Free Tool · Live GPS Reading
GPS Coordinates — your live latitude and longitude
Read your exact GPS coordinates straight from your device's GNSS chip. Six-decimal latitude and longitude, instant DMS conversion, accuracy radius, altitude, speed, and heading — all displayed live on a real map. Optional Watch mode tracks your position in real time as you move.
Get my GPS coordinates
Decimal degrees · paste-ready
- Latitude
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- Longitude
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- Accuracy
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- Altitude
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- Heading
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- Speed
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What are GPS coordinates?
A pair of GPS coordinates is the universal address system for any spot on Earth. Two numbers — latitude (how far north or south of the equator) and longitude (how far east or west of the Greenwich prime meridian) — together pin a single point on the planet's surface to within a meter.
This tool reads the coordinates straight from your device's GNSS chip (the modern descendant of the original US-only GPS) through the W3C Geolocation API. On a phone outdoors the chip listens for signals from four or more satellites in the GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, and QZSS constellations simultaneously, solves the timing-and-distance equations, and returns a coordinate accurate to about three to five meters. On a desktop without a GPS chip the browser falls back to Wi-Fi or IP positioning — less precise, but usually still good enough to drop a pin on the right city block.
How to use the GPS Coordinates tool
- Click Get coordinates. Your browser shows a permission prompt the first time. Click Allow — you only need to do this once per browser per site.
- Read the big number. It is your latitude and longitude in decimal-degree format, paste-ready for any map service. The line below shows the same coordinate in degrees-minutes-seconds for use with older nautical or aviation charts.
- Check the stats grid. Accuracy tells you the radius (in meters) the device is confident contains your real position. Altitude is meters above sea level. Heading and speed populate when you are moving.
- Switch to Watch mode for live tracking. Click the Watch live button to subscribe to continuous updates — coordinates, accuracy circle, and the map pin all update as you move. Click again to stop and save battery.
- Share or navigate. Copy the coordinates in either format, or open the exact spot in Google Maps, Apple Maps, or OpenStreetMap with one click.
How much precision do you actually need?
The number of decimal places in a coordinate determines how precisely it locates a point. A practical guide:
| Decimals | Real-world precision | Identifies |
|---|---|---|
48.8 | ~11 km | City |
48.85 | ~1.1 km | Neighborhood |
48.858 | ~110 m | City block |
48.8584 | ~11 m | Building |
48.85842 | ~1.1 m | Parking space |
48.858420 | ~11 cm | Survey grade |
Six decimals is the de facto storage format and what this tool displays by default. Real-world accuracy is rarely better than one meter on consumer hardware, so the seventh decimal would be noise. For surveyors who need centimeter precision, RTK-enabled receivers and Real-Time Kinematic corrections are required — see our deeper guide on how GPS works for the math.
Why use GetMyLocations?
Two-second readout
From button click to coordinates on screen in under three seconds on any modern device, with no app to install and no sign-in flow.
DD and DMS together
You always see both formats side by side. Copy whichever your downstream app expects without switching tools or doing the math by hand.
Live Watch mode
Subscribe to continuous position updates with one click — useful for testing GPS lock, walking the dog, or driving through a tunnel to see when the signal returns.
Privacy preserved
Your GPS reading is processed in your browser. We do not store coordinates on a server we operate. The reverse-geocoding step only sends coordinates to a third-party API.
One-click share
Copy DD or DMS in one tap. Open the exact point in Google Maps, Apple Maps, or OpenStreetMap. No re-typing, no format conversion.
Free, forever
No paywall, no premium tier, no usage limits. Supported by lightweight advertising so the tool stays free for every traveler, hiker, developer, and student.
Frequently asked questions
What format are GPS coordinates in?
This tool displays coordinates in two formats simultaneously. Decimal Degrees (DD), for example 48.858420, 2.294500, is the modern default used by Google Maps, smartphone apps, and almost every API. Degrees-Minutes-Seconds (DMS), for example 48° 51' 30.3" N, 2° 17' 40.2" E, is the older format still used on nautical charts, aviation publications, and many land-survey documents.
How precise are the coordinates this tool shows?
The display shows six decimal places, which is roughly one meter of precision. Real-world accuracy depends on your hardware and surroundings: outdoors on a phone, expect 3 to 5 meters; indoors, 10 to 25 meters from Wi-Fi positioning; on a desktop without a GPS chip, often kilometers from IP geolocation.
What is the difference between DD and DMS?
Decimal Degrees writes the angle as a single signed number. DMS splits each degree into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds, with hemisphere letters (N, S, E, W) replacing the negative sign. They encode the same physical point — only the notation differs. Use our coordinates converter to switch between them.
Why is altitude blank?
Altitude comes from GPS only. Most desktops do not have a GPS chip, so altitude is always null on them. On phones, altitude is often null indoors because the OS prefers Wi-Fi or cell positioning when satellite signal is weak. Step outdoors with a clear sky and altitude usually populates within a few seconds.
What does Watch live position do?
Watch mode subscribes to continuous position updates from your device. The coordinates, the map pin, and the accuracy circle all update in real time as you move. It is useful for jogging, driving, or testing how the GPS fix behaves over time. Click the button a second time to stop the subscription and save battery.
Why does speed show zero or empty?
Speed and heading are only meaningful while you are physically moving, and only available when the operating system can derive them from the rate of change of consecutive GPS fixes. Standing still produces a zero or null value. Walking, driving, or cycling populates both values.
Can I trust these coordinates for navigation?
Yes for general use — meeting friends, sharing a parking spot, finding a hiking trailhead, geotagging a photo. For safety-critical use such as aviation, marine navigation, or emergency response, you should always carry a backup positioning source and verify the reading against a known reference like a chart or mile-marker.