How to Share Your ETA in Google Maps

Why Sharing Your ETA Beats Texting “I’m on My Way”

“I’m on my way” is the least useful message in navigation. It says nothing about how far away you are, whether you are stuck in traffic, or when you will actually arrive, and it usually triggers a follow-up message ten minutes later asking where you are now. Google Maps has a better answer built right into navigation: sharing your trip progress, including your live location and your estimated time of arrival, with the people who are waiting for you. Once it is on, they see your moving dot on a map, your remaining travel time, and an arrival time that updates itself as traffic changes. You do not have to touch your phone again while you drive.

This is genuinely useful in everyday situations. If you are driving to meet friends at a restaurant, they can time their order instead of guessing. If you are picking someone up, they can walk out of the house at the right moment instead of standing on the pavement for fifteen minutes. If a family member worries when you drive late at night, they can watch your progress without calling you. This guide shows you how to share your ETA in Google Maps on Android, how to stop sharing, and how to fix the problems people run into most often.

What Sharing Your ETA Actually Shares

When you share your trip progress in Google Maps, the people you choose can see your live location on a map, your route, your remaining distance, and your estimated arrival time, which updates in real time as traffic changes. They see this in their own Google Maps app, or through a link if they do not use Maps. Sharing is tied to one trip: it starts when you begin navigation and it stops automatically when you arrive at your destination. You can also stop it manually at any point.

It is worth knowing what it does not share. It does not give anyone access to your full location history, your saved places, or your past trips. It only shows your position during this one journey, and only to the people you picked. It also does not keep sharing after you arrive: once Maps detects you have reached your destination, the shared trip ends and your live dot disappears from their view. If you want someone to see you on an ongoing basis, that is a different feature, location sharing, which runs until you turn it off.

Before You Start: Three Quick Checks

First, make sure you are signed in to Google Maps with your Google account. Trip sharing is linked to your account, and the contact picker works best when you are signed in. Open Maps, tap your profile picture in the top-right corner, and confirm your account is shown at the top of the menu.

Second, check that location is turned on for your phone and that Maps has location permission. Without it, Maps cannot track your trip, and the share option may not appear. On Android, go to Settings, then Location, and make sure it is on; then check that Google Maps is allowed to access your location while in use.

Third, update Google Maps from the Play Store. The steps below have been stable for a long time, but button labels and menu positions shift slightly between versions, and an update is the simplest fix if something looks different on your screen.

Step 1: Start Navigation to Your Destination

1. Open Google Maps on your Android phone.
2. Search for your destination in the search bar at the top, or tap a saved place.
3. Tap Directions, choose your travel mode (driving, walking, cycling, or public transport), and check the suggested route.
4. Tap Start to begin turn-by-turn navigation.

You must be in active navigation before the trip-sharing option appears. It is not available from the map view alone, and it is not in the main settings menu. If you only previewed a route without tapping Start, the option will not be there yet.

Step 2: Open the Trip Sharing Menu

1. While navigation is running, swipe up on the bottom panel that shows your arrival time and remaining distance, or tap the three-dot menu in the navigation screen.
2. Look for “Share trip progress” in the menu that appears.
3. Tap it. A sharing sheet opens with your contacts and sharing options.

On most Android phones the option sits in the same menu as mute, route options, and satellite view. If you do not see it immediately, scroll the menu: on smaller screens it can sit just below the visible area.

Step 3: Choose Who Sees Your Trip

1. In the sharing sheet, you will see a list of contacts, usually the people you message most, plus a search box.
2. Tap a contact to share with them directly through Google Maps. They will get a notification and can follow your trip in their Maps app.
3. If the person is not in the list, tap the search box, type their name, and pick them from the results.
4. To share with someone who does not use Google Maps, or to share in a different app, tap “More options” or the link icon to copy a sharing link, then paste it into a message, an email, or a chat app of your choice.

You can share with more than one person. Repeat the step for each contact, and each of them will see the same live trip. There is no group view for them: each person follows your trip individually, which keeps things simple and private.

Step 4: Let the Trip Run and Watch the ETA Update

Once sharing is on, you do not need to do anything else. Drive, walk, or ride as normal, following the voice directions. Your ETA updates automatically as traffic changes, roadworks appear, or you take a detour, and the people following you see the updated arrival time without you sending another message.

If you are the person waiting, the view is just as simple. Open the notification or link, and you see a map with a moving dot, the route, and the current ETA. You can leave it open or check back later; the information stays current until the trip ends.

Step 5: Stop Sharing When You Arrive

In most cases you do not need to do anything at all: when Maps detects that you have arrived at your destination, trip sharing stops by itself and your live location disappears from the follower’s view.

To stop sharing early, for example if your plans change or you no longer want to be followed, do this:

1. While navigation is still running, open the same bottom panel or three-dot menu.
2. Tap “Stop sharing” or the sharing indicator at the bottom of the screen.
3. Confirm if asked. Sharing ends immediately, and your location is no longer visible to the people you shared with.

Stopping navigation also stops trip sharing. If you cancel the route, the shared trip ends with it, so there is no need to stop sharing separately.

Trip Sharing vs Location Sharing: Which One Do You Want?

Google Maps has two similar-sounding features, and picking the wrong one is the most common source of confusion. Trip progress sharing, covered in this guide, is tied to a single journey and ends when you arrive. Location sharing, found under your profile picture and then Location sharing, shares your real-time position continuously until you turn it off, with no destination and no ETA.

Use trip sharing when someone is waiting for you at a specific place and time: a dinner, a pickup, a meeting, a flight drop-off. Use location sharing when someone needs to know where you are over a longer period, such as a parent tracking a teenager on a day out, or friends meeting up across a city over several hours. If you accidentally turn on location sharing when you meant to share one trip, you may keep broadcasting your position long after you arrive, so check which one you used.

Sharing Your ETA Without Starting Navigation

Sometimes you want to tell someone when you will arrive before you have started moving, for example when you are still getting ready. You cannot share live trip progress without navigation, but you can still send a useful estimate: preview the route in Maps, note the travel time, and send a message with your planned departure time plus that travel time. Once you do start driving, switch to live trip sharing so the ETA keeps itself accurate.

Another handy option is sharing your arrival time from the route preview screen on some versions of Maps, which sends a static estimate rather than a live trip. It is less useful than live sharing because it will not update if traffic worsens, but it is better than a vague “on my way” message.

Practical Situations Where ETA Sharing Helps

• Restaurant meetups: your friends see exactly when you will walk in, so nobody orders too early or waits outside.
• Airport pickups: the driver at the airport watches your progress and times their arrival at the terminal, instead of circling or paying for parking.
• Picking up children: a parent or carer can see when you are a few minutes away and have bags ready at the door.
• Late-night driving: a family member can follow your journey home without calling you while you drive.
• Work deliveries and site visits: a client sees a realistic arrival time that adjusts for traffic, so they are not left waiting by a locked gate.
• Group trips: when several cars travel to the same place, each driver can share their trip so the group knows who is ahead and who is delayed.

Privacy Tips for Sharing Your Trip

Only share with people you trust, and only for the trip in question. Because sharing ends automatically at your destination, the risk window is small, but it is still good practice to stop sharing manually if your plans change and you no longer want to be followed. Avoid posting a sharing link publicly, for example in a group chat with people you do not know well, since anyone with the link can follow your trip. If you shared a link and later regret it, stop sharing from the navigation menu: the link stops working immediately.

Also remember that your followers see your route, not just your ETA. If your journey includes a stop you would rather keep private, such as a detour to a particular shop, consider starting trip sharing after that stop, or simply not sharing that leg of the journey.

Troubleshooting

I cannot find “Share trip progress”

Make sure you are in active navigation, not just previewing a route. Tap Start first. Also confirm you are signed in to Maps and that location is turned on. If the option is still missing, update Maps from the Play Store and restart the app.

The person I shared with cannot see my trip

Ask them to open the notification or link directly, and check that they are signed in to Google Maps if you shared through Maps. If you sent a link, confirm it was not cut off when pasted into the message app. Weak mobile data on either phone can also delay the live view; it usually catches up within a minute or two.

Sharing stopped before I arrived

This usually happens because navigation was cancelled, the app was closed completely, or the phone lost its location signal for a long stretch, for example in a tunnel or a car park. Reopen Maps, restart navigation to the same destination, and share the trip again.

My ETA keeps jumping around

That is normal. The ETA recalculates from live traffic, and it can move by several minutes as conditions change, especially at rush hour. The people following you see the same updates, so they are not confused by the changes; they are seeing the same live picture you are.

Sharing is still on after I arrived

Give it a minute: Maps ends the shared trip once it is confident you have arrived, and that can lag slightly if you parked a short walk from the destination pin. If it still shows as sharing, stop it manually from the navigation menu.

A Small Habit That Saves a Lot of Messages

Sharing your ETA takes about ten seconds at the start of a journey, and it replaces a whole chain of “where are you?”, “how long?”, and “are you nearly here?” messages. Once you have done it a few times it becomes automatic: start navigation, share trip progress, pick the person who is waiting, and drive. They get a live, honest arrival time, and you get to keep your eyes on the road instead of your inbox.