Why aren't my maps downloading?

If you’re having trouble downloading maps, there could be a few reasons. Follow these steps to troubleshoot the most common issues.

Note for Apple devices: you need to leave the app open on the screen (in the foreground) and leave your screen on for the map to download.  Don't switch to another app or let your screen turn off, or it will pause the download.  To stop your screen from turning off, open iOS Settings > Display and Brightness > Auto-lock > set to Never.  To resume a paused download, see Pause/Resume Map Downloads on iOS.

1) Verify you're logged in to the app with an active membership

Downloading maps requires an active membership. Some maps are only available with a Premium membership.

You can check your membership status by following these steps:

• Open Gaia GPS > Settings > your email will be listed under "Account".
• If not, tap Account > Log In > Have an account? Sign in.

You should see your membership listed under "Subscription".

If you purchased a membership but it is not showing up in the app, try restoring your purchase.

2) Verify you're connected to the internet

Verify that your device has a strong WiFi or cellular data connection and it is not in airplane mode.

If you recently used airplane mode, you may need to close and reopen the app in order for it to recognize your network connection.

3) Verify that you are not using a map source that is no longer supported

Some map sources are no longer supported by Gaia GPS. This could be because the map provider no longer allows third-party apps to download their map tiles, like Google Maps, or because we’ve swapped over to our in-house sources instead, such as MapBox Streets and MapBox Outdoors.

If you have trouble with map downloads using these sources, try these alternatives:

• Mapbox Streets → Gaia Streets
• Mapbox Outdoors → Gaia Topo
• Imagery + Roads → Satellite with Labels

4) Verify that the selected map source has coverage for the area you're downloading

If you see an “Unable to Download Area” error message, it is because the map source that you have selected does not have coverage for the area that you want to download. For example, if you have are trying to download a map of Death Valley in California but your active map source is SwissTopo, you won’t be able to download this map. The SwissTopo map source doesn’t have coverage in the United States.

Other map sources with limited coverage include NatGeo Trails Illustrated, NPS Visitor, Historic Topo, USFS 2016, USFS Classic.

Gaia Topo (feet or meters) has worldwide coverage so we recommend it for downloading maps anywhere on the planet.

5) Verify that the map can be downloaded

If you see a “Nothing Selected” error message, it is because you are trying to download a map layer that isn’t available for offline download. Many of the sources that cannot be downloaded are overlays that display current conditions like: Air Quality, Precip Forecast, Snow Forecast, & Wildfires.

All of these maps require a data connection to stay current. As the data refreshes often, these map layers aren’t available for offline download. However, viewing the layer while online will cache that data, leaving it temporarily available to view while offline.

6) Make sure you haven't reached the tile limit

Some maps such as World Shaded Relief have a 10,000 tile limit per download. Learn more here: Individual Offline Map Tile Limits

If you think you are encountering this tile limit, please try to create a smaller download and try again.

MapBox sources like Satellite and Satellite with Labels have a total tile limit of 160,000 per user. 

If you think you have exceeded the 160,000 tile limit you can archive maps that you no longer use to get under the limit.

• Follow these steps: Archiving, Unarchiving, and Recovering Lost Data.
• Note: archiving will remove the maps from your device but will save them to your web account so you can sync them later.
• If you tap your Saved folder and then tap on a map name, it will display the number of tiles for that map. This can help you figure out how much to archive.