Navigation with Waze is very similar to many other Global Positioning System (GPS) applications. You either enter an address directly, pick a location from a list of point in a list, or point to a location on the visual map. The information below covers these methods of selecting your destination.
From Waze main screen - click on the Menu button and choose Navigate:
TIP: You can slide the Menu icon to the right to open the search menu directly:
From the main navigation screen you can navigate 5 different ways:
- Search for an address
- Select a point of interest
- Select a prior destination
- Select a previously saved favorite
- Pick Up a friend on Waze
Search for an address
In the search bar at the top of the screen you can enter an address, a place name, or one of your contact names and press Search.
Waze will display a list of possible matches sorted by distance from you now:
Select the location you want from the list to start the navigation.
Other search engines
You can find more search results by changing the search database. From most screens showing a list of search result locations you can change your search engine at the bottom of the screen. Simply slide the bar of icons left or right to change the search database between the following: (not all search engines available in all areas)
Waze
Yelp
Yellow Pages
Foursquare
Bing- (no icon yet) Google
Contact list
Skip to the preview step next.
Select a point of interest
From the main navigation screen select the Categories button to bring up a list of categories from which you can select your point of interest.
- Gas Station
- Parking
- Bank / ATM
- Pharmacy
- Convenience Store
- Coffee
- Restaurant
- Fast Food
- Nightlife
- Mall
- Mani-Pedi
- Attractions & Great Outdoors
- Hotel / Motel
- Car Wash
- Car Repair
- Hospital
- Police Station
Click the category of your choice to see a list of businesses and points of interest:
To view the results on the map you can click the Map button on the top right of the screen:
You can move the map around and zoom in or out using your mobile devices standard viewing controls. If you select one of the icons on the map, it will display the business name and initial address. If you press the blue > symbol you will select that location for the next step, or press the List button on the top right of the screen to go back to the list of locations.
If you do not see the destination desired, you can press the other search engines button at the bottom of the screen to switch to another database to find your destination.
Preview
The address and categories / point of interest search options both bring you to a preview screen where you have 3 possible tabs to view for this location:
- Location - the default window.
- Info - information about the location like phone number, prices, etc.
- Specials - coupons and discounts.
Once you are done reviewing these options select the Go option from this page and then skip to the ready to go step below.
Location
The default screen provides a number of options:
View large preview map; scan or zoom in and out
Add this destination to favorites (see manage favorites for more about favorites)
Go - navigate to destination
More - view more options:
- Set as start point - Set this location as a start point and then select a destination using the same options covered above.
- Show on map - Show the location on the map.
- Share location - Choose to send via text message or send via email.
Info
Information about the place: Phone number, prices, photos, etc..
Specials
Here you can view coupons and discounts.
Select a prior destination
From the main navigation screen your prior destinations are listed in order of most recently searched. At the top will always be your home and work favorites.
Select your desired destination and skip to the ready to go step below.
Select a previously saved favorite
From the main navigation screen press the Favorites button.
This will bring up a list of your saved favorites. Select your desired favorite and skip to the ready to go step below.
Pick Up a friend on Waze
You can pick up another Waze user without knowing their current address or location by using this option. Details are covered under the article on Pick Up.
Ready to go?
From the Preview screen you press Go to reach this final navigation window:
Here you can see the events (traffic reports, police, accidents, etc.) on the selected route. You also see if the current route includes any toll roads.
From this screen you can:
- Share the route
- Choose a different route
- Go to start navigation
Share the route
First press the Send button to get this:
Press the tab on the right to get these options:
Tapping on one of those options gives you this:
Choose a different route
To view the routes on the map, click on the map button:
After selecting a route you will start the navigation (your favorite route should generally appear here too):
Once you are navigating you can select the main menu button 
to access additional navigation options:
Stop the navigation.
Use to add a stop point.
Use to modify sounds.
Choose alternative route.
Share location, destination, Facebook, Twitter, email to friends.
Add a stop point
Select the Navigate button to bring up the standard navigation page. From there select a destination (using the standard navigation options covered above) to add another location to your journey before reaching your original final destination.
Once you select your destination you will see the ETA to your stop point and the ETA to the final destination.
The pink line indicates the route to your stop point, the purple line indicates the route to your final destination from the stop point
You can view the full ETA status (stop point + final destination) at any time by clicking on the ETA bar at the bottom of the screen:
Cancel a stop point
It appears that in the newest version you can't cancel stops. You will have to stop the navigation and restart navigation using only the final stop.
Choose alternate route
See the details for selecting alternate routes under the Ready to go instructions above.
The Send ETA button enables you to share your current navigation and destination, as well as your current location to another Wazer. See Share your drive for more information.
While navigating you can view all the upcoming turns in a list on the screen. To view the navigation list just tap on the top of the screen:
Maximum search distance
The search and navigation capabilities of Waze today are limited to about 1000 miles (1600 kilometers).
When driving further than that distance you need to select a target point under that distance as your temporary destination. After driving about half that distance or so you can reset the destination to something closer to your final destination until you are less than the current limit. Then you can plug in the final destination.
This limit is partially imposed due to limitations and severe workload issues that would be imposed on the routing servers. It may be increased at some point in the future.