How do I make this my star photo? I can’t figure it out. Thank you

Google Maps tips & tricks
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How do I make this my star photo? I cannot figure it out. Thank you so much.
I’m using an Apple computer and phone. Thanks again.

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Wow great picture @MichelleMaria :waving_hand:
That photo is absolutely stunning! No wonder it has gathered millions of views :heart_eyes:

As far as I know, Google Maps automatically selects a “star photo” based on engagement and relevance, so unfortunately we can’t manually choose it ourselves. However, keeping the photo public, high quality, and well-connected to the place usually helps it stay featured longer.

Hopefully some experienced Local Guides or moderators can also share additional tips for Apple users specifically. Wishing you the best, and happy guiding! :camera_with_flash::sparkles:

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Thank you for the reply. I guess that’s why I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

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We use 2 terms normally. Star photos is the most viewed photo from one Local Guide. Cover photo is the first photo shown under a place.

The photo is already your star photo.

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The problem is that your star photo does currently no belong to a place on Google Maps. Hence is can not be a cover photo also.

I wonder what happened. Maybe the place was removed from Google Maps. But luckily you still have the photo and it’s views credited to you.

13 years ago is a long time.

It is not possible to reassign a photo to a new place without loosing all the views.

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Thank you so much for explaining this to me. Have a great day!

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This not correct @jeffryrisandy. Within Google Maps, the term “Star Photo” does not appear and @MichelleMaria can indeed declare her photo as a “star photo”.

The term is used in Top 100 Local Guides leader boards. You need to register here by logging in with your Google account. Then, under “Date Entry”->“Star Photo” register you photo and add it into the album in Connect. Next month (or after two months?), your photo appears in Top 100 Google Maps Local Guides Star Photos (April, 2026) - #4 by AdamGT .

If you have any questions have a look into Discussion on Local Guides 2026 Star Photos or let me or @AdamGT know.

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Massive view count there @MichelleMaria. This is already your most viewed photo, and therefore your 'Star". But I notice it is marked in your Contribution List as Unknown Place, which usually means the place has been deleted from Google Maps. If you wished to add it to the Top100 Leaderboards program, you’d need to remember the name of the place, as it isn’t possible to read a name from that photo now. Not sure if the system will accept an unnamed photo, though.

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Thanks it was Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. I will try to add it.

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Thanks I will try this :slight_smile:

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Hi @MichelleMaria and welcome to the community.

Firstly, “star photo” is a term I introduced into the Local Guide vernacular to refer to our most viewed photo on Maps (read more about this here). In this way, we all have a star photo and congratulations on yours of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, with 9.3m views it’s amazing.

Secondly, from my reading of your question I believe that you are asking about how to add your photo to the star photo ecosystem of the Leaderboards which both @WilfriedB and @tony_b mention and Wilfried correctly says includes an album of star photos as well as the monthly star photo leaderboards. It has absolutely nothing to do with the “cover photo” of the Place of Interest (POI) on Maps. From this, the steps to add your star photo are as follows:

  1. Add your photo to the album of star photos. Follow the steps mentioned there and use the many star photo examples in the album to guide you.

  2. Add the details on the Top 100 Leaderboard System > Data Entry > Your Stars > Star Photo.

Now as noted by @tony_b, your star photo has been flagged as Unknown Place on Google Maps which usually means the specific business or location was either deleted, merged, or flagged for a policy violation. As a result, your photo was unlinked from its previous spot. I feel that something could be amiss here as Hạ Long Bay exists as a Place of Interest on Maps so it’s unclear why your contributed photo has been tagged as “Unknown place”. I therefore suggest that you firstly follow the above procedure to add your photo onto the star photo ecosystem of the Leaderboards and secondly, as the POI clearly exists on Maps, submit an appeal using this form.

In the meantime, we all look forward to seeing your star photo shinning brightly on the Leaderboards.

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@MichelleMaria
13 years ago. :open_mouth::clap: Huge respect for sticking with it that long and continuing to contribute!

As for the star photo, unfortunately they don’t let us manually pick which photo becomes featured. The system chooses it automatically based on things like views, engagement, and relevance, and sometimes it just changes on its own over time. So the best thing you can do is keep uploading great photos and let the algorithm do its mysterious thing :sweat_smile:.