How to Drop Pins More Precisely in Google Maps

Ethan James 20 Jan 2022

When you want to mark a certain location in Google Maps, the easiest way to do it is to drop a pin by tapping the spot on the screen of your mobile device. The accuracy of this method, though, depends on your device and your finger position. If you want to put these pins right where you want them, here are some tips on them.

The first thing you need to do to improve the accuracy is to turn on the precise location. In most situations, with this option off your location is defined with accuracy up to 100 m; when it’s on, it gets much more precise, up to 1-5 m. Not only does this affect the precision of detecting your current location, but also makes the maps more accurate in general.

To activate it, go to the settings of your device and let Google Maps use your precise location. On iPhone, it’s in Settings/Privacy/Location Services, where you need to find Google Maps among the app sorted alphabetically and toggle it on. On Android, go to Settings, then to Location, and at the bottom of the menu tap “Use precise location”.

To make sure that location services got you right, zoom in as close as possible. Satellite view will also help you to check whether the dot is where you want it. To see it from your own height, not through a bird’s eye, you may turn on Google Street View – of course, if the area is covered.

Finally, if you need to specify the location even more precisely than the maps allow, use Plus Codes. These are generated from geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) and can be found in the details of the pin you have dropped. With these Plus Codes, you can even specify a certain entrance of a large building, if sharing its address is not enough.

Of course, you can just share your location on WhatsApp and other messengers. But in this case, you have almost no control over its precision, so you can just watch your app sharing wrong or old locations, with nothing to do but try again. These simple methods will help you share your arbitrary locations as exactly as possible.

Have you tried these methods? Have there been any stories about how you could not find your date, colleague, or whoever? Did Google Maps work right after that? Let’s share our stories in the comments!