Measure distance & elevation

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

  1. Open Google Earth Pro.
  2. Go to a spot on the globe.
  3. In the menu bar, click Tools and then Ruler. A new "Ruler" window with options appears.
  4. In the bottom left, select Mouse Navigation.
  5. Click the tab for what you want to measure.
  6. On the map, hover over a spot and click a starting point for your measurement.
  7. Then, hover over another spot and click an end point.
  8. The measurement will show up in the "Ruler" window. To save your measurement, click Save.
  9. In the "Name" field, type a name for your measurement.
  10. 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

  1. Open Google Earth Pro.
  2. On the left, under "Places," you will see a list of saved measurements. Check the measurement you want to open.
  3. Double click the name of the measurement. Earth will show your measurement on the map.
  4. To see measurement details, hover over the shape and right-click.Then, click Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac). The "Edit Path" window will open.

View a path's elevation profile

Explore the slope, elevation, and distance along a path.

  1. Open Google Earth Pro.
  2. Draw a path or open an existing path.
  3. Click Edit and then Show Elevation Profile.
  4. 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 see the elevation and distance at different points along a path, mouse over the path.
    • To see data for a portion of the path, left-click and hold. Then, move the cursor along the path you want to see.
    • To change measurement systems on a Windows computer, select Tools and then Options . Then, under "Units of measurement," choose feet or meters.
    • To change measurement systems on a Mac, select Google Earth and then Preferences. Then, under "Units of measurement," choose feet or meters.

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