How to Use Offline Maps in Windows 10

Windows 10 comes with a Maps app that lets you search for locations, get turn-by-turn directions, and see points of interest wherever you go. If you know you won't have an internet connection on your computer, you can still use these features by downloading offline maps.

When you download these regional maps, you'll be able to get directions and search for places like restaurants and coffeeshops even when you're not connected to the internet. The quickest way to download maps is through the system settings. Here's how.

1. Select Settings from the Start menu.

2. Click System.

3. Select Offline maps.

4. Click the + button next to "Download maps".

5. Select the continent where your desired country is located. (Sorry, adventurers, Antarctica is not supported.)

6. Select the region you want to download. Depending on the area, you can download a whole country or you'll have to drill down to a smaller region (for example, with Canada and the USA).

7. Repeat for any additional regions you want to have as offline maps. You can download more maps while other maps are currently downloading.

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Tips:

The whole U.S.A: If you want to download all the maps for the USA, you can choose "All regions." It will take up over 4GB of space on your hard drive, however.

Multiple countries at once: If you want to choose more than one country or region at a time, click the multiple-option button on the bottom bar

And then check the regions you want to download en masse.

You can also do this from the settings menu of the Maps app itself, but it's an extra step and the downloads won't start until you close the Maps app. So it's just simpler to do it from the system Settings app.

After downloading the offline maps, you'll be able to use them in the Maps app even when you're in a location without internet. Some features, like the 3D view, don't work in the offline downloaded maps, but for just getting around when you're traveling, Windows 10's offline maps can be very helpful. The offline maps will also be automatically updated when your device is connected to Wi-Fi and plugged in.

If you no longer need the downloaded map and you'd like to free up some hard drive space, head back to the Offline maps settings and select the maps to delete.