Check out mountains, hills, landmarks, and underwater scenery with the 3D viewer. You can zoom in and out, and tilt or rotate the view to look around.
Change your point of view
Use a mouse to change your perspective and explore different terrains.
- To look in any direction: Left-click and hold. Then, drag the cursor until you find the view you want.
- To return to the default view: Click the map and press r.
Zoom in & out
You can zoom in and out to check more or less of a map area. Use the scroll wheel on your mouse or mouse touchpad to zoom in and out.
Tilt to view hills & mountains
When you first start Google Earth, you’ll find a straight view of the globe. You can tilt the map in any direction.
Mac
- Press and hold the scroll button. Then, move the mouse forward or backward.
- Press Shift and scroll forward or backward to tilt up and down.
Windows & Linux
Press Shift + Left-click. Then, drag in any direction.
Adjust terrain elevation
- Open Google Earth.
- On Windows: Click Tools
Options 3D View. OnMac: Click Google EarthPreferences3D View. - Under "Terrain," enter a number between .01 and 3 for "Elevation Exaggeration." 1.5 shows a natural elevation.
- Click Apply.
Explore the ocean
Discover sea floors, deep ocean trenches, and other underwater terrain.
To hide or show the surface of the ocean: Click View
Water Surface. You can find from above or below the water’s surface.
Point the view North
In the top right corner, on the compass, click the up arrow. The compass and globe will both return to a north-facing view.
Use the navigation controls
The navigation controls are in the upper right corner of the map and fade when you aren’t using them.
- To show navigation controls, mouse over the right corner of the map.
- If you don’t find the navigation controls, in the top menu, click ViewShow NavigationAutomatically.
Show or hide the compass:In the top menu, click ViewShow Navigation.
Move around the globe
- Open Google Earth.
- Point to a directional arrow on the compass.
- Left-click and hold. Then, release the button when you’ve reached the part of the world you want to discover.
Set a default start location
You can change where you start each time you launch Google Earth.
- Open Google Earth.
- Go to the location you want to set as your start location.
- Rotate, tilt, and zoom in until you have the view you want.
- In the top menu, click View Make this my start location.
