We’ve all been there: you park your car on some random street or in a nondescript garage and go about your business. Then, an hour or two later, you find yourself wandering around without the foggiest recollection of where you left your vehicle.

Don’t let yourself get lost again. Your smartphone can help you find your parking spot — or any other location, for that matter. All you need is the mapping app you’re probably already using for navigation.

Open up Google Maps on your iOS or Android device, and get ready to find your way to smarter location saving.

On the iPhone

Saving your parking location is actually quite simple in Google Maps on iOS, though the associated options are somewhat limited compared to Android.

To start:

• Tap the blue dot on the map, which represents your current location
• Select “Set as parking location” from the menu that appears
• If you want to send someone else a link to the location, look for the “Share” button within the “Saved parking” bar at the bottom of the Maps interface. (If you don’t see the bar, tap once anywhere on the screen to make it appear.)

When you’re ready to find your spot:

• Tap the “Directions” button in the “Saved parking” bar to have Maps show you step-by-step directions back to your spot, or tap the “Start” button in that same area to begin guided navigation
• Tap the “Clear” button to remove the saved location, or tap the “Share” button to send someone else a link to the location

Maps can also provide notifications when you’ve saved a parking spot. To activate them:

• Tap the three-line menu icon in the app’s upper-right corner
• Tap the gear-shaped settings icon, and scroll down until you see “Notifications”
• Select that and then make sure the toggle for “Saved parking locations” is on. (You may be prompted to authorize the app to provide notifications first.)

On an Android device

The process for saving a parking location in Google Maps on Android is similar to that for iOS but with some handy extra features sprinkled in along the way.

To start:

• Tap the blue dot on the map, which represents your current location
• Select “Save your parking” on the screen that appears
• If you want to send someone else a link to the location, tap the “Share” command within the “Parking location” bar at the bottom of the Maps interface

Now, if you want to add more details:

• Tap or swipe upward on the “Parking location” bar at the bottom of the Maps interface
• Tap the “Enter notes” line to store info like a spot number in a garage or a nearby business on a street
• Tap the box beneath “Add photos” to snap a quick image that’ll help you find your vehicle later
• Tap the “Time left” line to set a specific time at which your parking will expire. That’ll place a countdown into the persistent Maps notification on your phone (so you can just tap on it to find your car).

When you’re ready to find your spot:

• Look for the “Parking location” bar at the bottom of the Maps interface, or swipe down from the top of your screen and look for the “Parking location” notification
• Tap the “Directions” button, then swipe upward on the bar at the bottom of the screen to see step-by-step directions, or tap the “Start” button to begin guided navigation
• Tap the “Clear” button to remove the saved location

Note that, in the case of Android, you will get a persistent notification for your parked car automatically. You can swipe the notification away like any other Android notification to dismiss it. If you’d rather not receive those notifications at all, you can disable them entirely:

• Go to your Maps settings (from the upper left-hand three-line menu icon)
• Click on “Notifications” and then “People and places”
• Look for the “Saved parking” entry and toggle it off

Be aware that Maps allows you to save only one parking location at a time, so if you try to save a second location while one is already being stored, that new location will overwrite your original one.

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