Make Google Maps your maps

Create personalized, annotated, customized maps using Google Maps Creating a Map
Finding Your Maps
Deleting Your Maps
Adding and Editing Placemarks
Adding and Editing Lines
Adding and Editing Shapes
Saving Search Results
Adding Rich Text or HTML Descriptions
Adding Photos
Adding Videos
Sharing Maps
Public and Unlisted Maps
Viewing Your Maps in Google Earth
Your maps can contain the following:

• Placemarks
• Lines
• Shapes

Once you have created a map, you can:

• Add descriptive text, including rich text and HTML
• Embed photos and videos in your map
• Share your maps with others
• Open it in Google Earth

To create or edit maps, you must be signed into your Google Account. You do not need to be signed in to view a map.

Creating a Map

Creating a map is easy. Here are the basic steps:

1. Go to Google Maps.
2. Click My Maps > Create new map.
3. Add a title and description for your map. You can make your map public or unlisted. Learn more.
4. Use the icons in the the top right corner of the map. These include:
5. 
   Selection tool. Use this to drag the map and select placemarks, lines, and shapes.
   Placemark tool. Use this to add placemarks. Learn more.
   Line tool. Use this to draw lines. Learn more.
   Shape tool. Use this to draw shapes. Learn more.
   

You can return to your map at any time. Just go to Google Maps and click My Maps. Sign into your Google Account and select the map from your list of maps.

Finding Your Maps

1. Go to Google Maps. Make sure you are signed in.
2. Click My Maps. A list of your maps appears. Click the appropriate map to view it.
3. To sort the list of maps, choose one of the following:

• Sort by date
• Sort by name
• Recently viewed

Deleting Your Maps

To delete your map:

1. Click My Maps. A list of your maps appears.
2. Click Delete beside the appropriate map.

You can only delete your maps, not others.

Adding and Editing Placemarks

To add a placemark to your map:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click . Your cursor changes into a placemark icon with an "X" crosshairs. The crosshairs indicate where the placemark will fall.
   
   
   
3. Move the cursor to the appropriate location. If you want to dismiss this placemark, press the Escape key.
4. Click your mouse button to place your placemark. It should bounce into place.
5. Add a title and description.
6. You can also change the icon for your placemark by clicking the icon in the top right corner of the info window.
7. Click OK to save your placemark.

To move or edit a placemark:

1. To move any placemark on your map, drag and drop it to the new location. Note that you can only edit or move placemarks on your maps, not others.
2. To edit a placemark's title or description, click on it to open the info window. Edit the title and description and click OK.

Adding and Editing Lines

To add a line to your map:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click . Your cursor appears like this:
   
   
   
3. Move the cursor to the appropriate location and click to start the line. If you want to dismiss this line, press the Escape key.
4. Click your mouse button at each point of your line.
5. To finish drawing your line, double click the last end point.
6. Add a title and description.
7. You can also change the color, opacity and width of your line by clicking the color swatch in the top right corner of the info window.
8. Click OK to save your line.

To edit a line:

1. To move a line on your map, mouse over the line to make the end points appear. Click and drag the points to move them.
2. To delete a point from your line, right-click on the point and select Delete from the context menu.
3. To add a point to your line, you can either click on one of the semi-transparent points, or right-click on the line and select Add a point from the context menu.
4. To edit a line's title or description, click on it to open the info window. Edit the title and description and click OK.

Adding and Editing Shapes

To add a shape to your map:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click . Your cursor appears like this:
   
   
   
3. Move the cursor to the appropriate location and click to start the shape. If you want to dismiss this shape, press the Escape key.
4. Click your mouse button at each end point of your shape.
5. To finish drawing your shape, double click the last end point or click on the starting point to complete the shape.
6. Add a title and description.
7. You can also change the color and opacity of your shape by clicking the color swatch in the top right corner of the info window.
8. Click OK to save your shape.

To edit a shape:

1. To move a shape on your map, mouse over the shape to make the end points appear. Click and drag the points to move them.
2. To delete a point from your shape, right-click on the point and select Delete from the context menu
3. .
4. To add a point to your shape, you can either click on one of the semi-transparent points, or right-click on the shape and select Add a point from the context menu.
5. To edit a shape's title or description, click on it to open the info window. Edit the title and description and click OK.

Saving Search Results

You can search for addresses and businesses and save items from your search results to your map. To do this:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Search for the business or address that you want to add. The results will appear in the Search Results tab.
3. Click on the item you want to save. Click Save to My Maps in the info window. This will copy the result to your map as a placemark.
4. Edit the title or description, if you want.
5. Click OK to save your placemark.

Adding Rich Text or HTML Descriptions

By default the descriptions of your map items are in plain text. However, you can use rich text or HTML. To do this:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click the appropriate placemark, line, shape. The info window appears.
3. Click Edit.
4. Choose Plain Text, Rich Text or Edit HTML.
5. To edit rich text descriptions, select the text and use the icons above the description field:
   
   
6. To use HTML descriptions, add HTML in the description field. Some HTML may be stripped from the description if it is considered unsafe or malicious.
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding Photos

You can add photos to your map, as long as they are hosted online. Please use a service such as Google PicasaWeb to put your photos online.
To add photos:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click the appropriate placemark, line, shape. The info window appears.
3. Click Edit.
4. Choose Rich Text or Edit HTML.
5. If you chose Rich Text mode, click the photo icon above the description field (the last one in the toolbar). Enter the URL of the photo you would like to add.
6. If you chose Edit HTML mode, use the <img> tag to add photos. For example, <img src="http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/images/maps_results_logo.gif" width=150 height=55> adds the Google Maps logo to your map with a width of 150 pixels and a height of 55 pixels.
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Adding Videos

You can add Google Video and YouTube videos to your map. To do this:

1. Create or open a map.
2. Click the appropriate placemark, line, or shape. The info window appears.
3. Click Edit.
4. Choose Edit HTML.
5. Find the video you want on YouTube or Google Video. Copy the snippet of code that lets you embed the video into a website or blog.
6. • On Google Video, the snippet looks like this:
     <embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-274981837129821058&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed>
   • On YouTube, the snippet looks like:
     <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hKoB0MHVBvM"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hKoB0MHVBvM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
7. Paste the snippet of code into the description field of your placemark, line or shape.
8. Click OK to save your changes.

Sharing Maps

Once you have created a map, you can share it with others. To do this:

1. Open the map you want to share.
2. Click Link to this page in the top right corner of the orange title bar. This will put the map's URL in your browser navigation bar.
3. You can share this URL with your friends by sending it in an email or posting it on your blog or website.
4. You can also click the Email link in the top right corner of the orange title bar to open your default email client with the map URL in the email body.

Public and Unlisted Maps

You can choose to make your maps public or unlisted.
Public maps are maps that you want to publish and share with everyone. Public maps will be included in the search results on Google Maps and Earth.
Unlisted maps are maps that you only want to share with a few select people. Unlisted maps will not be included in the search results, so they are accessible much like an unlisted phone number -- anyone who knows the specific URL of the map can view it, but there's no directory or search for finding unlisted maps.
You can change this setting at any time. However, please remember that all maps have a public URL. In general, we recommend that you don't create any maps that you prefer not to share with anyone.
To change your public or unlisted setting:

1. Click My Maps. A list of your maps appears. Click the appropriate map to view it.
2. Click Edit title/settings.
3. Choose Public to make this map available to anyone. Choose Unlisted to keep it private.
4. Click Save.

Viewing Your Maps in Google Earth

If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can view your maps in Google Earth. To do this:

1. Create or open a custom map.
2. Click the KML link or icon in the orange title bar. Google Maps uploads a KML file to your computer that you can open in Google Earth.