How to add multiple stops on Google Maps.
Google Maps will route you through up to 10 places in one trip: your starting point plus 9 stops. Here's how to add them and put them in order on a computer and in the phone app, and what to use when your list is longer.
- Free for up to 50 addresses
- No credit card
- No app to install
The short answer
Updated
To add multiple stops on Google Maps, get directions to your first stop, then click Add destination on a computer, or tap More and then Edit stops in the iPhone or Android app, and choose the next place. Google Maps allows up to 10 places per trip (your start plus 9 stops, counting the final destination) and drives them in the order you enter them, so you drag stops to reorder them yourself. For longer lists, Lite Route Planner puts your stops in the shortest order in one click and opens each one in Google Maps for directions; it's free for up to 50 addresses, and paid plans fit up to 500 stops on a route.
Add multiple stops in Google Maps on a computer
These steps work in any browser at google.com/maps. Multiple stops work for every way of getting around except public transit and flights.
- 1
Click Directions
Open Google Maps in your browser and click Directions.
- 2
Enter a start and your first stop
Type your starting point and your first destination. To start somewhere other than where you are now, click Your location and type an address.
- 3
Click Add destination
It sits below the places you've entered. Type the next stop and pick it from the list.
- 4
Repeat for up to 9 stops
Keep clicking Add destination for each stop. Google Maps allows 9 stops after your starting point, and the 9 include your final destination.
- 5
Drag stops into order
Google Maps drives the list from top to bottom and won't reorder it for you. Drag any stop up or down to move it.
- 6
Pick a route
Click a route to see turn-by-turn directions, the total distance and the drive time.
Add multiple stops in the Google Maps app on iPhone or Android
The app works the same way on both phones. Plan the stops first, then start navigation.
- 1
Search for your first stop
Open the Google Maps app and search for the place, or tap it on the map.
- 2
Tap Directions
It's at the bottom left of the screen.
- 3
Tap More, then Edit stops
More is the three-dot button at the top right. Some older versions of the app label this option Add stop.
- 4
Add the next places
Tap Add stop and search for the next place, or choose it on the map. Repeat until you have up to 9 stops.
- 5
Hold Reorder and drag
Press and hold the Reorder handle next to a stop, then drag it up or down the list.
- 6
Tap Done, then Start
Google Maps navigates to each stop in the order on the list.
Five things the steps don't tell you
Your start counts toward the 10
The limit is 10 places in all. If you leave from home and come back home, home takes two of them, which leaves room for 8 customers.
Getting the order right is your job
Google Maps doesn't look for the shortest order. After a fixed start, 9 stops can be visited in 362,880 different orders, and it drives the one you typed.
No transit or flights
Multiple destinations work for driving, walking and cycling. If you can't add a stop, check that you aren't on the transit tab.
Shared links can drop stops
Google's documentation for directions links says they carry up to 9 in-between stops, and only 3 when the link opens in a mobile browser. Check a shared link on the phone that will use it.
Built for one trip, not a customer list
Google Maps doesn't import a spreadsheet, so every multi-stop trip starts with typing addresses, including the ones you drove last week.
When to use a route planner instead
Google Maps is the right tool when you have a handful of stops and already know the order: a few errands, three job sites, a pickup on the way home. It starts to cost you time in three situations.
You have more than 9 stops. You'll split the day into several trips and type the hand-off address twice. Our guide to getting past the 10-stop limit walks through each workaround and what it costs.
The order isn't obvious. Ten stops scattered across town are hard to order well by eye, and Google Maps won't reorder them for you. A route optimizer compares the orders for you and picks a short one.
You drive the same customers every week. Lawn crews, house cleaners and pool techs keep their customers in a spreadsheet. Retyping 25 addresses into Google Maps every Monday is the slow part of the day, not the driving.
Lite Route Planner takes that spreadsheet as it is, puts every address on a map, and orders a route in one click. You still drive with Google Maps: each stop opens in it with one tap from your phone, or you can open the whole route in Google Maps in ten-stop pieces.
Google Maps or a route planner?
Choose Lite if
- You have more than 9 stops, or the same customers every week
- You want the stops put in the shortest order for you
- Your addresses live in a spreadsheet you'd rather not retype
- Someone else drives the route and you want to see which stops are done
- You want it free for up to 50 addresses, with nothing to install
Choose Google Maps if
- You have 9 stops or fewer and already know the order
- It's a one-off trip you won't plan again
- You're walking or cycling rather than driving
- All you need is turn-by-turn directions, which Google Maps does well