How to find the latitude and longitude of an address

Addresses are how people describe places; coordinates are how machines do. Sooner or later you need to cross the bridge — to drop an exact pin, fill in a form that wants latitude and longitude, or mark a spot that has no street address at all.

Addresses vs coordinates

A street address is human-friendly but fuzzy: it points at a building, not a precise point, and plenty of places (a trailhead, a field gate, a spot on a beach) have no address. A pair of coordinates names one exact point anywhere on Earth, which is why GPS tools, spreadsheets, and APIs prefer them.

What geocoding means

Turning an address into coordinates is called geocoding; the reverse — turning coordinates into the nearest address — is reverse geocoding. Most map tools do both: type an address and it places a pin; tap a pin and it shows the nearest address.

Get coordinates for a point

With My Location you have two easy paths:

• Your current spot: tap Show my coordinates and read your latitude, longitude, and a reverse-geocoded address. (Here is how to find your GPS coordinates.)
• Any other point: click or tap that place on the map to read its exact coordinates — perfect when there is no address to type.

When you need coordinates, not an address

• Marking a meeting point in a park, car park, or open ground.
• Reporting a precise location to emergency or roadside services.
• Filling a form, spreadsheet, or app field that asks for lat/long.
• Sharing a spot that is faster to send as numbers than to describe.

Copy in the right format

Coordinates come in decimal degrees (best for apps and links) or degrees-minutes-seconds (common on charts). You can copy either with one tap — and if the two notations confuse you, our guide to decimal degrees vs DMS clears it up. Ready? Open the map and grab a coordinate.