My GPS Coordinates

How to find your coordinates

1. Tap Get my location and allow location access when the browser asks.
2. Wait a few seconds for the fix to settle. The page keeps updating as you move, and the Accuracy figure shrinks as the fix improves.
3. Use Copy coordinates to paste them into a message or form, Open in Maps to see the spot, or Share to send it straight from your phone.

Latitude and longitude, briefly

Latitude says how far north or south of the equator you are, from −90° to +90°. Longitude says how far east or west of the Greenwich meridian, from −180° to +180°. Latitude is always written first. North and east are positive; south and west are negative. The numbers refer to WGS 84, the reference system used by GPS and by every common map app.

Decimal degrees and DMS

The same place can be written two ways. Decimal degrees is what map apps and web forms expect. Degrees, minutes and seconds (DMS) is the older form still used on charts, land records and survey documents. A degree has 60 minutes and a minute has 60 seconds.

For example, 12.9716, 77.5946 in decimal degrees is 12° 58′ 17.8″ N, 77° 35′ 40.6″ E. To convert by hand, keep the whole degrees, multiply the fraction by 60 for the minutes, then multiply what is left by 60 for the seconds.

How many decimal places you need

Five decimal places is as fine as a phone's position ever is, so there is no value in quoting more.

What accuracy, altitude and speed mean

Accuracy is the radius, in metres, of the circle your true position is expected to be inside. Outdoors with a clear view of the sky a phone usually manages 3 to 10 metres. Indoors it falls back to Wi-Fi and mobile network positioning, and the figure can grow to hundreds of metres.

Altitude is less reliable than the horizontal position and can be tens of metres out. Speed is shown in km/h and only appears while you are moving and the device reports it. Either may read “Not available” on a laptop or indoors.

When coordinates are useful

Telling a rescue service or a breakdown truck where you are when there is no address; fixing a meeting point in a park or on a trail; recording where a photo, a boundary stone or a sample was taken; giving a delivery driver a precise drop. The coordinates are read on your device and are only passed on if you copy or share them yourself.