How to Pin Your Current Location in Google Maps

To pin your current location in Google Maps, open the app and tap Your location to center the map on the blue dot. Check that the dot matches where you are, zoom in, then touch and hold the map at that spot to drop a pin. Tap the pin’s name or address at the bottom to Save or Share it.

The blue dot is Google Maps’ estimate of where your device is. A dropped pin is a marker on a point you choose. If you send that pin and then walk away, it still points to the original spot.

What You Need Before You Start

These steps cover the Google Maps app on iPhone, iPad and Android, plus the Google Maps website on a computer. Button names follow Google’s current help pages. Google changes the app layout from time to time, so a button may sit in a slightly different place on your screen.

• Location turned on. Google Maps needs your device’s location service and its own location permission to show the blue dot.
• A Google Account for saving. Google says you must be signed in to save places and find them later. You can drop and share a pin without saving it.
• A data or Wi-Fi connection. Mobile data and Wi-Fi both help improve location accuracy.

Pin Your Current Location on iPhone or Android

1. Open the Google Maps app. At the bottom right, tap Your location. The map centers on a blue dot when your location is available.
2. Compare the dot with nearby streets and landmarks, and zoom in. A light blue circle around the dot means Maps is unsure: you could be anywhere within that circle, and a smaller circle means more certainty. To judge how wide the circle is, you can always show the scale bar in Google Maps on an iPhone.
3. Touch and hold the map at the exact spot you want to keep. A pin drops there, and a panel with the address or a nearby place name appears at the bottom. You do not need to look for a separate command in the blue-dot menu.
4. Tap the place’s name or address at the bottom to open the full details.

5. Tap Save and choose a list to keep the spot in your Google Account, or tap Share and choose an app to send it. If you post the pin in a Discord channel, here’s how iPhone Discord map links open in Google Maps.

Before you send anything, read the address on the panel and look at the marker once more. If the blue dot sits across the street from where you really are, do not pin the dot just because it is the automatic estimate. Touch and hold the actual entrance or meeting spot instead.

Google’s location-accuracy help explains the dot, the circle and the location button. Its sharing instructions list the same touch-and-hold, name, Share route for sending a dropped pin.

Other Ways to Mark the Spot Where You Are

A dropped pin is the general-purpose method. Google Maps also has three narrower tools that start from the blue dot or the pin. Use whichever fits the job.

Method	Best for	Where it starts
Dropped pin, then Save or Share	A meeting point or a place to revisit	Touch and hold the map
Saved parking	Finding your car later	Tap the blue dot
Plus Code	A spot with no street address	Tap the blue dot, swipe up
Private label	Giving an unnamed spot your own name	Drop a pin, then tap its name

Save Where You Parked

Tap the blue dot that shows your location. On Android, tap Save your parking. On an iPhone or iPad, tap Saved parking. To get back to it, tap the search bar and choose Parking location on Android or Saved parking on iPhone, then tap Directions.

The two platforms keep the spot for different lengths of time. Google’s parking help page says the Android app keeps it until you remove it, while the iPhone app keeps it for 48 hours unless you remove it or start driving. For anything you want to keep longer on an iPhone, drop a pin and save it to a list instead.

Copy a Plus Code for Your Location

A Plus Code is a short code, such as JJXX+HR8, Seattle, that works like an address for places that do not have one. Tap the blue dot, wait for the Your Location panel, swipe up to the Plus Code section and tap Copy code. Paste it into a message. The other person can type it into the Google Maps search box. Google’s Plus Codes instructions give the same steps for iPhone and Android.

Give the Pin a Private Label

A label is a name only you see, such as “Trailhead gate”. Drop a pin, tap the place’s name at the bottom, then tap Label and type a name. Labeled places appear on your map and in your search suggestions. To find or delete one later, tap You, then Labeled.

Pin Your Location on a Computer

1. Open Google Maps in your browser and click My location at the bottom right. Your browser asks for location permission the first time; Maps cannot show the blue dot without it.
2. Check the estimated position. A computer relies on location information from the web browser, so the dot can be less precise than a phone’s.
3. Right-click the exact point on the map. A small menu opens with the latitude and longitude at the top. Click those numbers to copy them.
4. Paste the coordinates into the search box and press Enter. Maps selects that point and opens its details.
5. Click Save and select a list. To send the map instead, click Menu at the top left, then Share or embed map > Send a link > Copy link. Open the copied link once to confirm it shows the right place.

You can also pick a known meeting point by hand when the browser cannot work out where you are. The steps for adding and saving Google Maps pins cover phone and computer methods, finding saved entries and using several markers.

Check, Find or Remove a Saved Pin

To confirm a save worked on a phone, tap You, look under Your lists and open the list you chose. The entry should be there, and tapping it reopens the same point on the map. On a computer, click Saved at the top left.

To remove a saved pin, open the list that contains it, tap or click More, choose Edit list, then select Remove next to the place. Google’s saved places help documents these steps for each device.

A pin you dropped but never saved is only a temporary marker. Closing its panel or selecting another spot should clear it, and nothing is stored in your account. A link you already sent is different: the recipient keeps it, and you cannot pull it back from Google Maps.

Saved places are private by default. Only you can find them unless you create and share a list.

If the Blue Dot Is Missing or Wrong

Start with what the dot is telling you. A gray dot, or no dot at all, means Maps cannot find your current location and is showing the last place it recorded. Do not pin or send that position as if it were current.

• The location button is red with a question mark. Location services are off. Turn them on so Maps can determine where you are.
• No dot on an iPhone. Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, make sure it is on, select Google Maps and choose While Using the App or Always.
• No dot on Android. Review Google Maps’ location permission in the device settings and turn on the device’s Location Accuracy option.
• The dot jumps around. Try turning off Low Power Mode on an iPhone or Battery saver on Android.
• A wide circle and a low-accuracy message. Tap the message. Maps explains the problem and offers to calibrate.
• The location is out of date. Turn off Airplane mode, and turn on Wi-Fi or mobile data.
• “Your location cannot be determined” on a computer. Reload the page, check the browser’s location permission and confirm the internet connection is working.

Indoors and between tall buildings, the dot is often less accurate. GPS can place you to within about 20 meters, while a cell-tower estimate can be off by a few thousand meters. If you cannot get a reliable dot, skip it. Touch and hold a recognizable landmark or search for an address, and tell the recipient which meeting point you picked.

A Shared Pin Does Not Follow Your Movement

For a fixed pickup point, a shared pin is the right tool. To let someone watch your position change, use the separate Location sharing feature. In the app, tap your profile picture or initial, tap Location sharing, then New share, and choose a person and a length of time.

Location sharing shows more than a pin does. The people you choose can see your name and photo, your device’s recent location and its battery level. Share it only with people you trust, and stop it when you no longer need it. For the recipient, duration and stop controls, read about live location in Google Maps. On an iPhone, the built-in Find My and Messages apps offer both options, and you can share your location on an iPhone from either one.

A phone number alone can’t show where someone is; see whether you can locate a phone number on Google Maps for what a number search does find.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Step

Drop a pin on a spot you know well, such as your front door, save it to a list and reopen it from You. Once you have seen where the saved entry lives, pinning and sharing a meeting point later takes only a few seconds.