Google Maps is a very great online map. One of the feature I like is the ability to “save” a location by putting a small yellow star mark on the location. With these marks, I can prepare my journey using desktop computer, then quickly see those locations in my iPhone while I’m on the go.
Few days ago I came across an unexpected problem. I tried to delete some of those “starred” locations. Some them can be deleted easily, but some of them can’t be deleted. What’s wrong?
Turns out, Google Maps put those stars based on various methods. We can put them based on address, based on location name, or based on GPS coordinates. From my experience, starred locations that I previously saved using GPS coordinates can’t be easily removed simply by un-star them. Since when I click on those locations in Google Maps, they appear as not-starred (but the star still appears there because it’s GPS coordinate). How can I un-star something that is not currently starred?
After some searching, I found this nice page called Google Bookmarks. The URL is http://www.google.com/bookmarks/
Every star we make in Google Maps is considered as a bookmark and will be shown there. All we need to do is removing the bookmarks of locations we want to un-star. That’s it. Nice and easy. Hopefully this will be useful for you.
Open the location.
Second in the row of icons at top of the title bar is ‘saved’.
It’s yellow.
Click on saved.
Fourth line of pull-down says ‘saved in starred place’ with a little tick.
Click on it and the star will be removed!
There is a way but it is not very easy to describe. This is for your computer rather than a mobile device. Log in to Google maps. Click the starred or favorited location you want to remove. On the left you should see details about the location and working like “Saved in Favorites” with a little down arrow icon. Click the down arrow icon. You should see a clickable item labelled “View List”. To the right of Favorites you should see three dots vertically aligned. Click that and there will be an “Edit List” option. Click “Edit List”. You should have a list of your favorites and to the right of each will be an icon of an X with a dark circle around it that will let you remove the item.
This post is more than 10 years old. Now there are indeed some easier ways. Back when this post was written, this was the only way known to me.
DEC 2021 – “BOOKMARKS” …. is no longer supported and you can NOT delete a STAR on the Bookmarks List. I have sent Feedback to Google six times asking for a fix on the unwanted “starred locations” problem but with NO results. ….. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO DELETE A STAR ON GOOGLE MAPS THAT IS NOT ON MY STARRED LOCATIONS LIST AND IS NOT WANTED ???
Thank you so much for this link and the endless patience you had in tracking it down. My filial allegiance to Google is waning fast!!
2019 and still a problem! I was going bonkers. This worked a charm. Don’t sweat the small stuff … it’s the small stuff like this that drives folks crazy. Why Google can’t provide a link to the bookmarks page is beyond all reason. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I have 2 gold starred pins on Google Maps that will not go away. I went to the location you posted, but it says I have no bookmarks. The 2 pins are there and cannot be removed via any way I’ve found. I suppose I’ll just have to live with them.
I know this is quite late for a reply, but if you added them on your phone, try removing them there, it worked for me :)
Its really weird but there is one starred item which i cant find in google bookmarks and i cant unstar them on pc. But on phone it isnt there at all. I tried refreshing desktop browser but it didnt help. Its still there. Any idea?
Thank you very much for posting this link, that problem has been driving me nuts and google’s info to correct it does not work at all. Thanks again Robert!
Thank you Robert for sharing this link!
I have been dealing with the same issue for quite a while, and have discovered that some items starred using my phone can’t be unstarred using the desktop browser, you have to go back to the Android App and remove them there.
Robert, you should run for president!! Thank you!
Genius !!!!!! Thank you Robert
God bless you!!! Great contribution to society Thanks for info
I’m so grateful you posted this. I’ll never understand what can be on the Google developers alleged minds to make things like this so difficult. Now if I can just get rid of all the crap Google circles has caused to my contacts.
Thank you ! Goddam Google and their do-no-evil philosophy – the dev who implemented this inability to remove without being a pain-in-the-ass needs to be shot.
Just what I needed to find! Thanks!!
Thank you so much
You are the best! I’ve battled with this (and lost) for over two years! Thank you!
Wow, fantastic! I wasted so many hours over several days trying to figure it out. Thanks Robert.
Read your solution with great anticipation but… even though I deleted the star in bookmarks, the star in maps would not go away! I tried reloading the pages, restarting the browser, etc. no joy.
You are a Jedi!!, removing saved places from the phone is a pain in the ass!!!
You’re a genius!
Thank you! Thanks you! Thank you! I have been trying to get rid of some for YEARS!!!
This method does not work for me. I have looked at the Bookmarks page, which does have my bookmarks on it but there are NO starred locations, none.
Thank you for the info! Needed to get rid of a couple of starred locations.
agree. worked instantly. valuable info, and much appreciated!
Incredible. Thank you so much for this. I was trying to remove a starred location that was somehow displayed two streets over, and Google wouldn’t let me do it through maps.google.com or through the Maps app (“failed to save place” even though the place was already saved). This, however, worked! I had no idea that page even existed!
Thanks a lot. Exactly what I needed. (And thanks to google, who helped me find this post of yours!)
Thank you so much for this tip! This was really bothering my OCD…lol.
Thankyou.
Wow, cool. Been wondering how to do this for months. Thanks for the tip. Worked great
Yup yup, thank you very much! Worked like a charm.
thanks man the unremoved star was really annoying!!!
Thank you!
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks a bunch, Robert! I have been collecting useless stars for years!
Thank you! I moved to another state and couldn’t get rid of old saved locations for almost 2 years. Awesome they’re gone!
Thank you!!!!!!
That star has been bugging me for YEARS.
You have earned a special place in heaven for this!! THANK YOU!!
THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH.
normally I don’t really comment on anything, but this is a life saver….
I couldn’t remove my ex’s pins and she bloody pinned literally anything.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you
Thank you! This was driving me crazy, as every time I opened up Google Maps it took me to a place I no longer needed to go to.
Thanks for saving me some time!
Extremely helpful! I would never have figured that one out on my own. Thank you!
Thank you! This was driving me nuts and I found this post through a google search. Worked perfectly.
Thank you so much!
U da man
Thank you very much! Google Maps should display this most useful information somewhere.
Robert,
How can I star or save a location from my windows goggle map location, so it will sync with my phone?
Really helpful.
Awesome, worked perfectly, thank you very much!
Thanks for the tip! That annoying star I had left was driving me crazy. It’s gone!
You’re a star! I was getting so frustrated… Thanks!
Thank you so much.
Thank you! I’d given up on finding a solution.
Man i want to hug your neck!!!! Thank youuuuuu
Thanks man. Google… Fix this!
two years passed and google still hasnt fixed that. thankfully you saved us all!
Thank you!!! Now maybe my hair will grow back…
You, sir, are my hero!! Worked like a charm.
Awesome finally I can delete all those Starr! thank you very much
Genius!!
Awesome sauce! Thank You!!
Brilliant. Thank you!!!
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you
Awesome!! You are a STAR!! Thanks a lot for this!
Thanks for this. However, for me, I have no bookmarks but one stupid annoying star that I cannot rid myself of. It seems the location has moved in Google maps to reflect exactly where the building is, not but the road as it was previously marked (i searched by address originally). So I can highlight the star, but then Maps doesn’t think it’s starred as the address is now slightly different. Nor can I un-star it or find it in bookmarks. Any thoughts? FYI, I starred it in Google Maps app on the Iphone 4s, but I can also see it on my desktop Google Maps account.
Robert: Can’t tell you how appreciative I am for your blog. It made my day.
I’ve been looking for a way to remove those stars and it drove me crazy every time I wanted to put in a new direction.
Great job!
Thanks I was looking forever on how to do this
thanks a lot its really helpfull
Thanks a lot…I was trying to figure it out since long time….
Thank you so much! I couldn’t figure out how to do this and it was annoying me to no end!
It worked thank you!!!
Thank you so much! Solved an annoyance that has been bugging me for a year!
Thank you!
Thanks. It solved my problem. Good job.
Thanks a lot, your article have helped me a lot, because I have too many save locations, and I can delet all once with the method provided!
Thankyou!
Thanks, but this is anything but ‘nice and easy’,- why can’t Google write software that is user friendly.
The old maps for Android was much better.
Thanks a lot Robert! This was very useful. Keep up the good work.
good find on the bookmarks page! thanks
Thanks a lot, I was going to delete my account just for those annoying stars. Google sure knows to hide or delete any useful options of their services.
Excellent post!!!! God that was so annoying. Had stars that did not want to leave!!
Anyone tried using the quoted link
( http://www.google.com/bookmarks/ )
to Delete or Edit a bookmark name ?
Delete works but if I edit the name then, although it is changed there,
when I go to My Places the old, original name is still shown.
Thank you very much. I had problem with removing these stars for a long time.
Mercy buckets.
Thanks for the help! Worked perfectly!
You can also
1) open Maps in Android
2) click the star you want to remove
3) swipe up the infopanel at the bottom
4) unstar it
and you’re done.
If it works for all stars, I would not even bother to write this post in the first place. I wrote it because not all of them can be deleted.
Your steps only work when the star is associated with an address or a location name. When an address is associated with exact GPS coordinate, it needs the URL above to remove.
Just click on the link included in the article. . It will take you where you need to go
Thank You
AWESOME solution, thanks for posting
Love it!! You rock!!!
Wow, thank you.
You are a gem! So hard to find how to delete saved places and yet, so easy to do it once you know how, thanks to you.
Finally I got rid of the stars. Very helpful post, thank you.
Thanks a ton! those annoying stars are finally off my map!
I have a starred item that has been driving me crazy for months, because I CANNOT REMOVE IT ! I looked in the Google Chrome Bookmarks Manager, and I cannot find it. Any help ? Thanks
Thank you soooooo much! Was driving me crazy not being able to remove those stars!
I blog frequently and I really thank you for your content.
The article has really peaked my interest. I will book mark
your blog and keep checking for new information about once
a week. I opted in for your RSS feed too.