Google Maps fans are just realising they can travel back in time

GOOGLE Maps can help users travel back in time – as far as a decade – so users can see what places like Times Square or even their childhood home used to look like.

You’ll need a PC for this trick.

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Open up Street View, and users should see the date of when the current image was taken in the top left hand corner.

To the right of the date, there is an option to see the latest date.

If you click this, user will be able to see that area or property over time.

Some places will only back back a few years, but it’s interesting to see how streets evolve annually.

The time options given signal the amount of times a Google Maps vehicle has driven through the area to photograph it.

You can watch once derelict streets become bustling with life over the space of a year or 10, and vice versa.

Places like Times Square in New York has over a dozen examples, while more rural areas may have only been visited once.

Google Maps users can see the popular brands fronting Times Square’s biggest department stores shift, alongside the style of cars and fashion tastes of passing people.

But those looking for a childhood home will see different things change.

This includes paintwork, trees and shrubbery, alongside the addition of new building work and car out front.

In the more extreme cases, users might see old homes knocked down to build a-new or fall into disrepair over the years.

If you’re looking for a place you once lived, simply type your address into Google Maps and follow the instructions above.

But it should be noted that if the home is in a particularly rural area, that there might not be too many timeframes to choose from.

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