Heartwarming hack that let’s you ‘go back in time’ to see your dead loved ones again: How grieving families are using Google Street View trick to see mothers, fathers and grandparents gardening, waiting for a bus or chatting to neighbours

The death of a loved one is always difficult to cope with, but grieving family members have discovered a new way to remember those they have lost: Google Street View.

Shocked Brits have discovered that by changing the date on the tool they can see old versions of the streets where their loved ones lived.

One user found his grandfather ‘waiting forever’ for the bus during his daily library visit, while another saw his father tending the garden.

Susie Yeo, from Manchester, discovered an image of her late father in an old version of Street View when searching for her parents’ home, and said the ‘quirky’ feature is a way of keeping his memory alive.

** Have you seen a deceased relative on Street View? Email: tips@dailymail.com **

One person’s post on

Ms Yeo said she had no idea Google Maps could do this and was overjoyed by the ‘unexpected’ discovery.

She said: ‘I never thought about doing this and didn’t know it shows older images. I googled my parents house and my late father is in his driveway.

“I have hundreds of photos of Dad, this was just a beautiful discovery.”

She said she only heard about the post after seeing the thread on

Ms Yeo said her father Tony was originally from Singapore but moved to northern England in the 1950s where he met his future wife Florence.

She said: ‘I’d googled my parents’ house before but never noticed the ‘see more dates’ feature.

‘Most of us have many photos of family, but it was a particularly joyful and unexpected discovery.

‘I’m a ‘newcomer to grief’ – I had no idea what it might feel like. My father was 89 and I was 56 when we lost him, and I quickly realized that his age/my age/the communal nature of parental loss made no difference to the life-changing grief.

“So to have quirky little events like this are just poignant ways to keep Dad with me.”

A post from @Tadhg, from Scotland, on X sparked hundreds of comments after people realized they could ‘go back in time’ with Google Street View.

The message read: ‘I have been in favor of taking the bus all my life. I find it strangely moving that my grandfather is captured on Google Maps, forever waiting for his daily trip to the library.”

The thread soared in popularity, with people posting photos of loved ones taken via Google Street View.

Comments on the posts said ‘what a beautiful thing to be able to see’ and called it a ‘beautiful moment in history’.

Another user commented: ‘I knew another gardener immortalized by Google Street View. Sometimes I check on him and that warms my heart.”

Street View has captured images of many parents and grandparents tending their gardens

Google Street View started in the United States in 2007 and was rolled out to other countries in the following years.

Since 2014, users can open Street View mode in Maps and click ‘see more dates’ under the address in the top left panel.

Users can click on the different dates on the timeline to view the previous versions of that location. More urban areas will likely see more versions saved, with the Google Maps van taking new photos every two years or so.

Poet Sherri Turner also had no idea about the feature until she posted on X, saying she often looks at her childhood home.

But for those who live in more rural areas, there can be much larger gaps of several years between the photos.

She said: ‘I’m looking at my mum’s old house on Google Maps Street View, the house where I grew up. It says “Image captured in May 2009.”

‘There’s a light on in her bedroom. It’s still her house, she’s still alive, I still visit every few months on the train to Bodmin Parkway.

“I’ll take a screenshot of the house, with the lights on, because it won’t last forever, and one day the Google van will come back down that street and replace her house with someone else’s, even though there might be a light on light in the window it won’t be her.’

But her post received 205,000 likes and 21,000 comments, including many social media users telling her she could always go back and view the image.

X user Patrick Kennedy found a 2012 Google Street View of his late grandfather at his home in Huddersfield, West Yorks, who died in 2017.

He posted the screenshot on social media, calling it a “perfect image.”

Social media user Elisabeth Anderson also posted: ‘Every now and then I look at my mother’s house on Google Street View and the photos were taken when she was alive.

Many grieving users thought they could no longer do this since Street View was updated, but thanks to a feature introduced in 2014, you can turn back the clock

Pictured: A Google street maps car in Bristol in 2009

“It’s comforting to imagine her in her house, busy. The recent one is from 2020, so I’m going back to when she was still around.’

Comedian Howard Walker shared his experience, but said it was bittersweet: “For some reason I was looking at my mom’s house on Google Street View the other day. She only passed away in January, I think I was thinking about her.

‘I drive past it most days because I live so close – I know what her house looks like, but for some reason I then clicked on street view.

‘She’s sitting outside on her bench. It felt like I was punched in the stomach while being hugged. It’s so sad and yet so wonderful. I’m glad they drove by that day.’

Claire Roberts said: ‘In the photo of my childhood home on Google Street View, my father is sitting on the veranda reading his newspaper, as he did every day on a sunny day.

‘He passed away nine years ago. I miss him every day, but the photo makes me think he’s still there.’

Social media users posted to X about finding their loved ones on Street View

Software engineer Paige said, “Google had my grandma come out of the driveway to pick up the mail in her nightgown. She’s been gone almost four years.’

Many grieving relatives were unaware of the ability to view older versions, with Jacqueline Trice saying: ‘My mother crossed the road there.

“She passed away, and I looked at it often. They’ve been updated and it’s like I’ve lost her all over again.’

Another user replied: ‘The same thing happened to my grandpa. Unfortunately, Google Maps updated it and we can no longer see it.”

Other people who saw the message took to the Internet to try to find their own loved ones.

One user said: ‘This is beautiful. My mom is on Google Maps walking home from church.

‘She was already lost to this world due to Alzheimer’s disease, but Google Maps captured a moment in time. It was wonderful to see her.’

Another added: “My grandmother passed away three years ago. She’s still in her favorite spot, sitting on the porch on Google Maps Street View. It’s surreal to see.’

** Have you seen a deceased relative on Street View? Email: tips@dailymail.com **