A viral trend is currently sweeping TikTok, where people are revisiting the past by looking up old versions of their homes through Google Street View. As they do, many are spotting long-gone family members on front porches or mowing the lawn, catching glimpses of their younger selves riding a bike in the driveway, or seeing beloved trees that were cut down years ago.
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While this Google Maps feature isn’t new, it has become an emotional and nostalgic internet sensation — inspiring others to open the app and see what moments were captured in past years by Street View cars quietly passing their homes.
How to find old Google Maps Street View images of your home
Google Maps makes it easy to see images of your home from the past, thanks to a “See More Dates” feature in Street View. If you’re ready to join this TikTok trend and look at old photos of your house from as far back as 2007, here’s a step-by-step guide.
To get started, you’ll need to open Google Maps, not Apple Maps. You can access Google Maps on a computer or via the Google Maps app on your phone. If you’re on a computer, visit www.google.com/maps. If you’re on your phone, download and install the Google Maps app (Android or iOS) if you haven’t done so.
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Once you’re in Google Maps, locate the search bar at the top of the screen in both the app and your web browser. Type in an address — whether it’s your house, your grandma’s house, or any other location — and press Enter or tap the search icon. Google Maps will zoom in on the specified location. You’ll see an overhead (satellite) view at first, but don’t worry, as you’ll be switching to Street View in the next step.
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Look for the small yellow figure (often called “Pegman”) in the lower-right corner of the screen. You can click and drag Pegman onto the street to enter Street View. Alternatively, on some devices, you may see a small photo thumbnail or a “Street View” button directly below your address. Tap on this to enter Street View mode. In Street View, you’ll see a 360-degree, street-level view of the surrounding area.
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Here’s where you can start to stroll down memory lane. In your web browser, look for a small clock icon or the words “See more dates” in the top-left corner of the Street View screen. On a mobile device, this option will appear at the bottom of the screen. If you don’t see it right away, try tapping on the Street View or along the street by tapping the left or right arrows. This can trigger the “See more dates” option to appear.
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Once you spot “See more dates,” click or tap on it. A timeline will pop up, showing you all the times Google’s Street View car has driven by and captured images of the street.
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Each past view will be listed with a month and year (like “June 2012” or “October 2009”). Click on the specific date you want to revisit, and the image will change to show how the address looked at that time. You can click or scroll through the timeline to view all the available images.
This is the part where TikTok users are getting emotional. If you look at your home, you may spot younger versions of yourself, a beloved pet, or a loved one who is no longer with you. It all depends on who or what was outside when Google’s cars passed by the house. If they’ve driven by multiple times over the years, you may see snapshots from 2007, 2012, 2017, and more.
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When did Google Maps Street View add See More Dates?
Google introduced the “See More Dates” feature for Street View on desktop in 2014, allowing users to access historical imagery of various locations. In May 2022, to commemorate Street View’s 15th anniversary, Google expanded this feature to its mobile apps, enabling users to view past imagery on both Android and iOS devices.
How far back does Google Maps Street View go in time?
Google Street View imagery dates back to May 2007, when the service was first introduced in select US cities.
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Can’t see your home in Google Maps Street View’s history?
The availability of historical imagery varies by location, depending on when Google captured images in that area. In some places, you can view imagery spanning over a decade, while in others, the available history may be shorter.
Historical Street View imagery of your house may be unavailable due to limited data collection in your area, privacy requests leading to image removal or blurring, technical issues causing missing images, or location on private roads restricting access.
Why is this Google Maps Street View feature trending now?
While Google’s “See More Dates” feature has been around for years, TikTok appears to have given it new life. You can see an example here.
This trend of “going back in time” on Google Maps is as heartwarming as it is nostalgic. Thanks to Google’s Street View timeline, you can see how your home and neighborhood have changed over the years.
If you’re lucky, you might even spot a familiar face waving back at you — frozen in time but forever remembered.
Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
