Google Maps has a very handy feature called Save Parking Location that lets you quickly drop a marker on the spot where you left your car, bike or any other vehicle, and navigate back to it from pretty much anywhere. This saves you from having to find your vehicle manually in case you forgot where exactly you parked it.
Here’s how you can use the feature easily and save yourself a lot of time the next time you’re at a mall or anywhere with a large parking area.
How to save your parking location
When you have reached your destination and parked your vehicle, simply open Google Maps, make sure it has the necessary location permissions (Precise, not Approximate, in case you’re on Android 12) and follow the below instructions.
Got to the Google Maps main page and click on the ‘My location’ button on the right. This is the button that is shaped like a crosshair and shows you your own precise location when it’s pressed. The app will then bring you to the current location, which will be indicated by a blue dot.
Tap on this blue dot to reveal some more options that will pop up on the screen from below. Under the ‘Your Location’ section, find the ‘Save Parking’ button. This will be on the left of the ‘Share Location’ and ‘Calibrate’ buttons.
Here’s how you can save your parking location easily once you’ve parked your car. (Express Photo)
Tap on the ‘Save Parking’ button once and you will see a small box showing you that your parking location has been mapped. You can now navigate back to this location any time with ease.
Advanced features
When you have dropped a parking location on the map using the steps above, you also get access to some advanced features that let you do things like share this location with someone else, add additional parking details (like a pillar number or parking floor number) and even set a parking timer to remind you when your parking time limit is about to expire.
Tap on your parking location to reveal a small box on the bottom of the screen. Swipe up on this box to reveal these additional options.
Here’s how to navigate to your saved parking locations, or use additional features. (Express Photo)
How to navigate back to your parked location
If you have strayed far away from your parking location (denoted by a tiny, yellow flag on the map), you can still find it by zooming out on the map. When you’ve zoomed out enough, finer details like restaurants and smaller roads around you should be cleared, but you will still be able to see your yellow parking flag.
Tap on it and from the options that pop up below, tap on ‘Directions’ to begin navigating. Based on how far you are from the parked location, Maps may suggest a walking route or a road route, but you can change this as you normally would by simply tapping on the desired mode of transportation tab.
