- If you don’t already have a google account, you need to create one.
- Open Google Maps.
- On the far left-hand side, click the “hamburger menu” (that’s the three short horizontal lines).
- This will open up the menu. In about the middle of this menu, find and click “Your places”.
- Click the word “MAPS”.
- Click “CREATE MAP”.
- Scroll and zoom to the place in the world that you wish to create a customized map. You can also type the location in the horizontal rectangular search field near the top of the map, then either press “enter” or click the small magnifying glass icon.
- Below this search field, you will see several icons. One looks like an upside-down raindrop. Click this to place a pin (like a pushpin for a real map). It’s called a marker in Google Maps.
- After you have selected a pin/marker, click on the map where you want it to go.
- Another way to place a pin/marker is by zooming in on the map close enough for restaurants and landmarks to appear, and then clicking on one of them. Next, choose “Add to map”, which will appear in light gray text at the bottom of the box.
- Instead of leaving the pin called “Point 1”, give the pin a title, such as “Versailles” or “Hotel in Paris”.
- In the box below the title field, you can type whatever information you wish, or you can copy and paste information that you find on the internet.
- Press Save.
- After this, you will see five little gray icons on that pin box. The first one looks like a tipped paint can. Click that to select the color and picture/icon you want.
- After this, if you ever need to add more information or edit the pin/marker in any way, select the icon that looks like a pen.
- You can even add photos or screen captures saved as jpegs to the pin/marker. Click the camera icon to start this process.
- If you choose to delete the pin, you will have a few seconds to undo your action in case you deleted it on accident. You will briefly see a small yellow box near the top of the map which states “Deleted 1 place Undo”. Click “Undo” if you didn’t want to delete it.
- To save your map, look at the menu on the left side of the map. Click “Untitled Map”.
- A box will open which allows you to name your map. After you do this, press “Save”.
- You can share your map with others who have a Google account. To do this, look again at the menu on the left side. In the light gray bar there are three actions you can choose. Click “Share”, which is in the middle.
- In the field called “Invite people”, type in the e-mail addresses of those who should have access.
- The icon next to that field looks like a pen. Click that to open a drop-down menu which will allow you to choose what level of access that particular person should have. They can either be able to view the map only, or they will be able to edit the map.
After you have created and saved your map, you will want to view it properly. Here is a short list of instructions for that:
- Open Google Maps.
- On the far left-hand side, click the “hamburger menu”.
- Find and click “Your places”.
- Click the word “MAPS”.
- Click on the map you saved.
- Click “Open in my maps”.
I thought I’d share with you the step-by-step directions to creating your very own personalized Google Map. I love that I can customize my own map with different colored icons for different things – an icon of a yellow painter’s palette symbolizes a museum, while an icon of a green cathedral symbolizes… a cathedral. I can also type in notes for every single location, such as the hours and days the facility is open, ticket prices, or if I already have a reservation or a ticket, the confirmation code.