How to share a Google Maps list
Share a Google Maps list from your phone or computer, let friends add places to it, and what to do when a list of pins isn't enough for planning a trip.
TLDR
- Phone: Google Maps → You tab → open the list → Share. To let others add places, tap Invite collaborators instead.
- Computer: Menu (☰) → Saved → More (three dots) next to the list → Share list.
- Shared lists are “anyone with the link”. There’s no invite-only mode.
- Maps lists are great for pins. They’re less great when the trip plan is also a reel, a menu, a booking email and a blog post.
On your phone
- Open Google Maps and tap the You tab at the bottom.
- Scroll to Your lists and open the one you want.
- Tap Share.
- Pick how to send it (WhatsApp, Messages, copy link).
To let people add places too, tap Invite collaborators instead of Share. Anyone who opens that link can join and add places and notes. You’ll see who added what.
On a computer
- Open google.com/maps and click the Menu (three lines, top left).
- Click Saved.
- Next to the list, click More (three dots) and pick Share list.
- Turn on link sharing, and Let others edit this list if you want collaborators.
- Copy the link.
Private or shared
- Private: only you. The default.
- Shared: anyone with the link can see it.
There’s no “only these three people” option. If the link gets forwarded, whoever has it can see the list. Fine for “tacos in Roma Norte”, worth knowing for anything personal.
Stop the link from working
Open the list’s sharing settings (the three dots next to it) and turn link sharing off. The link stops working for everyone who has it.
When a list of pins isn’t enough
Planning Mexico City? The Maps list has the pins. But the plan is also:
- The reel your friend sent that started the whole thing.
- The restaurant’s menu, as a PDF.
- The booking confirmation email.
- The blog post with the museum opening hours.
A folder can hold all of it. In Savepad, a folder with places in it opens as a map, with pins, and the reel, the menu and the booking sit in the same folder. Share the folder with your partner as a private link, or make it public if you’re the friend everyone asks for recommendations (you know who you are).
For keeping the trip’s links tidy, the bookmark manager page has the rest, and the folders vs tags post helps if you’re planning three trips at once.