Google Earth is currently available in a few different versions. There is the web browser version that was built for use in Chrome and Chromebooks. There is an iOS version and an Android version for use on tablets and phones. And then there is the original version made for use as desktop software on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. That version is now known as Google Earth Pro. Despite the “Pro” label, the software is free to install on your computer.

Google Earth Pro has more features than any of the other versions of Google Earth. If you haven’t tried Google Earth Pro and you have a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer, here are five things you should know that you and your students can do with it.

Create Narrated, Guided Tours
Google Earth Pro makes it easy to create a narrated tour of a set of placemarks, a region, or the whole world. The recording tools are built right into the software. Watch my video to learn how you can create a narrated Google Earth tour.

Create a Tour of the Moon or Mars

Not only can you create a tour of Earth in Google Earth, you can also create a tour of the moon and a tour of Mars. Watch the following video to see how to do that.

Find Google Earth Tours Through Google Search

Google Earth Pro has a lot of content available within it as soon as you install it and open it. But you can find even more great Google Earth content by conducting a Google search that you file according to file types .KML and .KMZ. That process is outlined in the following video.

Find Historical Imagery in Google Earth
Google Earth Pro has a timeslider that lets you view historical satellite imagery and some historical photographs. That process is outlined in the video below. You can also find historical maps in Google Earth Pro by opening the Rumsey Historical Maps collection in the Layers section of Google Earth Pro.

Make Google Earth Pro Load Faster
One of the common complaints about Google Earth Pro is that it can take a long time to load and or can make a computer run slowly. There is a simple solution to that problem. The solution is to turn off any layers that you aren’t currently using. There is a handful of layers that are on by default in the standard installation of Google Earth Pro. You can turn those off by simply unchecking them in the Layers menu. See the screenshot below for a visual.

Click to view in full size.