If you’re anything like me, you sometimes forget where you parked your car. It happens to the best of us.
Typically, this results in minor inconvenience — walking around the parking lot, clicking the “lock” button on a key fob, and waiting to hear a beep.
But thankfully, the wonders of technology can mostly do away with this problem.
Quick tips
Follow these quick tips to set up your parked car location using Google Maps app for iPhone
In Google Maps, tap the blue dot that shows your location and choose set as parking location
To return to the parked location, tap on your parked location marked with a P or tap on the words “you parked near here” and then tap the Directions button in the Saved parking banner (if you don’t see this, tap once on the map)
Just Use Google Maps Parked Car Feature on Your iPhone!
Most modern mapping apps now have a built-in feature that remembers where you parked your vehicle.
That includes Apple Maps and now, Google Maps for iOS.
As with most Google app features, this first debuted on Android but making it to Apple’s mobile operating system.
While the Apple Maps feature is relatively intuitive, this guide is for the Google Maps users among us. Here’s how to get the app to remember where you parked your car.
Can Google Remember Where I Parked?
Yes!
Once you set up the Google Maps parking feature, it can work automatically.
There are also a few ways for it to remember your car’s location.
Get Ready For Google Maps to Remember Your Car’s Location
Allow Google Map Location Access
First off, you’ll need to edit your Location Services for Google Maps, if Always isn’t on by default
For the parked car feature to work, Google needs access to your location at all times
Go to Settings, tap on Privacy and then Location Services
Locate Google Maps and tap on it
Ensure that you set Allow Location Access to Always
Changing Google Map access to always is a critical step–the feature won’t work without it.
Turn Google Maps Notifications on
To get notifications for your parking information, make sure to toggle on Google Maps notifications.
Open the Google Maps App
Select the Menu (3 horizontal bars) in the Search Bar’s left corner
Tap Settings (the gear or cog icon)
Choose Notifications
Turn Saved parking locations on
Then, follow one of the steps for one of the methods below, depending on which one you’d like to go with.
How Does Google Maps Know Where My Parked Car Is?
Method One: Use Google Maps “Know Where You Parked” Feature With iOS Motion & Fitness Tracking
The first way to activate the parked car feature is to rely on your iPhone’s own fitness activity when you arrive.
This method allows Google Maps to remember when and where you parked your car automatically!
How to get Google Maps to know where you parked automatically
Turn on Fitness Tracking on your iPhone
Go to Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness
Toggle on Fitness Tracking
Once Fitness Tracking is on, toggle on Google Maps so it can access your motion activity
Open Google Maps and type in an address or place to navigate to
Once you arrive at your destination, an Arriving At screen pop-ups
Swipe or scroll up towards the top of the screen to show additional details
Flip the toggle under Know where you parked
If this is the first time you’ve enabled this feature, you see an iOS pop-up stating that Google is requesting fitness data access
Hit OK or Accept
From here, you’ll see the area where you parked your car labeled as You parked near here
Once you set up the setting, Google Maps automatically uses your iPhone accelerometer and fitness activity data to remember your car’s location.
Method Two: Connect to Your Car via Bluetooth or USB
Google Maps can also detect whether you’ve parked — and where you parked — when it’s connected directly to your vehicle.
Typically, linking Google Maps to your car provides the most accurate location of your parked car.
How You Connect Google Maps With Your Car’s Media System
Open the Google Maps App
Select the Menu (3 horizontal bars) in the Search Bar’s left corner
Tap Settings (the gear or cog icon)
Choose Navigation
Scroll down to the Parking Section
Confirm the message says “You will get saved parking if your car is connected to Bluetooth/USB) and toggle on Saved parking locations
If the message says “Save your parking spot using your motion activity,” you need first to turn off Fitness Tracking for Google Maps
Go to Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness
Toggle off Google Maps or Toggle off Fitness Tracking
Then repeat steps 4-6
Once all that is done, connect and pair your iPhone, via Bluetooth, to your car’s entertainment or audio system
source: Hyundai
Make sure to set the source for your car’s audio system to Bluetooth
Alternatively, you can use a USB cable to plug your device into a port in your car
Note that, if you have an aftermarket stereo system, this method may not detect the fact that you’re in a vehicle.
Method Three: Set Your Car’s Parked Location Manually
Of course, if the other options aren’t working for you, there’s an easy fallback.
Just set your car’s location yourself in Google Maps App!
Open Google Maps
At any time, tap the blue dot that shows your location
Then choose Set as parking location
Once it’s saved, you see your parked car whenever you tap on the driving tab
You can also hit Change location to edit the exact placement or tap the Share button to send your parked car location to friends or family
When you’re done, just hit Clear
Google Maps saves your parking information for 8 hours from the time you first parked.
Finding Your Parked Car
Once you set where you parked your car, getting back to it is easy!
Open Google Maps and navigate to the bottom of the screen
Tap or swipe up on the Saved parking banner or message
Choose Directions (or Show on Map) and get guidance on how to find it
If you’ve looked up another location in Maps after setting your parked car location, first clear the search result
Tap the Clear X in the search bar at the top of Google Maps. And then, at the bottom, tap Saved parking
Share your Google Maps parking location with others
Mike is a freelance journalist from San Diego, California.
While he primarily covers Apple and consumer technology, he has past experience writing about public safety, local government, and education for a variety of publications.
He’s worn quite a few hats in the journalism field, including writer, editor, and news designer.
Thanks for the mostly helpful article. I certainly learned how to set the parking feature, however, there are no instructions on how to retrieve or navigate to the parked location later!
I’m having trouble getting this to work on the iPhone.
Hi Thames,
Sorry that you are unable to use this feature on your iPhone. Are you seeing any messages or can you describe what’s not working for you?
Thanks for the mostly helpful article. I certainly learned how to set the parking feature, however, there are no instructions on how to retrieve or navigate to the parked location later!
Ditto! Once you move away, there’s no way to find the parked location… Or is there a different way to access it in the re-designed Google maps?
After you save your parking location in Google Map, look at the bottom of your screen and tap Saved parking and then Show on map.
If you’ve looked up another place in Maps after saving your parked car, first clear your search results and then follow the above steps.