How to look at past images in Google Maps Street View

Who doesn't love a little nostalgia on their lunch break?

Google Maps Street View is one of the internet's ultimate time-wasters. It's fun to get an eye-level view of a place you've never been, or a place you really want to visit again. But you can also time travel on Google Maps, seeing what your favorite places looked like many years ago.

Here's how to do that.

SEE ALSO: The Google Bard AI chatbot is now available. How to get access.

How to look at past images on Google Maps Street View

In order to dive into the past on Google Maps, you first have to get your bearings in the present. To do that, search for a specific place or address in the search bar. Once you've pinpointed the location you want to see, scroll down to the "Photos" section of the location sidebar and click the little roundabout icon for 360-degree Street View.

Click that to get started. Credit: Screenshot: Google Maps

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Once you're actually in Street View, there should be a small button that says "See more dates" in the upper left corner. Be advised that not every location on the planet has access to these past images.

There's the ticket. Credit: Screenshot: Google Maps

Once you click that, there should be a horizontal scroll bar along the bottom of the screen with images from past dates, whenever available. For example, here's how a random deli in Brooklyn looks today.

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Love this place. Credit: Screenshot: Google Maps

And here's how it looked 15 years ago.

Whoa! Credit: Screenshot: Google Maps

As you can see, things have changed a lot in the last decade and a half. And that's just one tiny street corner in one city!

Is this a vital and necessary use of your time? Probably not. But it's fun for about 20 minutes, and sometimes, that's all you need.