Google Earth Coordinates: How to Find, Enter, Copy, and Convert Latitude and Longitude

Keep the complete pair, including its decimal points and minus signs or direction letters. A format change can make the numbers look different while describing the same point.

Using Google Maps instead? Follow the separate Google Maps coordinates guide. For Earth, compare the web, mobile, and Earth Pro versions if you are unsure which instructions match your screen.

How to find coordinates in Google Earth

First decide which point you need: a building entrance, a road junction, or the center of a feature. A place name alone may not identify the point you intend to share.

Google Earth in a computer browser

Move the pointer over the intended location and read the updated coordinates at the bottom right. Keep it on the feature you need while you record the pair.

For a searched place’s coordinate fields:

1. Choose Search, search for the place, and select its result to open the knowledge panel.
2. Choose Save to project.
3. In the resulting window, open More settings and read the latitude and longitude fields.

Google Earth Pro on a computer

Move the pointer over the intended point and read the coordinates in the lower-right corner. When the pointer is outside the globe, the readout describes the center of the view instead.

For a point you need to retain, create a placemark and use its coordinate fields; see copying and sharing.

For the file-creation workflow, see how to create a KML or KMZ file in Google Earth.

Google Earth on Android

Open the app, find the area, then press and hold the location to reveal its latitude and longitude. If you move the globe afterward, the coordinates update to describe the center of the screen. Check the intended point again before recording the numbers.

Google Earth on iPhone or iPad

Open the app and press and hold the location to reveal its latitude and longitude. Moving the globe changes the coordinates to the screen’s center, so read the pair while the intended point is selected.

Change the coordinate format

To switch between Decimal Degrees and Degrees, Minutes, Seconds, use the settings for your product.

If you only need a different readout, change this setting before calculating a conversion by hand. Display options and Search inputs are separate: Google documents DD and DMS search examples for Earth, while Pro offers additional display formats. Showing UTM does not mean a raw UTM reference can be pasted into a latitude-and-longitude search.

Show latitude and longitude gridlines

Gridlines help you see the latitude and longitude pattern around a place. Showing these lines is separate from changing the coordinate readout between Decimal Degrees and DMS.

Google Earth on the web

1. Open Google Earth in your computer browser and choose Explore Earth if the home screen is showing.
2. In the top menu, choose View → Show gridlines.
3. You can also open Basemap at the bottom left and find Gridlines under More visuals.

Google documents the menu in its Earth quickstart and the panel in basemap settings.

Google Earth Pro

Choose View → Grid in the upper menu bar. The grid labels show general coordinates; use the lower-right readout for the selected pointer position. See Google’s desktop grid instructions.

To pick out the equator, tropics and polar circles once the lines are on, see how to show the equator in Google Earth.

The web and Pro menu labels differ. If you want to change the numbers’ format instead, use the settings in the format settings.

How to enter coordinates in Google Earth

1. Open Google Earth and open Search.
2. Paste or type one coordinate pair.
3. Put latitude first and longitude second.
4. Keep either the minus signs or the direction letters.
5. Search, then compare the result with the country, hemisphere, or region you expected.

Current Earth documentation shows searches in Decimal Degrees and DMS. These two examples describe the same illustrative point:

Decimal Degrees: 41.40338, 2.17403
DMS: 41°24′12.17″N, 2°10′26.51″E

Minutes and seconds must each be less than 60. A latitude outside −90 to 90 or longitude outside −180 to 180 is not a valid latitude/longitude value.

Copy and share coordinates without losing information

Use selectable coordinate text where your interface provides it. Otherwise, record both values carefully; a screenshot alone is inconvenient for someone who needs to paste the numbers.

Keep a point in Earth Pro

1. Choose Add Placemark, position the marker on the intended feature, name it, and save it.
2. Under My Places, right-click the saved placemark and open Properties on Windows/Linux or Get Info on Mac.
3. Transfer its latitude and longitude values together, retaining their format and signs.

On the web, use the coordinate readout or the saved-place fields described above. On mobile, read the pair revealed by a press and hold. Do not assume that the same copy button exists in every Earth product.

Keep a plain-text note such as:

Point: public entrance
Coordinates: 41.40338, 2.17403
Order: latitude, longitude

The numbers are an example, not a verified entrance. Replace the point description and pair with your own.

Before sending the note:

• Keep the useful digits from the source; do not shorten the pair merely to make it tidier.
• Use decimal points inside numbers. In a decimal-degree pair, a comma separates the two values.
• Use a minus sign for south or west, or use S/W with unsigned values; do not combine both.
• Search the copied pair again and compare the pin with the intended feature. This catches transcription errors; it does not establish survey accuracy.
• Include the source and date when the point needs an audit trail. Use a public landmark for a classroom example, and keep private home, student, or other sensitive locations out of a public note.

For Google Maps’ computer copying control and phone alternatives, use the Maps coordinates guide. For travel, a saved coordinate is only a point; the offline Maps guide explains downloading the surrounding road coverage.

Why coordinates open in the wrong place

Latitude and longitude in 30 seconds

Latitude measures how far north or south a point is from the Equator. Longitude measures how far east or west it is from the Prime Meridian.

Write a normal search pair as latitude, longitude. North and east are positive; south and west are negative. For example, the illustrative Decimal Degrees pair −32.25, −18.75 means 32.25 degrees south and 18.75 degrees west. In DMS notation, direction letters can carry the sign: 32°15′00.00″S, 18°45′00.00″W. Do not combine a negative sign with S or W.

Which coordinate format should you use?

The UTM row shows a different illustrative point from the latitude/longitude examples. Decimal Degrees is usually the least ambiguous choice for copying and spreadsheets. Keep the source notation until conversion is needed; every conversion adds a rounding decision.

Convert DMS to Decimal Degrees

Use the absolute degree, minute, and second values first:

decimal degrees = degrees
  + minutes ÷ 60
  + seconds ÷ 3600

Then make south and west results negative. For the latitude:

41°24′12.17″N
= 41 + 24 ÷ 60 + 12.17 ÷ 3600
= 41.40338056
≈ 41.40338

For the longitude, 2°10′26.51″E becomes 2.17403056, which rounds to 2.17403. Had the directions been S and W, the final values—not the minutes or seconds—would be negative.

Convert Decimal Degrees to DMS

Work with each value’s absolute magnitude, then restore its hemisphere:

1. Degrees are the whole-number part.
2. Multiply the remaining decimal by 60. Minutes are the whole-number part of that result.
3. Multiply the remaining minute fraction by 60 to get seconds.

For 41.40338:

degrees = 41
0.40338 × 60 = 24.2028 → 24 minutes
0.2028 × 60 = 12.168 → 12.17 seconds
result: 41°24′12.17″N

Apply the same steps to 2.17403 to get 2°10′26.51″E. The seconds are rounded, so converting back may produce a small rounding difference. If rounding produces 60.00 seconds, carry one minute; if that produces 60 minutes, carry one degree.

Why KML coordinates look backwards

Earth search and ordinary sharing use latitude, longitude. A KML <coordinates> tuple uses longitude,latitude[,altitude]:

<Point>
  <coordinates>
    2.17403,41.40338,0
  </coordinates>
</Point>

Here, 2.17403 is longitude, 41.40338 is latitude, and 0 is the optional altitude. Do not paste that tuple unchanged into a latitude-first search. If the KML came from a finished My Map, use the My Maps export checklist to verify the file before relying on it. If you already have KML/KMZ and need to choose its Earth destination, use the file-import guide. For a table of many places, use the Google My Maps spreadsheet-import workflow rather than turning each row into KML by hand.

For My Maps import errors, use the troubleshooting guide.

How precise is a coordinate?

Decimal places show numerical resolution, not whether the source measured the point correctly. The rounded latitude spacing below uses NOAA’s approximation of 111 kilometers per degree:

Longitude spacing shrinks toward the poles, so this table is not a universal distance ruler. A coordinate printed to six decimals may still come from an imprecise image, rough geocoding, an old datum, or a misplaced pointer. Preserve useful source digits, but verify the source and method when the location matters.

Coordinates can preserve the endpoints of a repeatable estimate. The separate Maps and Earth measurement guide explains when those points define a straight line, traced path, perimeter, or area—and why extra coordinate digits do not make it a survey.

When the question changes from one point’s ground elevation to terrain along a line, use the Google Earth elevation-profile guide and record the endpoints, middle vertices, units, and estimate limitation together.

Choose the right Google mapping product

If the product choice is still unclear, compare Google Maps, My Maps, and Google Earth by task.

Classroom idea: one point, two notations

Choose a non-sensitive public landmark whose coordinate appears in an official or open public record. Students record it in DD, convert it to DMS with the formulas above, and search both versions. They then explain why the notation changed while the point did not, calculate the round-trip difference, and test what happens when one decimal place is removed.

Use a civic building, monument, or public park—not a home or student location. The lesson assesses order, signs, conversion, and rounding without asking students to publish personal coordinates.