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Agent Meister - Geek Squad talked to Bill about A straightforward privacy request to Google can remove your home from Street View entirely - How to blur your home on Google Maps
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Google Street View has been photographing residential streets for nearly two decades, and the images it captures have gotten progressively more detailed over time. An address typed into Google Maps today can surface a high-resolution view of a home’s exterior that shows the front door, the vehicles parked outside, the layout of the yard and enough architectural detail to answer questions most homeowners probably don’t want strangers asking.
The good news is that you don’t have to just accept this exposure as a fact of life. You can actually force Google to censor your home, permanently blurring it out to protect your privacy from prying eyes. Google built this mechanism for removing that imagery through a blur request, but it’s located far enough from the obvious interface that most people have never found it.
How to blur your home on Google Maps
You’ll need to do this on your computer since the blurring feature isn’t available in the Google Maps application on iOS or Android. It is accessible through the web browser on your mobile device, but it’s rather difficult to use, so your best option is a trusted web browser on your Mac or PC.
At maps.google.com, enter your home address in the search bar at the top-right, hit return, then click the photo of your home that appears.
Next, you’ll see the Street View of your location. Click Report a Problem at the bottom-right. The text is super tiny, but it’s there.
Now, it’s up to you to choose what you want Google to blur. Using your mouse, adjust the view of the image so that your home and anything else you want to blur are all contained within the red and black box. Use your cursor to move around and the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out, respectively.
Once you’re finished adjusting the image, choose what you’re requesting to blur underneath:
- A face
- Your home
- Car/license plate
- A different object
You’ll be asked to provide a bit more detail about what you want blurred in case the image is busy wiGoogle Street View has been photographing residential streets for nearly two decades, and the images it captures have gotten progressively more detailed over time. An address typed into Google Maps today can surface a high-resolution view of a home’s exterior that shows the front door, the vehicles parked outside, the layout of the yard and enough architectural detail to answer questions most homeowners probably don’t want strangers asking.
Screenshot 2026-08-31 225040.png
The good news is that you don’t have to just accept this exposure as a fact of life. You can actually force Google to censor your home, permanently blurring it out to protect your privacy from prying eyes. Google built this mechanism for removing that imagery through a blur request, but it’s located far enough from the obvious interface that most people have never found it.
How to blur your home on Google Maps
You’ll need to do this on your computer since the blurring feature isn’t available in the Google Maps application on iOS or Android. It is accessible through the web browser on your mobile device, but it’s rather difficult to use, so your best option is a trusted web browser on your Mac or PC.
At maps.google.com, enter your home address in the search bar at the top-right, hit return, then click the photo of your home that appears.
image.png
Next, you’ll see the Street View of your location. Click Report a Problem at the bottom-right. The text is super tiny, but it’s there.
image.png
Now, it’s up to you to choose what you want Google to blur. Using your mouse, adjust the view of the image so that your home and anything else you want to blur are all contained within the red and black box. Use your cursor to move around and the plus and minus buttons to zoom in and out, respectively.
image.png
Once you’re finished adjusting the image, choose what you’re requesting to blur underneath:
A face
Your home
Car/license plate
A different object
You’ll be asked to provide a bit more detail about what you want blurred in case the image is busy with cars, people and other objects.
Also, be completely sure that what you select is exactly what you want blurred. Google cautions that once you blur something on Street View, it’s blurred permanently.
Finally, enter your email (this is required), verify the captcha (if needed), and click Submit.th cars, people and other objects.
Also, be completely sure that what you select is exactly what you want blurred. Google cautions that once you blur something on Street View, it’s blurred permanently.
Finally, enter your email (this is required), verify the captcha (if needed), and click Submit.