Use lines and shapes to check distances and estimate sizes of different features on Earth.
What you can measure in Google Earth Pro:
- Polygon: The distance or area of a shape on the ground.
- Circle: The circumference of a circle on the ground.
- 3D path: The distance between a building and places on the ground.
- 3D polygon: The height, width, and area of 3D buildings.
Take and save a measurement
- Open Google Earth Pro.
- Go to a spot on the globe.
- In the menu bar, click Tools Ruler. A new "Ruler" window with options appears.
- In the bottom left, select Mouse Navigation.
- Click the tab for what you want to measure.
- On the map, hover over a spot and click a starting point for your measurement.
- Then, hover over another spot and click an end point.
- The measurement will show up in the "Ruler" window. To save your measurement, click Save.
- In the "Name" field, type a name for your measurement.
- In the bottom right, click OK. Google Earth Pro will add your measurement under "Places" in the left-hand panel.
Add more details when you save a measurement
In the "New Path" or "Edit Path" window, change fields like altitude, color, or style.
Open saved measurements
- Open Google Earth Pro.
- On the left, under "Places," you will find a list of saved measurements. Check the measurement you want to open.
- Double click the name of the measurement. Earth will show your measurement on the map.
- To find measurement details, hover over the shape and right-click.Then, click Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac). The "Edit Path" window will open.
Find a path’s elevation profile
Explore the slope, elevation, and distance along a path.
- Open Google Earth Pro.
- Draw a path or open an existing path.
- Click Edit Show Elevation Profile.
- An elevation profile will appear in the the lower half of the 3D Viewer. If your elevation measurement reads "0," make sure the terrain layer is turned on.
- The Y-axis of the chart displays the elevation, and the X-axis of the chart displays the distance.
- To find the elevation and distance at different points along a path, mouse over the path.
- To find data for a portion of the path, left-click and hold. Then, move the cursor along the path you want to find.
- To change measurement systems on a Windows computer, select Tools Options. Then, under "Units of measurement," choose feet or meters.
- To change measurement systems on a Mac, select Google Earth Preferences. Then, under "Units of measurement," choose feet or meters.