Guide
How to convert Google Maps Timeline to a mileage log
Google Maps Timeline already knows every trip you've taken: the date, the route, and the distance, all recorded automatically from GPS. That's most of a mileage log already; it just isn't in a shape you can hand to an accountant or attach to an expense claim. This guide shows you how to convert your Timeline into a clean mileage log in a few minutes, without installing anything and without your Timeline file ever being uploaded.
The short version: export your Timeline → open it in Time-mile → filter to your driving trips → export a CSV, JSON, or PDF mileage log. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
What you'll need first: your Timeline export
Google now stores Timeline data on your phone, so there are two possible source files depending on where your history lives:
- Direct Export: a
Timeline.jsonfile exported straight from the Google Maps app on Android or iOS. This holds your recent history. - Google Takeout: the legacy ZIP of your Location History, which holds anything from before Google's 2024 migration.
If you're not sure how to get either one, follow the Timeline export guide first, then come back. You don't have to choose: Time-mile reads both formats and merges them.
Check one setting before you rely on it. Anyone who turned Timeline on after its move to the phone got auto-delete at three months by default. Left that way, by the time you sit down to claim, most of the tax year is gone. Set it to 36 months in Google Maps (profile picture → Your Timeline → More → Location & privacy settings → Auto-delete Timeline), and export what the phone holds now. Why the default deletes your year, and what it cannot undo.
Convert your Timeline to a mileage log in 4 steps
- Open Time-mile and load your file. Drop your
Timeline.jsonor your Takeout archive (.zipor.tgz, both are read) into the app. It parses the file locally, in your browser, and lists every trip as a row with its date, start, end, and distance. - Filter to the period and the trips that matter. Use the date range to narrow it to the tax year or claim period, and the confidence level in Settings to drop noisy points. What's left is a table of real journeys.
- Separate business from personal. The tool can't know which drives were for work: that judgment is yours. Hide personal drives with the eye at the end of the row so they leave the total, and click a place to say what it is (home, a personal place, a business place).
- Export your mileage log. Export to CSV to drop into a spreadsheet, JSON for another tool, a formatted PDF report you can file or submit as-is, or KML and GPX to see the trips in Google My Maps.
For the year in progress, filers on the Australian, New Zealand, Canadian or US scheme can keep the log week by week instead: a subscriber imports the new week's Timeline, confirms the trips, and the logbook builds as the year runs, each entry dated as it is made.
Does a Timeline JSON file work, or only Takeout?
Both. A lot of people search specifically for how to turn a Timeline JSON file into a mileage log, because the new Direct Export produces a single Timeline.json that spreadsheets can't open in any useful way. Time-mile reads that JSON structure natively, including the newer latLng string coordinates, and the older Takeout format, and lines both up into one table sorted by date. You never have to reconcile the two formats by hand.
Fill the months your mileage tracker missed (Everlance)
Trackers like Everlance, MileIQ or Stride record from the day you install them. If you started in March, or tracking was switched off for a few months, those drives are not in the app, and Everlance's own help pages tell you to type them into a spreadsheet by hand. Your Timeline already recorded them.
Time-mile writes that spreadsheet for you. Load your Timeline, narrow the dates to the months that are missing, then choose Export → For Everlance. You get a CSV in the columns Everlance's Import History asks for: Date, Miles, Purpose, Income Source, From, To, Notes. Car trips only, distances in miles. In Everlance, open the Web Dashboard, go to Settings → Import History and upload the file.
Using MileIQ or Stride instead? Here is how to add the missing drives to them.
Trips you marked business arrive as Business. Home-to-work drives arrive as Personal with a note, since a commute is not deductible. Places you have not answered for stay blank, to classify in Everlance.
What your mileage log should contain
Whatever you're converting it for, a usable mileage log comes down to four fields per trip:
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Date | The timestamp on each Timeline trip |
| Start & end location | The route Timeline recorded |
| Distance | Calculated from the GPS track |
| Purpose / category | You tag this: business or personal |
If the log is for a tax deduction or reimbursement, the exact rules vary by country. The guide on using Google Timeline for mileage tax deductions covers what the IRS, HMRC, CRA, and ATO each expect, and each country has its own page on the rate itself: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, with the European countries listed in all guides.
Convert your Timeline into a mileage log now
Free to start, runs in your browser, works with both export formats.
Launch Time-mileFrequently asked questions
How do I convert my Google Maps Timeline to a mileage log?
Export your Timeline from your phone or from Google Takeout, open the file in Time-mile, filter to the driving trips for the period you need, then export the result as a CSV, JSON, or PDF mileage log. The whole conversion happens in your browser.
Can I convert a Google Timeline JSON file to a mileage log?
Yes. Time-mile reads the new Timeline.json Direct Export from Android and iOS directly, as well as the legacy Google Takeout ZIP, and turns either one into a table of trips you can export as a mileage log.
Is it free to convert my Timeline into a mileage log?
Yes. You can import your Timeline, filter your trips, and export a mileage log for free up to the free-tier row limit. The full export is sold per tax year: a subscription for the year in progress, or a one-time pass for a closed one.
Can I use Google Timeline for business mileage?
Yes. Timeline records the date, route, and distance of every trip automatically from GPS, which are exactly the fields a business mileage log needs. You isolate the business trips, tag anything personal, and export the log.
Does my location data get uploaded when I convert it?
No. Time-mile parses your Timeline file entirely inside your browser and never uploads it. The one exception is optional: Find addresses, a Premium feature, sends the rounded position of each stop to Google's geocoder to name it.