You must have recently heard of the viral street view trend-where people learned that they can go back on time and see the imagination of the street-scenery level of their home or a loved one, and when they try for themselves, they are also exploiting long-lasting relatives, friends, or trees. But do you know that you can do something similar with Google Earth?
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Unlike Google Street View, which only goes back in 2007 and shows you a first-person, renunciation point, Google Earth practically provides 3D views anywhere-and in some places, you can return with historical imagination in the 1930s. I tried it myself, discovered old childhood homes in New York. I could see them to go back in the 80s.
Of course, as far as I went, Kalpana looked like a flat, top-down aerial scenery, some of which were blurred. But zoom in the 1990s, and imagery became more dynamic and clear. In the early 2000s, I could see satellite data in 3D.
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Google can show huge changes in the historical imagery in the Earth for a long time – in London, Berlin, Warsaw and Paris, you can see aerial imagination from the second world war to satellite ideas in modern times to modern times. It is attractive to a bird’s eye perspective and is able to see how your home, neighborhood or city has changed in several decades.
How to go back to time with google earth
Are you a curious homeowner? Or maybe an amateur historian? Perhaps you love indifferent, or you just interested in the latest Google Tool? In any way, here you have to know about the historical imagination of Google Earth.
what you need: You will need an internet-connected device-like a PC or smartphone-to access Google Earth online. (There is one Desktop app Google to Earth; Although this guide provides step-by-step instructions for most websites and mobile apps, experience is very similar on platforms.)
Go to Google Earth on the web or launch a mobile app on your iPhone or Android phone. Before you can see an address to see the historical imagination of that place, make sure you are looking at satellite data.
- Web: Go to Google Earth Website In your browser. If you see a traditional map scene, click on the layers panel (bottom left), expand the map style, and select the satellite. Once you are looking at satellite data, use the search bar at the top of Google Earth to enter an address that you want to see.
- mobile: Open Google Earth App on your phone (download it app Store Or Google playIf you are not already). To look at satellite data, tap on the three-line menu icon (☰ ☰) in the top-left, choose a map style, and switch to the satellite. Then use the search bar at the top to enter a address.
Detection of a address works equally on the platform. Just enter the name of a broad place – such as a city – or a specific road address (“123 Main Street, anywhere, us”) in the search bar. Once you kill the enter (desktop) or tap search (mobile), the Google Earth will jump directly to the location and give you a close-up view with the most recent imagery data. It can be 2025, or it may be chronic.
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You need to enable historical imagination to scroll a time -timeline and go back on time to places.
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This is the time to reach the timeline slider. It is as simple as togling on the “historical imagery” layer.
- Web: In the top toolbar, the Earth icon (“Historical Imagery” labeled), or click on top of the toolbar, you can go to see> Historical imagery. A transparent blue timeline slider will appear in the upper-left corner.
- mobile: Tap on layer icon (stacked square), select historical imagery, then tap. A card with timeline slider will appear under your screen.
When historical imagery is capable, you can scroll through months and years for almost any place on Earth. Just use the timeline slider that appears to select a point in time.
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On both desktops and mobiles, draw the handle with the timeline slider to see different dates. In my experience, more historical imagination is available in urban areas, while rural areas, such as I grew up, often have large data gaps. Just find and start scrolling the timeline slider to see what is available.
For example, NY, NY, a small upstate city of people in NY-I saw timeline dots for every year at the present time, some dots in the early 2000s, one in the 1990s, one in the 1990s, and one final in 1985. In Syrakuse, NY, though-a very large, more populous city-appeared on more dots.
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In the timeline slider, large dots indicate an annual snapshot, and small dots mark monthly updates. Gray-out dots are for dates that were available once, but are not currently accessible at your zoom level.
The under -label image under the dots show the approximate dates for capture. On the desktop, you can see the exact day (eg, “August 15, 1995”). On mobile, tap a year in the timeline to see the full date of the capture.
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Google Earth sometimes neutralizes 3D buildings and areas when you enable historical imagination to “improve performance” according to Google. So, if your view looks flat, that’s why.
When 3D is available and you are looking at it, Google Earth will show a 2D button so that you can switch to that mode instead. I have seen that 3D is often disabled for old imagery – eg, anything before the 1990s. The oldest 3D scene I could reach by 1995; I could see some space in 2D in 1985, though.
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To toggle between 2D and 3D historical imagination, just look for a circular button in Google Earth, which is labeled 2D or 3D. This should be on the web or in the app below your screen.
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Historical imagery uses satellite and aerial imagery so that you can detect places going back to 80 years.
It seems that the old historical imagery is a low resolution aerial view, while the new captures are sharp, more immersive satellite imagery. Trying various places and scrolling back in the timeline is fun how far you can go. I have tested the addresses of the previous home, major cities, famous sites – many places.
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You can see that Google sees the image stitching in the earth and changes in the height of the area as you see around the map. In those cases, try to change your angle or zoom level to reduce deformation.
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and that’s it. Enjoy going back to time with Google Earth. Tell me in the comments that you have the oldest historical imagery and where you have time, and if you have time, see how to return on time with road views. It is equally fun to try.
When did Google Earth launch historical imagination?
In September 2024, Google announced new updates to Google Earth, including the availability of historical imagination, which allows you to detect Google’s satellite and aerial imagery library until 80 years ago.
Where does the historical imagination come from?
Google Earth’s historical imagination is sour with many satellites and air fiction providers. Google said Close images of the ground are usually made of an image, while airplanes are made of mosaic of many images.
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If you are curious about where the historical imagery comes from, see data atribution link in Google Earth’s lower corner. For example, looking at London in 1945 using historical imagery, I clicked on data atribution. A pop-up gave me a capture date and said that the map includes data from Google and Geoinformation Group.
Can you see historical imagination with Google Earth Pro?
Yes – you can see Historical imagery with Google Earth ProThe desktop app is free and has more advanced features. To reach the historic imagery on the desktop, click on the clock icon in the top toolbar, then use the slider (top left) to scroll through the available dates.
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