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The amazing things about Google Earth


Offline Google Earth Use

For those of you wondering what happens to Google Earth (GE) when you don’t have an Internet connection, the amazing thing is that it will work. But, it only works with what you have installed in your cache. If you anticipate taking your laptop somewhere where you won’t have a broadband connection, you can still use GE for a limited area of viewing. Or you can use it for doing a demonstration somewhere without an Internet connection.


First, go to the menu item Tools->Options and select the “Cache” tab. You can make the cache size as large as 2000 MB (i.e. 2 Gigabytes). This will give you more data to work with. Then, you need to move to the area you want data for and zoom into that area. The most recent things you have looked at will be what’s in your cache. I think you need to turn on the layers for the information you want cached as well (for example, ‘roads‘ or ‘dining‘). You also might want to turn on any of your placemarks related to the region you want to look at.
It doesn’t take much of an area to fill up the cache. Especially if the area you are viewing has lots of high-res pictures. But, I read about someone using this in the remote areas of Africa with a GPS and a laptop to find his way around.
There is also a tip that you can save your cache(s) under different files and then swap them out to look at different areas (read about it here). Could be useful if you were travelling without Internet access for a prolonged period of time.

About Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was first released. He has worked with 3D computer graphics and VR for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank completed a 5.5 year circumnavigation of the earth by sailboat in June 2015 which you can read about at Tahina Expedition, and is a licensed pilot, backpacker, diver, and photographer.

Reader Interactions






PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.

Comments

  4. mark says

    Please provide info. on how I may use Google Earth on my laptop in the field to map remote sites (waypoints) and produce tracks etc. I am in the NT and believe Google earth may be a valuable resource to help me. I currently use other GIS software such as Fugawi and Arcinfo but yours is more global and user friendly. I currently have a Magellan or a Garmin GPS linked to my laptop in the field.
    Thanks

  7. amin says

    i have problem to increase the cache memmory..
    how i increase the cache memory..
    and one another question..
    how i will convert google earth files into shap files
    regards
    amin uddin

  9. mazhar says

    Hi,
    I need to cache an are of aprox 100mile radius to be cached without zomming in and looking at every street. How can I do it in GE?
    Thanks

  10. Ijal says

    can we use a search menu in Google-Earth(Fly to,find Bus., directions) without connecting to internet (offline)?

  12. Jason says

    Just wanted to post a vote for better support from google for off-line keyholing. I do a lot of 4x4ing, so it would be great to be able to download what I need — by state, region, whatever.. I don’t care about wiki-pages or panoramio photos, I just need to see the terrain. Also, using OS X….

  13. ddas-edEN says

    Thanks for the info. I was just looking for ways to use Google Earth on a Windows XP computer that is not connected to the Internet. Infact I have been curious about it for a while now – but never really went into it.
    Is it at all possible. Say I create the cache in another computer (that’s on the Internet) and move the cache to my offline computer – will the cache work on the offline computer?

  14. Ahmed Mahdy says

    That’s all good, but the question is: How to cache compelete earth areas automatically “without the need to navigate each place as it would take ages to do this”. That’s poessible?

  16. oscar says

    Is it possible to add two cache files, i mean not overwrite. somebody answer me please. Thank you !

  17. ccowie says

    I am adding a lot of 3d models from google sketch up to google earth and want to be able to present them thru my lap top without an internet connection. I save the models, dae, files to my c drive and repathed them. Everything is realy slow because the files are so large. Can I work offline to present the models in google earth? It also seems clumpsy to try and move my places from one computer to another, the kmz file is huge. Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome

  19. jay says

    Hi,
    I have created a Google Earth file with placemarks that are linked to .gif files (i.e. you click on the placemark, and an image pops up).
    I would like to be able to save my ‘creation’ so that it is available on other computers / networks, etc. When I email the .kmz file, or save the .kmz file to CD and try to open elsewhere, the Placemark links don’t work.
    My question is: how do you save the .kmz file as a whole (complete with files linked to within placemarks)? IS this possible?
    Thanx for (anyone’s) help!
    Jay

  20. Bob says

    Were does gogole earth get all the maps and everything.
    is there something like google.com/…
    because if there is you could make that url work offline with Internet Explorer and you would not need internet connection, but would need alot of memory to store it.

  22. humaida says

    I have installed googleearthwin software. now I want to install the same in the winXP m/c which is not having internenet connection. pls help me in step by step
    thanks

  24. Dumb-Ass says

    Why dont you guys take the initiative to try and figure some of this stuff out instead of posting question after question of what you can/cant do with this ‘trick’. Or maybe you can cache the ENTIRE 3d globe in a multiple TB external hard drive and then you would never have to connect to the internet again!

  25. Franco says

    Use reg edit to change the maximum amount of cache in google earth – Find the reg “Google Earth Plus” then open the tabs to see cache reg – open cache reg and edit the values of maximun cache, dont try to use more than 4090 because GE only takes an hex of tree numbers – the maximum value is “FFF” = 4094.
    I tryed to use other values and only takes the tree last numbers of the reg. Is not to much but is two times bigger than the original cache size of GE. I hope this tip can help somebody.

  27. Get A Trip says

    We are starting at the beginning of this most exciting blog in hopes of learning more about the process of information retrieval. When we zoomed all the way into our own residency we noticed it was approximately 6 months in arrears. Is there a reason for this? In the meantime keep up the good work and we will continue to dive into this great tool- Google Earth.

  28. Guide Man George says

    I have been using Google Earth for about a year now and I find your tips and the whole site great, keep up the good work 🙂
    Indeed, it does work online, but the problem is that is that it does poorly. The places are remembered poorly, at least on my computer, so the quality is far inferior.
    I always make screenshots of the most important places. This cand be done from the program itself, a handy tool indeed 🙂

  30. Malachi says

    I am soon travelling to geraldton WA from Cairns QLD, and am wondering if google earth will save all the directions it has given so WITH an internet connection once i am on my way?

  32. Cairns Share House says

    That is awesome! Being able to use Google maps with out an internet connection will come in very handy when we’re exploring the mountains around here in Cairns. Thanks for the tech tips.
    Kind regards, Tim.

  38. Mahboob says

    hi,
    I am GIS expert. Can anybody plz tell me how to pre render a data by making a buffer or selecting an area with higher eye view.I want to use the rendered data in driving simulation and wana do when user select source and destination the data along determined route should rendered before the simulation start. Can anybody help in this.
    Thanks
    Mahboob

  39. Aaron Bewza says

    It’s called “Aaron’s Google Earth Cache Stasher”. It’s a very handy tool that lets you stash your Google Cache files and name them (optimally they should be named the same names as the places you’ve filled your custom caches with). It is perfect for offline use of Google Earth as long as the caches are used with the same version of Google Earth the cache was made with. The caches last anywhere between 10 days and a month, determined by how often Google updates their image maps. I’m currently working on this 🙂 Google it, it is totally free like all my software. I ask nothing for its use. Enjoy!
    Aaron

    • ron says

      Befoe downloading your GE cache stasher app, I was wondering if this is the most current version to download. Ron

  42. Aaron Bewza says

    A couple things to remember if you are moving the stashed caches to a portable computer that’s not on the internet:
    It works like that, but remember you must have the exact same version number of Google Earth installed on the second computer as you do on your primary cache-building machine. Every month or so, the codes are changed and if this happens the locations of the saved images become broken and the result of this is a set of broken images.
    The best way to deal with this is to install the same version number of Google Earth on both computers, then cache like crazy for the next few weeks or so… then transfer the caches to the second computer before any codes are changed.
    Due to the positive feedback I’ve experienced, I am going to add a “auto-caching” feature which will use .KMZ files to zoom in and out of a location you set, then moving a little and zooming in and out again, until a pre-set grid is completed (optionally up to a certain area, or 2gb… whichever comes first). Once an auto-cache is full, it will stash it automatically and alert you of its completion.
    Feedback, comments, criticism and insults are all welcome 🙂
    Aaron Bewza

  44. verog lue says

    why Google earth not provide option to make a copy of Cache layer to disk and so as so and then restore it again into Google earth?



PLEASE NOTE: Google Earth Blog is no longer writing regular posts. As a result, we are not accepting new comments or questions about Google Earth. If you have a question, use the official Google Earth and Maps Forums or the Google Earth Community Forums.