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How to Upload 360 Photos to Google Maps and Street View in 2026
Google's Street View app is gone, so how do you get 360° photos onto Google Maps now? Here are the three ways that still work, what Google allows, and how to publish a connected tour of a business from your phone.
For years, Google's free Street View app was the easy way to put 360° photos on Google Maps and link them into a walk-through. Google shut it down in 2023, as 9to5Google reported when it was announced, and a lot of the guides you'll find still tell you to use it.
So here's what works now: the three ways to get 360° photos onto Google Maps, what Google lets you publish, and how to put a connected tour of a business on Street View from your phone.
Full disclosure: I'm the founder of Clear Pano, which is one of the apps in option 3. Google changes its tools often: everything here was checked on 11 November 2026.
Three ways to publish 360 photos to Google
| What it does | Best for | |
|---|---|---|
| The Google Maps app | Adds 360° photos to a place's photos | A photo or two of a business |
| Street View Studio | Turns 360° videos of outdoor routes into Street View | Streets, paths and outdoor trails |
| An app that uses Google's Street View Publish API, like Clear Pano | Publishes a set of photos with where each was taken, which way it faces and the links between them | A walk-through tour inside a business |
What you can and can't put on Google Maps
Before you upload anything, know Google's rules. They decide what you can sell, too.
- Businesses, yes. Homes, no. Google's help page on adding photos says you can add photos of places of interest, like businesses and parks, but not private residences or plain addresses. Its content policy says photos taken inside private homes must never be published.
- Other private places need the owner's consent. The same policy says photos of other private locations shouldn't be published without it. Get the owner's OK before you shoot.
- Your name goes with your photos. Google says that when you post, others can see the name on your profile and the other photos and reviews you've added. Publish from a Google account in your business name, not your personal one.
- Keep people out of the shot. Google's Street View policy says it blurs faces and number plates in its own imagery. Don't count on that for your photos: shoot when the space is empty, or take people out afterwards.
Option 1: the Google Maps app
For a single 360° photo of a business, the Google Maps app is the simplest way. Open the place in the app, go to its photos and add your 360° photo from your phone. The exact buttons move between versions of the app, so look for adding a photo to the place.
Photos added this way sit with the place's other photos. As far as I can find, the app gives you no way to set exactly which way each one faces or to link them into a walk-through with arrows. For that, use option 3.
Option 2: Street View Studio for outdoor 360 videos
Street View Studio is Google's website for turning 360° video into Street View. Its help page says you upload an .mp4 or .mov 360° video, only outdoor videos can be converted, and processing can take several days.
It's built for routes: a street, a park path or a campus walk. It isn't the tool for a tour inside a café or a hotel.
Option 3: publish a connected tour from your phone
To publish a tour of a business, with photos that link to each other, use an app that publishes through Google's Street View Publish API. Google says it lets apps upload 360° photos with each photo's position, its direction and its connections to the others.
Clear Pano does this on any paid plan. Once you've built the tour, linked the rooms with hotspots and removed the tripod:
- Open Street View mode from the toolbar and connect your Google account.
- Drop a pin on the satellite map where each photo was taken. Zoom all the way in to be accurate.
- Set which way each photo faces. Turn the photo until the beam on the map points at whatever is under the blue line, like the front door.
- Publish to Street View from the Share Tour screen, and keep the app open until it finishes. Strong Wi-Fi helps.
A few things happen for you:
- The hotspots become the arrows. The hotspots you used to link rooms in the tour become the walk-arrows between photos on Street View.
- Floors carry over. If your tour has floors, viewers get the same floor selector on Google Maps.
- Photos are linked to the business. Pick the property's address from the search when you set up the tour, and Clear Pano links the Street View photos to that business on Google Maps.
- Photos are checked first. Clear Pano checks every photo is a 2:1 panorama of at least 4096 × 2048 pixels before it publishes, and tells you which ones aren't.
You can update or remove the photos from Clear Pano later. They live on Google under your Google account, so they stay on Google Maps even if you stop paying for Clear Pano.
How long until your photos show up
Your photos appear in your Google Maps contributions straight away. To see them, open the Google Maps app, tap Contribute, then See contributions. On the map itself, and with the arrows that link them, it usually takes from two days to a week, and sometimes longer, depending on how much Google is processing.
Turn it into a service
Businesses pay to be on Street View, and now you know how to put them there. Our virtual tour pricing guide covers what to charge, and how to get your first virtual tour client shows how to find businesses on Google Maps that don't have 360° photos yet. For more on selling Street View tours, download the free Google Street View playbook.
The verdict
The Street View app is gone, but you can still put 360° photos on Google Maps. Add a single photo with the Google Maps app, turn outdoor 360° video into Street View with Street View Studio, or publish a connected tour of a business from your phone with an app like Clear Pano. Keep to businesses, never inside private homes, and get the owner's OK before you shoot.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Google Street View app still available?
No. Google discontinued the standalone Street View app in 2023. You can still add 360° photos with the Google Maps app, upload outdoor 360° videos to Street View Studio, or use an app that publishes through Google's Street View Publish API.
How do I connect 360 photos on Google Street View?
Use an app that publishes through Google's Street View Publish API, which can set each photo's position, direction and connections. In Clear Pano, the hotspots that link the rooms in your tour become the arrows between photos on Street View.
Can I put a house for sale on Google Street View?
No. Google's content policy says photos taken inside private homes must never be published. Share the tour link on the listing instead.
How long does it take for 360 photos to appear on Google Maps?
They appear in your contributions straight away. On the map, with the arrows between them, it usually takes from two days to a week, and sometimes longer.
What size should 360 photos be for Street View?
They should be full 360° panoramas with a 2:1 shape. Clear Pano asks for at least 4096 × 2048 pixels before it publishes a photo to Street View.
Do I need to be a Google Trusted Photographer to publish?
No. Google's Street View page for businesses says a business can publish 360° photos itself or with help from a professional.
