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My Maps

About Google My Maps

Person using My Maps on a mobile device

Launched in 2007, My Maps helps people create their own custom maps on top of Google Maps. With a simple interface for adding placemarks, drawing lines and shapes, and creating info-balloons with text, photos and videos. You can share your map via public URL, embed it on websites, or publish your map for others to see.

Over the years, we’ve seen disaster management professionals, NGOs, governments, and public benefit organizations use My Maps to quickly disseminate critical information during a crisis. Read on for key functionality and examples to draw inspiration.

Key product features

  • Self-service tools: Create maps within minutes — no need to work directly with Google or wait for our permission, or have GIS training to get started.
  • Draw points, lines and polygons: You can add important places by searching for locations or drawing them directly on the map (e.g. shelters, evacuation centers). You can trace a path or highlight an area on your map by drawing lines and shapes.
  • Import spreadsheets: You can import map features like lines, shapes, and places to your map from KML files, spreadsheets (CSV, XLSX) and GPS data (GPX). Learn more about file formats, file sizes, and troubleshooting tips in the Help Center.
  • Collaborate: Just like a Google Doc, you can share & edit maps with others, and manage these files in Google Drive.
  • Share & Embed: Each map has a unique URL that you can share with others directly or on your social media, and embed code to plug an interactive map onto your website.
  • Reliability: We know maps built and shared during times of crisis can experience spikes in traffic, sometimes leading to reliability issues. By using Google MyMaps, we’ll worry about the traffic.
  • Attribution:You can take credit for a map that you share. When you have this feature turned on, your Google profile picture and user name show up on a shared or embedded map.

Get started at google.com/mymaps.

See how disaster management organizations are using My Maps

  • Heavy Rain in Western Japan - Road Closure Map : Heavy rain hit western Japan in 2018, killing more than 200 people and destroying 20K houses. A city government officer at Higashi Hiroshima city made this My Map to show the city’s road closure data, in addition to the government’s PDF maps, so that people could easily interact with the map and find a route.
  • Lake Christine Fire Map : My Maps was a central part of Eagle County Governemnt’s communication strategy during a wildfires response, serving as an emergency information portal for both residents and tourists. The map contained real-time updates during the wildfire, including road closures, driving directions, and evacuation center locations.
  • Bihar Floods : During the Bihar Floods in 2021, My Maps was used by Indian government officials to distribute disaster information on Twitter to help reach as many people as possible.