and destination.

Trying to follow Google Maps navigation and walking at the same time isn't always the easiest, especially if you're on a busy street or a shaky connection means that navigation lags ever so slightly. Even just following the small blue dots guiding you can be a challenge -- they're just not easy to see and don't always pinpoint exactly where you are.

Step

Visit the Google Maps website. Click "Sign In" in the upper-right corner to sign in to your Google account.

Step

Click on "Get Directions." Type your starting location under the box labeled "A." Type your destination address under the box labeled "B." Click "Get Directions" to generate the driving directions.

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Click on the route you want, if multiple routes are available. Note the estimated elapsed time for the specific route.

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Scroll down to the bottom of the driving directions. Click "Save to My Maps." Highlight "Create a New Map." Name your map and click "Save." The driving directions are saved in your "My Maps" profile.

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Click "My Maps" and the name you gave the directions. This allows you to view the saved directions.

Sometimes, you see suggestions for multiple routes with the time estimates for each. The recommended route is represented in bright blue while any suggested alternate routes are colored gray. Along the route, you may see yellow icons indicating construction zones or red icons indicating a crash.

When a stretch of the route is colored red, this indicates heavy or stalled traffic. Click on an alternative route if the recommended route indicates slowdowns. If there isn't an acceptable alternate route, you can drag a path anywhere you want to reroute by moving points on the route to avoid problem areas. Google Maps updates the directions on the fly.

Click on your destination on the map to display the preview image of your final destination in the navigation pane. Click the picture at the top of the navigation panel to see a larger version of your destination. It may be a still photo or a 3D image you can use to look around the area. This is the Street View mode that shows you how your destination looks.

You may Set your default location for Home and Work by clicking the bar menu icon at the top left corner of the navigation panel and then selecting Your Places. This is an optional step in your preferences where you can set the place you're most likely to need driving directions from. In most cases, that's your home or your workplace. If you click on the link and set your default location, that saves you a step the next time you get driving directions because Google automatically adds your default location to your starting location.