Google Maps shows the coordinates of any spot with one gesture: right-click on a computer, touch and hold on a phone. They come in decimal degrees, latitude first and longitude second, and you can copy them, paste them anywhere or send them in a message. Below are the exact steps, how to search for a place by typing its coordinates, what each number means, and the mistakes that send Google Maps to the wrong side of the planet.
On a computer: right-click and copy
It’s the fastest way, and the one that fails least, because the coordinates copy themselves.
- Open Google Maps in your browser.
- Find the place and zoom in as far as you can: the closer you are, the more precise the point.
- Right-click right on top of the spot.
- In the menu that opens, the first line is the coordinates (for example,
40.689247, -74.044502). Click it and they’re copied. - Paste them wherever you need with Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on a Mac).
The same menu has “Measure distance”, which we cover in how to measure distance and area.
On a phone: touch and hold
The Google Maps app works the same on Android and iPhone; only the place where the numbers appear changes.
- Open the Google Maps app.
- Touch and hold an area of the map that isn’t labeled. A red pin drops.
- Read the coordinates:
- On Android, they’re in the search box at the top.
- On iPhone and iPad, they’re in the place sheet, the card that slides up from the bottom.
- To share them, open the sheet and use the share option: it sends a link that opens that exact spot.
If you hold your finger on a restaurant or a street name, Google Maps opens that place instead and may not show the coordinates. Press on an empty patch of map, just off the label.
How to search for a place by its coordinates
It works the other way around too: type or paste the coordinates into the Google Maps search box, on a computer or a phone, and press Enter. Google Maps accepts three formats:
| Format | Example (Statue of Liberty) | Where you’ll see it |
|---|---|---|
| Decimal degrees | 40.689247, -74.044502 |
Google Maps, texts, most apps |
| Degrees, minutes, seconds | 40°41'21.3"N 74°02'40.2"W |
Books, paper maps, Wikipedia |
| Degrees and decimal minutes | 40°41.355'N 74°02.670'W |
GPS units, boating, geocaching |
All three lines are the same spot on Liberty Island. To make sure Google Maps reads them, follow its own rules:
- Use a period for decimals, never a comma:
40.689247works;40,689247doesn’t. - Latitude first, then longitude, separated by a comma or a space.
- Latitude goes from -90 to 90 and longitude from -180 to 180.
- In degrees-minutes-seconds, use the degree symbol (°) and the letters N, S, E or W.
What the two numbers mean
Latitude says how far north or south of the equator you are; longitude, how far east or west of the prime meridian in Greenwich, England. The sign works like a compass: positive latitude is north and negative is south; positive longitude is east and negative is west.
That’s why almost every place in the 50 states has a negative longitude (the Statue of Liberty is at -74°, Denver at -105°, Honolulu at -158°) and a positive latitude. The exception is the far western tip of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, which crosses the 180° line.
And the decimals? Each one makes the position ten times more precise. One degree of latitude is about 69 miles (111 km), so:
| Decimals | Approximate precision | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 365 ft (111 m) | A neighborhood |
| 4 | 36 ft (11 m) | A building |
| 5 | 3.6 ft (1.1 m) | A front door or a parking spot |
| 6 | 4 in (11 cm) | A survey marker |
For longitude, the precision is a bit better at US latitudes (one degree of longitude is about 52 miles in New York), but the idea is the same.
Mistakes that send you somewhere else
If Google Maps drops you in a strange place, check these first:
- Latitude and longitude swapped.
-74.044502, 40.689247isn’t New York Harbor anymore: it’s Antarctica. - Missing minus sign.
40.689247, 74.044502lands in the mountains of Central Asia. West of Greenwich, longitude is negative. - Comma as the decimal mark. Spreadsheets set to European formats write
40,6892. Google Maps reads that as two separate numbers and finds nothing. - Mixed formats.
40°41.355'is degrees and minutes; typed as40.41355you’d be about 19 miles south of the statue.
The shortcut: every format at once
If you need the coordinates in another format, or the coordinates of where you are without opening Google Maps, use the Mapsfera latitude and longitude finder. Tap the map, search for an address or use your location, and it gives you decimal degrees, degrees-minutes-seconds, degrees and decimal minutes, UTM and Plus Code at the same time, with a button that copies the decimal degrees ready to paste into Google Maps. With this guide’s example:
- Decimal degrees:
40.689247, -74.044502 - Degrees, minutes, seconds:
40°41'21.3"N 74°02'40.2"W - UTM (WGS 84):
18T 580736 4504700 - Plus Code:
87G7MXQ4+M5
If someone asks you for UTM coordinates (a topo map, a search and rescue form, a field report), go on to UTM coordinates and Google Maps. And if you have a list of points, Plot coordinates on a map draws them all at once from whatever you paste.
How accurate is it?
Google Maps coordinates use WGS 84, the same system as GPS. Official US mapping uses NAD 83, which today sits about 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) away from WGS 84 in the lower 48: you won’t notice it when finding a place, but a surveyor will. What matters more is where you click. Zoom in all the way and switch to satellite view to put the point exactly where you want it.