Offline Navigation: What to Save Before Service Disappears
Maps and directions that work without a signal.
Download the maps and routes that matter before you're standing where service disappears.
Save before you need it
Download offline maps for your home area, your commute, and any routes you'd use in an evacuation. Cell coverage gaps are common exactly where evacuations happen — in rural areas, in canyons, and along the roads you'd take to leave a city. A map you saved at home is a map you have when the network is gone.
Most map apps let you download a region for offline use. Do it for a generous area around your home and your workplace, plus the route to your evacuation meeting point. Check the download once a month — offline maps expire and need refreshing to stay current.
A paper backup
A printed map of your area and your routes fits in a glove box and never runs out of battery. Mark your home, your meeting point, your two evacuation routes, and the locations of the people you'd need to reach. A paper map is the backup that works when the phone is dead, the network is down, and the power is out.
Add a compass if you'll be in unfamiliar terrain, and learn the basics of orienting with it. A compass without the skill to use it is just a paperweight. For most households, a printed local map with marked routes is the practical, reliable backup that matters.
Sources & further reading
This guide is planning guidance, not emergency advice. In an emergency, call 911. See a mistake? Report it.
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