Google Timeline to GPX, and onto a map
People convert Google Timeline to GPX for one reason: to see their location history somewhere other than Google Maps. Here is how the export works now, when the conversion is needed, and how to skip it.
Where Timeline lives now
Google moved Timeline from its servers onto your phone. For most people the history now sits on the device, not in a web account, and the export comes from the phone too. On Android it is found in the Timeline settings; on iPhone, in the Google Maps app settings. Menus move between versions, so check Google's own help pages for the current path.
The export is a JSON file, usually called Timeline.json. It is not GPX. It is Google's own format, a list of visits and movement segments with timestamps.
When you need GPX
GPX is the standard format for GPS tracks. Watches, mapping tools and route planners read it. If you want your Timeline in one of those, you need to convert the JSON into GPX, usually with a small converter script or tool.
Two cautions. First, converters vary in quality and some viewers reject what they produce. Second, many converters are websites that ask you to upload your entire location history. That file describes where you live, work and sleep. Prefer a tool that runs on your own device.
When you do not
If the goal is simply to see everywhere you have been on one map, you may not need to convert anything. FOG reads the Google Timeline JSON directly, as well as GPX files. Import the file and the fog clears along your history, so years of walking appear at once.
Everything happens on your phone; nothing is uploaded. Files up to 80 MB are accepted, and very large histories are condensed to keep the map fast. Import is part of FOG Unlimited, a single purchase with no subscription.
Going the other way: GPX out
FOG also exports. Settings has an option to export a backup as GPX, a copy of your whole trail in the standard format. It is the copy that survives a lost or replaced phone, and it opens in any tool that reads GPX.
What imported history can show
An import is only as good as the file. Periods when location was off are missing; dead batteries, tunnels and phones left at home leave gaps; some days are sampled more densely than others. Timeline also records however you were travelling, so a history can include drives as well as walks. Expect a real life, not a clean dataset.
For the full walkthrough, see importing Google Timeline.
Questions people actually ask
Can I export Google Timeline as GPX directly?
Google exports Timeline as a JSON file. To get GPX you need a converter. If you only want to see it on a map, FOG reads the JSON directly.
Is it safe to upload Timeline to a converter website?
Think carefully. The file is a detailed record of where you have been. Tools that run on your own device avoid sending it anywhere.
Does FOG upload my Timeline?
No. The import is processed on your phone and the map never leaves it.
Can FOG export my trail as GPX?
Yes. Settings includes an export backup option that writes a GPX file.
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