Where WordPress page builders store the Google Maps API key
WordPress can hold the same key in four places at once, and the most specific one wins. That is why one page renders and the next does not.
How to tell this is your problem
- The map works on the contact page but not a landing page.
- You set a key but the page still loads without one.
- A theme update reset the map.
Why it happens
Themes, builders and individual widgets each keep their own key setting. A widget-level field silently overrides the global one.
The fix, step by step
- 01Elementor: Settings → Integrations → Google Maps API key.
- 02WPBakery / Divi / Astra: Theme Options → API or Integrations; check the map module for a per-widget override.
- 03Check any dedicated maps plugin, which usually keeps its own key.
- 04Remove keys from every place except one so there is a single source of truth.
Confirm it is fixed
Scan each template — contact, location, landing — separately; a per-page override only shows up on the page that uses it.
Check whether this is your error
A scan tells you in about twelve seconds, from a clean session.