How to plan more than 10 stops with Google Maps.
Google Maps tops out at 10 places per trip, and Google My Maps at 10 points per directions layer. You can get around both, but you'll do the ordering and the typing yourself. Here are the three ways people do it, and what each one costs.
- Free for up to 50 addresses
- No credit card
- No app to install
The short answer
Updated
Google Maps can't take more than 10 places in one trip (a start plus 9 stops), so the workarounds are to split the route into several trips that each begin where the last one ended, or to draw it in Google My Maps, which imports up to 2,000 rows but routes only 10 points per layer on up to 10 layers. Neither one puts the stops in the best order for you. Lite Route Planner takes the whole list, optimizes it in one click and opens the route in Google Maps in ten-stop pieces; it's free for up to 50 addresses, and paid plans fit up to 500 stops on a route.
Workaround 1: split the route into several Google Maps trips
The most common fix, and it needs nothing but Google Maps. Each trip starts at the last stop of the one before, so every trip after the first adds 9 new stops.
- 1
Put the whole list in order first
Google Maps won't reorder anything, so decide the order before you type. Sort the list by neighborhood, or sweep around town in one direction, and number the stops.
- 2
Build trip 1
In Google Maps, click Directions, enter your start, and add stops 1 to 9 with Add destination.
- 3
Start trip 2 at stop 9
Open a new set of directions with stop 9 as the starting point, then add stops 10 to 18.
- 4
Repeat until the list is done
A 25-stop day takes three trips: stops 1 to 9, 10 to 18 and 19 to 25. A 40-stop day takes five.
- 5
Save each trip's link in order
Copy each trip's link into a note or a text to yourself, numbered. Google's documentation says a directions link opened in a mobile browser carries only 3 in-between stops, so test each link on your phone before you leave.
- 6
Drive one trip at a time
When you reach the last stop of a trip, open the next link and carry on.
Workaround 2: chain directions layers in Google My Maps
Google My Maps (mymaps.google.com) is Google's free custom-map tool. Unlike Google Maps, it imports a spreadsheet. It still routes in chunks of 10.
- 1
Create a map
Sign in to My Maps with your Google account and create a new map.
- 2
Import your addresses
Import a CSV, TSV, XLSX, KML, KMZ or GPX file, or a Google Sheet, up to 2,000 rows per import. Choose the column that holds the address so each row lands as a pin.
- 3
Add a directions layer
Use the directions tool to add a layer of driving directions, then enter up to 10 points in the order you want to drive them.
- 4
Add a layer for each next chunk
Start each new directions layer at the last point of the one before. A map holds 10 layers in all, and your imported pins use one of them.
- 5
Check the order yourself
My Maps draws each leg but doesn't optimize it. The points in a layer stay in the order you entered them.
What each workaround costs you
All three are free to try. They differ in how much of the work is left to you.
| Feature | Lite | Several Google Maps trips | Google My Maps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stops per route | Up to 500 | 10 per trip | 10 per directions layer |
| Imports a spreadsheet | Yes | No | Up to 2,000 rows |
| Puts stops in the best order | Yes | No | No |
| Keeps the route for next week | Unlimited routes | Only as links you save | As a saved map |
| Price | Free for up to 50 addresses | Free | Free |
Google Maps and My Maps limits from Google's help pages, checked October 19, 2026. Lite's free plan holds up to 50 addresses; Personal and Business fit up to 500 stops on one route.
Workaround 3: hand the whole list to a route planner
Here's a pest control tech's Thursday, 23 stops long, straight from the office spreadsheet. Paste or upload it into Lite and it finds the address columns, maps every row, and keeps Service and Gate code as custom fields.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| 1 | Customer | Street | City | ZIP | Service | Gate code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Hollis Family | 418 Juniper Ridge Dr | Round Rock | 78681 | Quarterly perimeter | 4471 |
| 3 | Bramble Street Dental | 2210 Bramble St | Pflugerville | 78660 | Monthly interior | |
| 4 | Ana Whitcomb | 97 Cedar Hollow Ln | Round Rock | 78664 | Termite inspection | 1902 |
| 5 | Northgate Storage | 13020 Brushy Creek Rd | Cedar Park | 78613 | Rodent stations | |
| 6 | Dean and Marisol Pratt | 6 Sawgrass Ct | Leander | 78641 | Quarterly perimeter | 0815 |
Then lasso the stops into a route and press Optimize. Open the route in Google Maps and it comes in ten-stop pieces, already in the shortest order, or tap one stop at a time from your phone.
Which workaround fits
Splitting into trips is fine for a one-off day of 12 to 20 stops when you already know the area. Past that, the typing adds up, and one cancellation can mean rebuilding every trip after it.
My Maps is worth it when you want to see the whole list on a map and plan from there, for example to decide which stops go on Tuesday and which on Wednesday. It won't optimize, and driving from it still means opening each leg.
A route planner is the better fit once the list repeats every week or runs past 20 stops. In Lite Route Planner your customers stay saved, so next week's route is a lasso and a click, and you still drive in Google Maps. See how to map addresses from Excel if your list lives in a spreadsheet.