--- title: "Coordinates Converter — DD, DMS, DDM & UTM (Free Tool)" description: "Convert GPS coordinates between decimal degrees, DMS, DDM and UTM in both directions, with the math shown step by step. Free, private, no signup." url: https://getmylocations.com/coordinates-converter --- Free Tool · Real-time Conversion # Coordinates converter — convert between DD, DMS, DDM, and UTM Convert any GPS coordinate between **Decimal Degrees**, **Degrees-Minutes-Seconds**, **Degrees-Decimal-Minutes**, and **Universal Transverse Mercator**. Paste a coordinate in any common format, or edit any field, and every other format updates instantly, along with the MGRS grid reference and a map pin. Free, no signup, runs entirely in your browser. ## Convert coordinates ① Decimal Degrees (DD) 48.858420, 2.294500 ② DMS — Degrees Minutes Seconds 48°51'30.312"N 2°17'40.2"E ③ DDM — Degrees Decimal Minutes 48°51.5052'N 2°17.67'E ⑤ MGRS — Military Grid Reference System 31U DQ 48252 11957 All formats use the WGS 84 datum, the same one GPS receivers and web maps use. ## Paste a GPS coordinate in any format The _Paste any coordinate_ box at the top of the tool works out which format you have and converts it. It understands: - **Decimal degrees:** `48.8584, 2.2945` or `40.7128° N, 74.0060° W` - **DMS:** `48°51'30.3"N 2°17'40.2"E`, typographic marks (′ ″) included - **DDM:** `48°51.505'N 2°17.670'E` or `N48 51.505 E2 17.670` - **Bare numbers:** two, four, or six numbers are read as DD, DDM, or DMS - **UTM:** `31U 448252 5411957` - **Map links:** a Google Maps URL containing `@lat,lon` or `?q=lat,lon` If the longitude is written first with its E or W letter, the tool swaps the pair for you. It tells you which format it detected, so you can confirm it read your input the way you meant. ## When you actually need to convert coordinates For everyday use, your phone hands you decimal degrees and every app accepts them. The conversion problem only shows up when two systems disagree on format, and it shows up more often than you would think: - **Aviation flight plans** usually require degrees-minutes-seconds. A modern smartphone reading needs translating before it can go into the flight planner. - **Marine GPS units** typically display degrees-decimal-minutes. Cross-referencing a chart coordinate against your modern phone takes a quick DD ↔ DDM conversion. - **Land-survey documents and older maps** almost always use DMS. Reading a deed or a topographic chart from before about 1995 and matching it to a modern satellite view is a DMS-to-DD job. - **Hiking and search-and-rescue work** often uses UTM because grid distances map directly to meters on the ground. You can pace UTM offsets in a way you cannot pace decimal-degree differences. - **GIS pipelines and GeoJSON** use (longitude, latitude) order, while Google Maps and consumer apps use (latitude, longitude). The tool above normalises the order; using the wrong order is the most common silent error in coordinate work. - **Emergency dispatch.** Most dispatchers can take decimal degrees or DMS. Knowing which one you are reading off your phone matters more than the conversion itself — see our [emergency GPS guide](https://getmylocations.com/blog/gps-coordinates-emergencies-aml-guide) for the four-line script to say on the call. ## Worked examples: five landmarks in every format The same five points in every format the tool produces. These values are generated by the converter’s own code when the page is built, so they always match what the tool shows. The last column is a round-trip check: convert the decimal degrees to DMS, round the seconds to three decimals, convert back, and measure how far the result moved. | Landmark | DD | DMS | DDM | UTM | MGRS | Round trip | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Eiffel Tower, Paris | 48.858420, 2.294500 | 48°51′30.312″N 2°17′40.200″E | 48°51.5052′N 2°17.6700′E | 31U 448252 5411957 | 31U DQ 48252 11957 | 0.00 cm | | Statue of Liberty, New York | 40.689247, -74.044502 | 40°41′21.289″N 74°02′40.207″W | 40°41.3548′N 74°02.6701′W | 18T 580736 4504700 | 18T WL 80735 04700 | 0.62 cm | | Sydney Opera House | \-33.856784, 151.215297 | 33°51′24.422″S 151°12′55.069″E | 33°51.4070′S 151°12.9178′E | 56H 334900 6252291 | 56H LH 34900 52290 | 1.24 cm | | Mount Everest summit | 27.988100, 86.925000 | 27°59′17.160″N 86°55′30.000″E | 27°59.2860′N 86°55.5000′E | 45R 492625 3095886 | 45R VL 92624 95886 | 0.00 cm | | Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard | 78.923600, 11.930600 | 78°55′24.960″N 11°55′50.160″E | 78°55.4160′N 11°55.8360′E | 33X 434199 8763177 | 33X VH 34199 63177 | 0.00 cm | Two things worth noticing. Ny-Ålesund sits at 11.9° E, which would normally be UTM zone 32, but it is reported in zone 33X because of the Svalbard exception described below. And three-decimal seconds hold a position to within about 1.5 cm, far finer than any phone GPS can measure. ## How the tool handles each format Every format reads from and writes to one shared position. Decimal-degree fields convert as you type. DMS and DDM fields convert when you leave the field or change the hemisphere letter, so a half-typed number does not jump the map around. UTM converts when you press _Convert UTM_. MGRS is calculated from the UTM result and shown as output only. Whatever you change, every other format, the copy buttons, and the map pin update together. Need a coordinate to convert? The [My Location tool](https://getmylocations.com/my-location) reads your GPS and gives you a copyable DD pair in two seconds. For a deeper read on what each format represents, the [latitude vs longitude post](https://getmylocations.com/blog/latitude-vs-longitude-explained) covers signs, order, and the memory tricks. ## How the UTM zone is calculated UTM divides the world into 60 vertical zones, each six degrees of longitude wide. Zone 1 starts at the international date line and runs east. Your zone number is found from your longitude with the formula `floor((lon + 180) / 6) + 1`. The letter that follows the zone number, like the U in “31U”, is the latitude band: 20 bands lettered C to X (skipping I and O), each eight degrees tall, except band X, which runs 12 degrees from 72°N to 84°N. Two regions break the simple formula, and the tool applies both: - **South-west Norway (56°N to 64°N):** zone 32V is widened west to 3°E so the coast is not split across two zones. - **Svalbard (72°N to 84°N):** zones 32X, 34X, and 36X do not exist. Instead 31X covers 0° to 9°E, 33X covers 9°E to 21°E, 35X covers 21°E to 33°E, and 37X covers 33°E to 42°E. UTM itself stops at 84°N and 80°S; the polar caps use a different grid called UPS, so the tool shows no UTM or MGRS value there. ## Convert UTM to latitude and longitude UTM to lat long is the conversion people search for most, usually with a grid reference from a topographic map or a survey file. To do it in the tool: 1. Enter the **zone number** (1 to 60) and the **latitude band letter**. The band matters: letters N to X mean the northern hemisphere, C to M the southern. 2. Enter the **easting** in meters. It is always between about 160,000 and 840,000, because every zone is centred on a false easting of 500,000 m. 3. Enter the **northing** in meters. In the southern hemisphere it includes a false northing of 10,000,000 m, which is why the band letter is needed to read it correctly. 4. Press _Convert UTM_. Decimal degrees, DMS, DDM, MGRS, and the map all update. You can also paste the whole reference, such as `56H 334900 6252290`, into the paste box. The tool uses the standard transverse Mercator equations on the WGS 84 ellipsoid. In our tests against the open-source PROJ library, its results agreed to within 2 cm everywhere UTM is defined, including the Norway and Svalbard zones. ## MGRS: UTM with a grid square The Military Grid Reference System, used by NATO forces and many search-and-rescue teams, is UTM with a shortcut. After the zone and band, two letters name a 100 km grid square, and the easting and northing are given only within that square. `31U DQ 48252 11957` means zone 31U, square DQ, then 48,252 m east and 11,957 m north inside the square. Five digits each give 1 m precision; you can drop digits from the end of both numbers for coarser references (four digits is 10 m, three is 100 m). MGRS digits are truncated, never rounded, so a point at 334,899.6 m east appears as 334900 in the UTM row but 34899 in MGRS. Both are correct. ## Datum: every format here assumes WGS 84 A coordinate is only meaningful together with its datum, the model of the Earth’s shape it is measured against. Every result on this page uses WGS 84 (also listed as EPSG:4326), the datum GPS satellites broadcast and that Google Maps, Apple Maps, and OpenStreetMap use. Converting between formats never changes the datum; it only rewrites the same point in a different notation. Older paper maps often use a regional datum such as NAD27 in North America, ED50 in Europe, or OSGB36 in Great Britain. The same numbers on those datums can point to a spot tens of meters, and in places more than a hundred meters, away from the WGS 84 position. If a coordinate from an old map lands slightly off, check the datum printed in the map margin before blaming the conversion. ## Common mistakes the tool catches - **Out-of-range values.** A latitude outside −90 to 90 or a longitude outside −180 to 180 shows an error and leaves the last valid result in place. - **Minutes or seconds of 60 or more.** DMS and DDM entries are rejected with a message instead of silently rolling over. - **Impossible UTM references.** Zones outside 1 to 60, the letters I and O as bands, and eastings or northings outside the valid range are all flagged. - **Longitude written first with its letter.** If you paste something like 2°17′E 48°51′N, the paste box swaps it into latitude-first order. Without hemisphere letters it cannot know, so a pair like (2.29, 48.86) is read as latitude 2.29; if the map pin lands in the wrong place, swap the two numbers. - **Pasted text it cannot read.** Instead of guessing, it says so and shows an example of a format it accepts. ## The DD ↔ DMS conversion math Decimal degrees and DMS encode the same angle in different notations. The math both ways: ### DD → DMS 1. Take the integer part of the decimal degree — that is your degrees value. 2. Multiply the fractional part by 60 — the integer part of the result is your minutes. 3. Multiply the remaining fraction by 60 again — that is your seconds. Example: 48.858420° → 48° + (0.858420 × 60)′ = 48° 51.5052′ → 48° 51′ (0.5052 × 60)″ = 48° 51′ 30.31″. ### DMS → DD Take the degrees as is, divide the minutes by 60, divide the seconds by 3600, then add the three together. For southern latitudes or western longitudes, negate the final result (since DMS uses an N/S/E/W letter where DD uses a sign). Example: 48° 51′ 30.31″ N = 48 + 51/60 + 30.31/3600 = 48.858420°. How much precision survives the round trip? One second of latitude is about 31 m, so rounding seconds to three decimals moves the point by at most 0.0005″, roughly 1.5 cm. The worked-examples table above shows the measured round-trip error for each landmark. Once you have two coordinates in decimal degrees, the [Distance Calculator](https://getmylocations.com/distance-calculator) gives you the great-circle distance between them. If you have an address instead of a coordinate, the [Address Finder](https://getmylocations.com/address-finder) converts it to DD for you. ## When to use DD versus DMS - **Use DD** for anything digital — APIs, spreadsheets, Google Maps URLs, GIS files, navigation apps. It is the modern standard and avoids parsing the ° ′ ″ symbols. - **Use DMS** for paper nautical charts, aviation publications, land-survey documents, and historical references. Many published surveys still cite DMS. - **Use DDM** on marine GPS units. DDM splits the minute decimal but skips seconds entirely — a notation most chart-plotter manufacturers default to. - **Use UTM** for hiking, search-and-rescue, surveying — anywhere grid distances need to map directly to metres on the ground. - **Convert when crossing formats** — e.g., reading a coordinate off an old chart and pasting it into Google Maps, or copying a phone's coordinate into a printed expedition report. ## DD precision — how many decimal places you really need Each decimal place of latitude or longitude shrinks your error by roughly a factor of ten. The full table: | Decimals | Precision | What it identifies | | --- | --- | --- | | 0 | ~111 km | A country or region | | 1 | ~11 km | A large city | | 2 | ~1.1 km | A neighbourhood | | 3 | ~110 m | A city block | | 4 | ~11 m | A single building | | 5 | ~1.1 m | A parking space — smartphone GPS limit | | 6 | ~11 cm | Survey grade — false precision for consumer GPS | For DMS, one second of latitude is about 31 metres, and one decimal of a second is about 3 metres. Old surveys often give whole-second precision — perfectly adequate for showing a landmark, less so for guiding a drone. ## Hemispheres and signs — the most common DD mistakes DD uses signs: positive for North/East, negative for South/West. DMS uses hemisphere letters (N, S, E, W) instead. Mixing the two is the single most common mistake in conversion. A reference of landmarks in all four hemispheres: | Landmark | DD | Hemispheres | | --- | --- | --- | | Eiffel Tower, Paris | 48.858420, 2.294500 | N, E | | Statue of Liberty, NYC | 40.689247, -74.044502 | N, W | | Sydney Opera House | \-33.856785, 151.215290 | S, E | | Cape Town | \-33.924870, 18.424055 | S, E | | Buenos Aires | \-34.603722, -58.381592 | S, W | | Tokyo Tower | 35.658580, 139.745560 | N, E | Two landmarks worth memorising as sanity checks: Sydney is -33.8568, 151.2153 (south, east — first number negative, second positive); the Statue of Liberty is 40.6892, -74.0445 (north, west — first positive, second negative). If your map ends up in the wrong ocean, one of those signs is off. ## Frequently asked questions How do I convert decimal degrees to DMS?+ Take the integer part of the decimal degree as the degrees value. Multiply the fractional part by 60 to get minutes (keep the integer part). Multiply the remaining fraction by 60 again to get seconds. Example: 48.8584° → 48° + (0.8584 × 60)′ = 48° 51.504′ → 48° 51′ (0.504 × 60)″ = 48° 51′ 30.24″. The tool above does this automatically as you type, including the hemisphere letter. How do I convert DMS back to decimal degrees?+ Take the degrees as is, divide the minutes by 60, divide the seconds by 3600, then add them all together. For southern latitudes or western longitudes, negate the result. Example: 48° 51′ 30.24″ N = 48 + 51/60 + 30.24/3600 = 48.8584°. Type either format into the tool above and the other recalculates in real time. What is UTM and why would I use it?+ Universal Transverse Mercator divides the world into 60 zones six degrees of longitude wide, each treated as a flat plane. Your position is expressed as "eastings" and "northings" in metres — so distances on a UTM grid translate directly to real-world metres on the ground. Hikers, search-and-rescue teams, surveyors, and the military prefer UTM for that reason. For everyday navigation, decimal degrees is far more common. What does the letter after the UTM zone number mean (like "31U")?+ The number is the longitude zone (1–60, six degrees wide). The letter is the latitude band (C–X, eight degrees tall, skipping I and O so they are not confused with 1 and 0). Together they uniquely identify which of the world's ~1,200 UTM cells you are in. The tool computes both from your input automatically and applies the Norway (32V) and Svalbard (31X, 33X, 35X, 37X) zone exceptions. What is the difference between DMS and DDM?+ Degrees-Minutes-Seconds (DMS) splits a degree into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds — three units. Degrees-Decimal-Minutes (DDM) splits a degree into 60 minutes but expresses the remainder as a decimal — two units. Example: 48° 51′ 30.24″ in DMS becomes 48° 51.504′ in DDM. Marine GPS units typically display DDM; aviation and survey work usually use DMS. My map ends up in the ocean off the coast of Africa — what is wrong?+ You almost certainly pasted a (longitude, latitude) coordinate where the tool expected (latitude, longitude). GeoJSON, PostGIS, and most programming libraries put longitude first; Google Maps, Apple Maps, and most consumer apps put latitude first. Swap the two values and try again. A quick sanity check: if either number is greater than 90 in absolute value, that one must be longitude (|latitude| only goes up to 90). What are decimal degrees in GPS coordinates?+ Decimal degrees (DD) write a latitude or longitude as a single signed number with a fractional part — for example, 48.858420 for the Eiffel Tower's latitude. Positive means north or east; negative means south or west. DD is the modern default produced by every smartphone, GPS receiver, Google Maps URL, and web API. It is the format almost every digital system accepts directly. How many decimal places does a DD coordinate need?+ Each decimal divides the uncertainty by ten. Three decimals (~110 m) is enough for a city block; four (~11 m) lands on a building; five (~1.1 m) is already finer than smartphone GPS, which typically manages 3–5 m outdoors; six (~11 cm) is the de facto storage format. Anything past five decimals is false precision for a phone reading, so treat the sixth digit as noise. Why are some decimal-degree coordinates negative?+ DD uses signs to indicate hemispheres. Positive latitude = north of the equator; negative latitude = south of the equator. Positive longitude = east of Greenwich; negative longitude = west. So Sydney is -33.8568, 151.2153 (south, east) and the Statue of Liberty is 40.6892, -74.0445 (north, west). DMS uses N/S/E/W letters instead — the same point, the same magnitude, just a different notation for direction. Is DD the same as the format Google Maps uses?+ Yes. Open Google Maps in a browser, right-click any point, and the first item in the menu is the DD coordinate — "48.858420, 2.294500" — ready to copy. iPhone's Compass app, Apple Maps, Android's long-press menu, and almost every GPS app default to the same format. DD is the lingua franca of consumer mapping. Can I convert UTM to latitude and longitude?+ Yes. Enter the zone number, latitude band letter, easting, and northing in the UTM row and press Convert UTM, or paste the whole reference (for example 31U 448252 5411957) into the paste box. The band letter tells the tool which hemisphere you are in: N to X is north, C to M is south. Decimal degrees, DMS, DDM, MGRS, and the map all update from the result. Which datum does this coordinate converter use?+ WGS 84 (EPSG:4326), the datum used by GPS, Google Maps, Apple Maps, and OpenStreetMap. Converting between formats never changes the datum. Coordinates read from older maps on NAD27, ED50, or OSGB36 can differ from WGS 84 by tens of meters or more, so check the map margin if a point lands slightly off. ## Related tools [ ### My Location Get your live GPS coordinates ](https://getmylocations.com/my-location)[ ### Live Location Real-time tracking as you move ](https://getmylocations.com/live-location)[ ### Distance Calculator Haversine between two points ](https://getmylocations.com/distance-calculator)[ ### Address Finder Address ↔ coordinates ](https://getmylocations.com/address-finder) AA Written by ### Ahmed Anwar Senior software engineer in Karachi. Builds the geolocation tools, mapping pages, and coordinate utilities on GetMyLocations. Writes about GPS, browser geolocation, and IP geolocation from the perspective of someone who ships the code, not the marketing. This article was researched and drafted with AI assistance, then edited and fact-checked by Ahmed before publication. [More about the author](https://getmylocations.com/about).