Garmin Exploreโ„ข

5.8K reviews
Content rating
Everyone
10L+
Downloads
Content rating
Everyone
Users interact, Shares location
Learn more
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About this app

PAIR, SYNC AND SHARE
With Garmin Explore, you can pair your smartphone or tablet1 with your compatible Garmin device2 to sync and share data for off-grid adventures. Use downloadable maps for navigation anywhere.
โ€ข Garmin Explore needs SMS permission to allow you to receive and send SMS text messages from your Garmin devices. We also need call log permission to display incoming calls on your devices.
โ€ข Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.


OFF-GRID NAVIGATION
When paired with your compatible Garmin device2, the Garmin Explore app lets you use your mobile device for outdoor navigation, trip planning, mapping, and more โ€” with or without Wi-Fiยฎ connectivity or cellular service.


SEARCH TOOL
Easily locate geographic points โ€” such as trailheads or mountain summits โ€” associated with your adventure.


STREAMING MAPS
For pre-trip planning, you can use the Garmin Explore app to stream maps when youโ€™re within cellular or Wi-Fi range โ€” saving valuable time as well as storage space on your mobile device. Download maps for offline use when venturing outside cellular range.


EASY TRIP PLANNING
Plan your next trip by downloading maps and creating courses. Specify your start and finish points, and automatically create a course you can sync with your compatible Garmin device2.


ACTIVITY LIBRARY
Under the Saved tab, review and edit your organized data, including your saved waypoints, tracks, courses, and activities. See map thumbnails to easily recognize your trips.


SAVED COLLECTIONS
The collections list allows you to quickly find all data related to any trip โ€” making it easy to sort and locate the course or location youโ€™re looking for.


CLOUD STORAGE
The waypoints, courses, and activities youโ€™ve created will automatically sync to your Garmin Explore web account when youโ€™re within cellular or Wi-Fi range, preserving your activity data with cloud storage. A Garmin account is required for storing your data in the cloud.


LIVETRACKโ„ข
With the use of the LiveTrackโ„ข feature, loved ones can follow your location in real time3 and see data such as distance, time and elevation.


What You Get with Garmin Explore
โ€ข Unlimited map downloads; access topographic maps, USGS quad sheets, and more
โ€ข Aerial imagery
โ€ข Waypoints, tracking and route navigation
โ€ข High-detail GPS trip logging and location sharing
โ€ข Unlimited cloud storage of routes, waypoints, tracks, and activities
โ€ข Online trip planning


1 See compatible devices at Garmin.com/BLE
2 See a full list of compatible devices at explore.garmin.com/appcompatibility
3 When used with your compatible smartphone, the Garmin Exploreยฎ app and when used with your compatible inReach-enabled Garmin device.

The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Garmin is under license.
A complete mobile trip planning solution for compatible Garmin devices
Updated on
5 Nov 2026

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
  • This app may share these data types with third parties
    App activity and App info and performance
  • This app may collect these data types
    Personal info
  • Data is encrypted in transit
  • You can request that data be deleted

Ratings and reviews

5.58K reviews
Felix Juez III
21 April 2026
I purchased the inreach mini2 hoping to use it with offline maps and emergencies, but I can't figure out how to do anything on this app at all, everything with Garmin has been incredibly difficult including the sign up process, pairing the device, and using the apps. Nothing is simple or user-friendly. I'm not sure I can count on this device for an emergency. As of now, this will be my 1st and last Garmin product. Expensive disappointment.
30 people found this review helpful
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Jeremy P.
18 August 2026
It's really nice when you're trying to access your offline maps and you get a login prompt. I don't think they really thought that through. Even when you are able to use the app offline, it's a pain trying to actually find your offline maps. Takes like four clicks and it's not intuitive.
9 people found this review helpful
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Nick Daleo
22 May 2020
Phone app is difficult to create waypoints or routes on. The web page is amazing! The the only other issue that I have is that when you sync your collections from the app to your watch, it doesn't group the waypoints in their respective collections. For example, have a collection labeled "hunting" that has various waypoints. But when I sync it to my fenix 6x, it puts all those waypoints with other random saved locations in my watch. I'd like them to be grouped like they are on the app.
66 people found this review helpful
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What's new

๐Ÿ”€ Switch between activity points and lines on the map.
๐Ÿ”Ž Filter activities on the map by date and activity type.
๐ŸŽฏ Keep your map clear with activity point clusters. Zoom in for individual activities.
โžก๏ธ See which way activities and courses go with directional chevrons.
โœ๏ธ Adjust the boundary shape when creating an offline map
๐Ÿ‘๏ธ Show or hide offline map boundaries on the main map from Map Settings.
๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ Offline maps now appear in the map picker for quick access.