Google Earth adds old Street View captures to rewind time from the street level

Now you can easily switch from a satellite view to street-level images that show how an area has changed over the years.

by Emma Roth

Jun 24, 2025, 12:00 PM UTC

Google Earth can display a Street View timeline of certain locations, like New York’s Vessel sculpture.

Image: Google

Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Google Earth will now let you look at historical imagery from Street View. The update, which comes as part of the tool’s 20th anniversary, allows you to see how a location has changed over time.

Google Earth already offers the ability to switch to Street View while viewing satellite imagery, but now you can look through images captured across different years — just like you can in Google Maps. Last year, Google launched the ability to view historical satellite and aerial imagery, which was previously only available in the Earth Pro desktop app.

Google Earth will soon be able to display insights about tree canopy coverage and more.

Image: Google

Google is also planning to roll out a new feature that gives professional users “AI-driven insights” about the planet. That includes information about tree canopy coverage, allowing users to see where an area is more heavily shaded and which places might benefit from cooling approaches. It will also offer access to land surface temperatures, which professionals can use to see which areas of a city are hotter. These insights are rolling out in the “coming weeks.”

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