The Easiest Way to Avoid Tolls & Highways in Apple Maps

* This article is from our Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

Did you know you can avoid tolls in Apple Maps? What about highways? You can change a simple setting so that Apple Maps will always prioritize routes that do not contain toll roads or highways. You can still select a toll road or highway, but Apple Maps gives you the option to avoid them before suggesting you take a toll-road-ridden route. Here’s how to avoid tolls and highways on Apple Maps!

Why You'll Love This Tip:

  • Save money by avoiding toll roads in Apple Maps.
  • Easily determine whether or not a toll road will be faster.

How to Avoid Tolls & Highways in Apple Maps

System Requirements

This tip works on iPhones running iOS 10 or later. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.

When these features are enabled, Apple Maps will avoid toll roads and/or highways whenever possible and convenient. This way, when you search for a destination, Apple Maps will offer several routes showing distance and estimated driving time. So if avoiding highways creates a much longer route, you can see this and decide whether or not you want to take the highway. For more Apple Maps tips and tricks, but sure to check out our free Tip of the Day newsletter. Now, to get driving directions without toll roads or highways in Apple Maps:

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  1. From your Home screen, open the Settings app.

    iphone home screen with a red box around the settings app
  2. Tap the Maps app.

    iphone settings app with a red box around maps
  3. Swipe down to the Directions section and tap Driving.

    iphone maps settings with a red box around driving option
  4. To avoid toll roads, tap the Tolls toggle to enable the feature. To avoid highways, tap the Highways toggle to enable the feature. (Toggles are green and to the right when enabled.)

    iphone maps settings with a red box around tolls and highways toggle

That's how to avoid tolls in Apple Maps, as well as highways. If preferred, you can also enable the avoid tolls and highways toggles on a case-by-case basis. To do so, simply type in a destination, and scroll down to the bottom of the list of routes. From there, you can tap the Avoid Tolls and Avoid Highways toggles to customize suggested routes to your destination. In general, I like to keep the avoid tolls feature enabled. This is especially useful when I’m planning road trips, as I like being able to compare routes with and without toll roads. Sometimes taking toll roads can save me a few hours, in which case, I consider it worth the few extra bucks. Other times, taking toll roads may only save a few minutes, and I prefer to avoid them altogether. You can also avoid tolls in Google Maps.

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Author Details

Conner Carey's picture

Author Details

Conner Carey

Conner Carey's writing can be found at conpoet.com. She is currently writing a book, creating lots of content, and writing poetry via @conpoet on Instagram. She lives in an RV full-time with her mom, Jan and dog, Jodi as they slow-travel around the country.