How to enable Share and bookmark on a map

Turn Share and bookmark on or off for a map. One toggle lets viewers share the current map and save views as bookmarks.

Enabled by default Share and bookmark is on for new maps. It lets viewers share the current map and save views as bookmarks. Open it from the map’s Extensions page to change whether it’s available; one toggle controls both features.

See it on an example map

Open the Utilities Showcase. Click the Share button at the top right of the map. The Share dialog has Default Map and Current View. The Bookmarks panel is open when the map loads.

Before you start

You need edit access to the map.
Share and bookmark has no settings — there’s nothing to configure. Sharing and bookmarks are enabled together as one toggle; you can’t turn on one without the other.
Sharing respects the map’s access settings. A private or password-protected map shared by a viewer still requires the recipient to have access — see Map access.

Open the Extensions page

From the map’s admin sidebar, click Extensions. The Share and bookmark card is below Scale bar and, on new maps, already shows Remove.

If the card shows Add, click it to turn Share and bookmark back on. On a new map, the card already shows Remove; click Remove to turn it off.

(Optional) Open on load

Share and bookmark supports Open on load: click the Open on load chip on the card to make the Bookmarks panel the one that opens automatically when a viewer first loads the map. The chip then reads Opens on load. Only one tool can be the default-open tool at a time — setting it here clears it from any other tool. Click the filled chip to turn it off.

Extensions page with the Share and bookmark row showing the filled Opens on load chip and its Remove button

Verify the result

Open the map in a viewer-state session (a new tab or incognito window). Click the Share button at the top right of the map. In the Share dialog, Default Map copies a link to the map as it opens, and Current View copies a link to the place and zoom on screen.

Share dialog over the map with the Default Map and Current View choices and the Copy Link button, and the Bookmarks panel open on the left

The Bookmarks button on the left of the map opens the Bookmarks panel. To save the view as a bookmark, right-click the map and click Bookmark this view. Only people signed in as members of your account can save bookmarks.

Map viewer, signed in, with the Bookmarks panel open and the right-click menu offering Copy link to this view, Bookmark this view, and Launch Streetview here

To share or bookmark one feature, click it on the map and open its popup’s three-dot menu. The menu shows Share and Bookmark only while Share and bookmark is on. Share gives a link that opens the map with that feature selected. It opens your device’s share options, or copies the link when the browser has none. Bookmark opens a form: enter a Bookmark Title, add a Description if you want one, and tick Visible to map viewers to show the bookmark to people who view the map. Then click Save to my bookmarks.

If the controls don’t appear, refresh the map.

To turn it off, click Remove on the Share and bookmark card. To turn it back on, click Add on the card. Both sharing and bookmarks are removed from the map for viewers when it is off, including Share and Bookmark in feature popup menus.

What this doesn’t cover

Choosing which share channels are offered — The tool has no per-channel settings. You cannot limit sharing to direct URL, embed code, or social media.
Bookmark limits or expiry — there’s no setting for a maximum number of bookmarks per viewer or a bookmark expiry window.
Embedding the map — the share control is for viewers sharing a live view. To get an iframe snippet for embedding the map in your own site, build it from the map’s public link — see How to embed a map in another website.