Apple Maps Guides: How to Create, Share & Import (Complete Guide)
Short answer
A Guide is a named list of places in Apple Maps. On iPhone, tap Your Guides, then +, name it and tap Done. Add places from any place card with More › Add to Guides, and send the Guide with Share. Apple Maps can't import from Google Maps — drop your Google Takeout file below and you get one Guide link back.
What a Guide is
A Guide is a named collection of places — a trip, your favorite cafés, a walking tour. It lives in Maps on your iPhone, iPad and Mac, and syncs between them through iCloud. Guides arrived in iOS 14.
Create a Guide
In the Maps app, follow the path for your device. On a Mac, Guides is in the sidebar.
-
On iPhone
- Your Guides
- +
- Name
- Done
-
On Mac
- Guides
- +
- Name
- Done
Older iPhone? On iOS 18 it's Library › Places › Guides, then + and Create. On iOS 17 and earlier, scroll down the search card and tap New Guide.
Add places
- From a place card. Tap a place on the map or in search results, then More › Add to Guides and pick the Guide.
- From a dropped pin. Long-press the map to drop a pin, tap it, and add it the same way.
- From inside the Guide (Mac). Open the Guide, click Add a Place, then search or pick a recent place.
Edit, sort or delete a Guide
- iPhone: in Your Guides, open the Guide and tap Edit to rename it, change the cover or remove places, then tap Done. To delete a Guide, tap More on it, then Delete from Places.
- Mac: click Guides in the sidebar and open the Guide. The sort button orders places by Date Added, Name or Distance. To delete a Guide, swipe left on it with two fingers, then click Delete.
Menus differ slightly between iOS versions — these match Apple's current iPhone and Mac user guides.
Share a Guide
Open the Guide, tap Share and pick Messages, Mail or AirDrop — or copy the link. On a Mac, click More next to the Guide. The link opens in Maps on Apple devices and on the web everywhere else, Android included. More on sharing.
Import from Google Maps
Apple Maps has no import button. Drop your Google Takeout zip — or a CSV, KML, GeoJSON or GPX file — and get one Guide link back. Free for up to 1,500 places.
No file yet? Export your Google Maps lists first. Places we can't match are listed so you can add them by hand.
Guides vs Google Maps lists
Both hold a named set of places. They differ in where they open and how places get out.
| Feature | Apple Maps Guides | Google Maps lists |
|---|---|---|
| Opens on | iPhone, iPad, Mac — a web map elsewhere | Android, iPhone, the web |
| Share by | Link, Messages, AirDrop | Link |
| Export | None — only the share link | Google Takeout, one CSV per list |
FAQ
How many places can I add to an Apple Maps Guide?
We couldn't find a documented limit from Apple. Our converter takes up to 1,500 places per file and turns them into one Guide link. For big collections, one Guide per city or trip is easier to use.
Can I share an Apple Maps Guide with someone who uses Android?
Yes. Send the link: on Android it opens Apple Maps on the web in the browser, because there's no Apple Maps app for Android. If they'd rather have Google Maps links, paste the Guide link into our Guide Decoder.
Do Apple Maps Guides sync across all my devices?
Yes. Guides sync through iCloud to every iPhone, iPad and Mac signed in to the same Apple Account.
Can I import my Google Maps saved places into Apple Maps Guides?
Not inside Apple Maps — it has no import. Export your lists with Google Takeout, upload the file to GoToAppleMaps, and you get one Guide link back. Places that can't be matched automatically are listed so you can add them by hand.