Manage your projects on the Google Earth home screen

You can make changes to, share, or delete projects in Google Drive or as KML files through the Google Earth home screen. You can also collaborate with multiple users to edit your project through Google Drive.

View your projects

  1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
  2. To view your projects, in the "All projects" section, click Google Drive or Local device.

Learn about Earth projects and local KML files.

To open projects not already in the home screen, you can manually open them from Google Drive or your computer storage. To manually open your projects:

  1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
  2. To open a project, you can either:
    • Click New  >  Open MyMaps from Drive.
    • Click New  >  Open local KML file.
  3. Select a Google Drive project or a KML file.

If you are not redirected to the Google Earth home screen, click Google Earth.

Tips:
  • You can only view or edit one project per tab.
  • Only people with the link can view your project.

Organize your projects

  1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
  2. In the "All projects" section, sort projects by:
    • Name
    • Owner
    • Last modified
  3. To perform additional actions on your projects, on the right, click More.
  4. Select the action you want.
    • To export your project as a KML file, click Export as KML file.
    • To rename your project, click Rename.
    • To make a copy of your project, click Duplicate project.
    • To share your project, click Share.
    • To delete your project, click Move to trash.

If you are not redirected to the Google Earth home screen, click Google Earth.

Tips:
  • You can also select these actions in the open project's toolbar and on the left panel.
  • All projects are private by default.
  • To allow project editing, you can change share permissions.

Create new projects

  1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
  2. To create a new project, click New  >  New map.
    • To create a new project within another project, click File.

If you are not redirected to the Google Earth home screen, click Google Earth.

Share your project

  1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
  2. Next to the project you want to share, click More  >  Share.
    • To directly share the project, enter the name or email address of the person you want to share your project with.
    • To get a shareable link, click Copy link.
  3. To allow other users to edit or view your project, you can change share permissions.
  4. Click Send.
    • To manage access, click Share.

Search for projects

  1. On your computer, open Google Earth.
  2. In the Search bar, enter the name of your project.
    • On a map, you can also search for places.

Request access to a project

If you have limited or no access to a project, you can request access from the project owner.

No access to the project

If you don't have permission to view a project, a Request access dialog appears when you open the project. To request access, you must be logged into a Google Account.
  1. Check account: If you have multiple Google Accounts, switch accounts to check if access was granted to a different email.
  2. Compose message: (Optional) Write a note to the owner in the text field.
  3. Submit request: Click Request access.

View-only access (request edit access)

If you can open a project but can't make changes, follow these steps to request editing permissions:

  1. Locate "Request access" options: Select one of the following:
    • The View only tag in the toolbar
    • The Request access button in the project header
    • The overflow menu in the Map contents panel, then select Request access
  2. Send request: In the dialog that appears, add an optional message, then click Request access.
  3. Wait for approval: You will remain in view-only mode until the project owner updates your permissions.