Google Earth – Download

Google Earth is very famous free software that allows you to virtually travel around the world thanks to aerial images and photographs taken with satellites. It also includes the Google Maps Street View system, which allows you to view the streets of cities thanks to 360-degree navigable photos and 3D reconstructions of various locations around the world. In short, it is an application that cannot be missing on the PC or smartphone/tablet of a traveler like you!

As for the desktop counterpart of the program, it is good to specify that the “standard” version of Google Earth is available and can be used directly from the Google Chrome browser (in this case, no download is necessary, since to use it, simply connect to this address), but there is also a Pro version – which is 100% free and differs from the “standard” version for some useful features for professionals, such as the one that allows you to print at high resolution – available for download for Windows, macOS and Linux: today I will focus on the latter. Since Google Earth is also available as an app for Android and iOS, then, in the second part of the tutorial, I will also explain how to download it on your mobile devices.

So, are you ready to get started? Yup? Very well! Make yourself comfortable, take all the time you need to concentrate on reading the next paragraphs and, more importantly, implement the “tips” that I will give you, so as not to have problems downloading Google Earth on all devices and platforms at your disposal. There is nothing left for me to do but wish you good reading and, above all, have fun!

Index

• Minimum requirements to download Google Earth
• Download Google Earth on PC
• Download Google Earth on smartphones and tablets

Minimum requirements to download Google Earth

Before delving into the heart of the tutorial and discovering how to download Google Earth, I would like to list the minimum requirements that your devices must meet in order to host the application.

As for the desktop version of Google Earth, you need a computer equipped with  Windows 7 or later; macOS 10.8 or later or  Ubuntu 14 / Fedora 23 (or equivalent) or later.

To download the Google Earth app for mobile devices, however, you need to have a smartphone or tablet equipped with Android 4.1 or later or an iPhone or iPad updated to iOS 9.0 or later.

Download Google Earth to your computer

To download the desktop version of Google Earth – or Google Earth Pro  – you must first connect to the download page of the program and then press the blue Download button, which is located at the bottom left.

On the page that opens, remove the checkmark from the box  Contribute to improving Google Earth by automatically sending to Google usage statistics and reports on crashes anonymously if you do not want to contribute to the diagnosis of any problems concerning the program and press the button blu Accept and download below: if everything went well, the download of the Google Earth Pro installation file should start automatically. If this is not the case, press the link click here to start the download “manually “.

When the download is complete, all you have to do is open the installation file you obtained from the Google Earth site and follow the simple wizard that appears on the screen, so as to complete the setup.

On Windows, after clicking on the Accept and download button, press the Run button located at the bottom of the browser window in use and then press Yes to complete the setup and start the software. Remember, then, to close the Google Earth Pro installation window by pressing the Close button.

If you are using a  Mac, on the other hand, when the download is complete, open the GoogleEarthProMac-Intel.dmg file and double-click the Install Google Earth Pro package contained in it. In the window that opens, then presses the Continue and Install buttons, type the password of your user account on macOS (the one you usually use to access the system) and then presses the Install software and  Close buttons to complete the setup.

At the first start,  Google Earth Pro will show you a welcome screen with a list of the main functions of the program: if you want to learn how to use the software without too much effort, consult it in all its sections. To move on the Google Earth virtual world map, use the mouse  (with the wheel you can zoom in and out) or the search bar located at the top left, in which you can type the name of a city, a place or a street to view on the map.

Using the commands that appear by moving the mouse cursor to the right of the screen, you can rotate the map using the arrows located near the eye icon, move on the map with the arrows next to the hand icon, adjust the level of zoom with the (+)  and (-) buttons and activate the Street View mode (the orange man icon ), which allows you to “walk” in many places and cities around the world.

Among the main functions of  Google Earth Pro there is also the creation of routes with driving directions. To get the right directions to get to a certain place, click on the Get directions item located in the left sidebar, type the starting route and destination in the box that appears and enter on the PC keyboard.

As mentioned above, you can also record a virtual tour in the form of a video (by clicking on the camera icon in the program toolbar, located at the top) and navigate in space. In the latter case, you have to click on the orange planet icon in the software toolbar and choose which destination to visit:  Sky,  Moon  or  Mars. In short, the features of Google Earth are so many: you just have to use the program to explore the world while sitting comfortably in front of your PC!

Download Google Earth on smartphones and tablets

As I told you in the introduction of the post, Google Earth is also available for smartphones and tablets, in this case for Android devices (where it is sometimes installed “as standard”) and iOS. Its operation is almost identical to that of the desktop counterpart even if, this is good to specify, the mobile version of Earth is not the Pro one and, consequently, does not include some of its more advanced functions, such as the one that allows you to print screenshots ad high resolution.

Android

To download Google Earth on  Android, open the Play Store (the app with the colored triangle symbol ), type ” google earth ” in the search field at the top, press the green Install button, wait for the download of the app is completed and then presses the Open button to start using it.

If you want to go directly to the Play Store page that hosts Google Earth, so as to avoid searching for it “manually” using the search form, tap on this link and then repeat the steps I indicated in the previous lines: then click on the button green Install, wait for the app download to complete, tap the Open button and you’re done. You are now ready to use Google Earth on your Android device!

iOS

To download Google Earth on your iOS device, instead, open the App Store by tapping on the icon with the white ” A ” on a blue background which is located on the Home screen, type ” google earth ” in the search bar which is located top of the screen, press the Get button, confirm the download by typing your Apple ID password or, if your device is supported, authenticate via Touch ID or Face ID. At this point, wait for the download of Google Earth to be completed and, as soon as this happens, press the Open button, so as to start the application.

Also in this case, if you wish, you can reach the App Store page where Google Earth is hosted simply by tapping on  this link and then pressing the Get button. After confirming the download by following the steps I showed you just now, all you have to do is press the Open button to start the app and start using it.