Latitude and Longitude Formats: Decimal vs DMS Explained

Decimal degrees (DD) write a coordinate as signed numbers, like 48.8584, 2.2945. Degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS) splits the same point into parts, like 48° 51' 30.2" N, 2° 17' 40.2" E. Both name the same spot. Use decimal for software, spreadsheets and imports. Use DMS when a map, chart or form asks for it.

What are the main latitude and longitude formats?

There are three common formats: decimal degrees (DD), degrees minutes seconds (DMS), and degrees decimal minutes (DDM). All three describe a position as an angle north or south of the equator (latitude) and east or west of the prime meridian (longitude).

Here is one location, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, written all three ways:

Format	Example	Direction shown by
Decimal degrees (DD)	48.8584, 2.2945	Plus or minus sign
Degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS)	48° 51' 30.2" N, 2° 17' 40.2" E	Letters N, S, E, W
Degrees, decimal minutes (DDM)	48° 51.504' N, 2° 17.670' E	Letters N, S, E, W

DDM is less common. You mostly meet it in marine and aviation contexts and on some handheld GPS units. The rest of this guide focuses on DD and DMS, since those are the two you will run into when working with photos, maps and spreadsheets.

How does decimal degrees format work?

Decimal degrees express each coordinate as one number. Latitude runs from -90 to 90 and longitude from -180 to 180. Positive means north or east. Negative means south or west.

So a point in Sydney is written as -33.8568, 151.2153. The negative latitude means south of the equator. The positive longitude means east of the prime meridian.

Three rules cover most uses:

• Latitude comes first, then longitude, separated by a comma. (Some systems reverse this. See the mistakes section below.)
• There are no letters. The sign carries the direction.
• The number of decimal places controls precision.

How does DMS format work?

DMS splits a coordinate into degrees, minutes and seconds. There are 60 minutes in a degree and 60 seconds in a minute. A letter (N, S, E or W) gives the direction instead of a minus sign.

The same Sydney point in DMS is 33° 51' 24.5" S, 151° 12' 55.1" E. The "S" replaces the minus sign on the latitude.

The symbols are ° for degrees, ' for minutes and " for seconds. Many people type a straight apostrophe and a double quote, which is fine for reading but can confuse software that expects the proper symbols. More on that below.

How do you convert decimal degrees to DMS?

Keep the whole number as degrees. Multiply the remainder by 60 to get minutes. Keep the whole minutes and multiply the new remainder by 60 to get seconds.

Worked example using latitude 48.8584:

1. Degrees: 48.
2. Remainder: 0.8584 × 60 = 51.504. Minutes: 51.
3. Remainder: 0.504 × 60 = 30.24. Seconds: 30.24.
4. Result: 48° 51' 30.24" N.

For a negative number, drop the sign, do the same steps, then use S for latitude or W for longitude. For -33.8568, you work with 33.8568 and write the result with S.

How do you convert DMS to decimal degrees?

Divide minutes by 60, divide seconds by 3,600, and add both to the degrees. If the direction is S or W, make the result negative.

Using 48° 51' 30.24" N:

• 51 ÷ 60 = 0.85
• 30.24 ÷ 3,600 = 0.0084
• 48 + 0.85 + 0.0084 = 48.8584

For 33° 51' 24.48" S, you get 33.8568, then apply the sign to get -33.8568.

You do not need to do this by hand every time. Spreadsheets can do it with a formula, and most mapping tools accept both formats in the search box. But knowing the maths helps you spot a wrong value fast.

How precise is each format?

Precision depends on how many decimals you keep. At the equator, one degree of latitude is roughly 111 km, so each extra decimal place cuts the uncertainty by a factor of ten.

Decimal places	Approx. precision
0	About 111 km
1	About 11 km
2	About 1.1 km
3	About 110 m
4	About 11 m
5	About 1.1 m
6	About 0.11 m

In DMS, one second of latitude is about 31 metres, and a tenth of a second is about 3 metres. So 30.2" is already more precise than most phone GPS readings.

Longitude is a little different. Lines of longitude converge toward the poles, so a degree of longitude is about 111 km at the equator and shrinks to nothing at the poles. At mid-latitudes your east-west precision per decimal place is better than the table suggests.

Real-world accuracy is a separate matter. A phone GPS fix is often only good to several metres, and worse near tall buildings or indoors. Writing six decimals does not make a reading more accurate. It only records the number more finely.

Which format should you use: decimal or DMS?

Choose decimal degrees for anything a computer reads, and DMS for anything a person reads on a map, chart or legal document. When you are unsure, decimal is the safer default.

Choose decimal degrees when:

• You are typing into a spreadsheet, database or CSV file.
• You are pasting into Google Maps or another web map.
• You are working with GPX tracks, which store latitude and longitude as decimal numbers.
• You want to calculate distances or sort locations.
• You are sending coordinates by text or email, where a single line is easy to copy.

Choose DMS when:

• A paper map, nautical chart or survey document uses it.
• A form or client explicitly asks for it.
• You want a format that is easy to read aloud and hard to mix up, since the N/S/E/W letters make direction obvious.

Choose DDM when:

• Your marine or aviation equipment or a geocaching device uses it.

Most online maps accept all of these, so typing a coordinate in any common format will usually find the place. If a search returns somewhere strange, check the format and signs before anything else.

What format do photos use for GPS data?

Photo files store GPS coordinates in EXIF metadata as degrees, minutes and seconds, each saved as a number pair, along with a separate reference field for N/S and E/W. Software then shows this to you as DMS or decimal, depending on the app.

That is why one photo can appear to have different coordinates in different tools. A viewer might show 48 deg 51' 30.24" N while another shows 48.8584. The location has not changed. Only the display has.

If you want to see what a file actually contains, the free photo metadata checker shows the stored fields, and our guide to EXIF data explains how to read them.

When you tag photos with Geotagr, the GPS coordinates are written into the photo file's metadata. All processing happens in your browser, and photo files are not uploaded to Geotagr's servers. If you are adding coordinates to photos for the first time, how to add GPS coordinates to photos online walks through it step by step.

One caution: some platforms strip metadata when you upload photos, so coordinates stored in the file may not survive. Google has also not published how it uses photo metadata. For more, see does geotagging photos help local SEO.

What are the most common coordinate mistakes?

Most coordinate errors come from a lost sign, swapped order or odd symbols. Check these first when a pin lands in the wrong place.

• Dropped minus sign. Entering 33.8568, 151.2153 instead of -33.8568, 151.2153 puts you in the northern hemisphere, in the wrong ocean or country. For anywhere in the Americas, a missing minus on longitude moves you to Asia or Africa.
• Swapped latitude and longitude. Most consumer tools use latitude, longitude. Some formats and developer tools, such as GeoJSON, use longitude, latitude. If a pin appears far from where you expect, try swapping.
• Mixing formats. Writing 48.8584, 2° 17' 40" in one line confuses parsers. Use one format for both values.
• Using minus and a letter together. "-33.8568 S" is a double negative to some software. Pick one direction method.
• Treating DMS as decimal. 48.51 is not the same as 48° 51'. Minutes are out of 60, not 100. 48° 51' is about 48.85, not 48.51.
• Wrong symbols. Curly quotes, the letter "o" instead of ° or extra spaces can break pasting. If a tool rejects your DMS, retype the symbols or switch to decimal.
• Too few decimals. Rounding to two decimals can put the pin about a kilometre away. Keep at least five for a street address or job site.

How do you copy coordinates from a map?

In Google Maps on desktop, right-click a spot and the first item in the menu is the decimal coordinate. Click it to copy. On mobile, long-press to drop a pin and the coordinates appear in the search box or details panel. Menu layouts change, so look for the numbers near the pin.

Searching for DMS in Google Maps shows the place, and Google Maps shows the decimal version in the panel for that result. That is a quick way to convert without any formulas.

Before you tag a batch of photos, check one pin on a map to confirm the sign and order are right. A wrong sign copied across 200 photos is tedious to undo. Our guide on batch geotagging photos covers workflows that let you check before you apply changes.

Which format is best for business photos?

For business use, keep a master list in decimal degrees and convert only when something asks for DMS. Decimal copies cleanly into spreadsheets and CSV files without symbols to break.

A few practical cases:

• Local businesses tagging storefront and team photos can look up their location once, store it as decimal, and reuse it. See geotagging photos for Google Business Profile for what to expect.
• Real estate agents tagging listing photos can copy the property coordinate from a map. See real estate listing photos.
• Contractors and field teams can record a coordinate per job site in one sheet. See job-site photos for contractors.

Geotagr supports CSV import and GPX track matching on paid plans, which is where consistent decimal coordinates help. See pricing for details.

Frequently asked questions

Is decimal or DMS better for photos?

Neither is better, because photo files store the data the same way internally and apps convert it for display. For your own records and any tool you type into, decimal degrees are easier to copy and less error-prone. Use DMS only when a form or document asks for it.

How do I know if a coordinate is in decimal or DMS?

Decimal coordinates are plain numbers with a decimal point, such as 40.7128, -74.0060. DMS has degree, minute and second markers (° ' ") and usually a direction letter such as N or W. If you see numbers like 40° 42' 46" N, it is DMS.

Does a negative number mean south or west?

Yes. In decimal degrees, a negative latitude is south of the equator and a negative longitude is west of the prime meridian. In DMS, the letters S and W do the same job, so you do not also add a minus sign.

How many decimal places do I need for a street address?

Five decimal places give roughly one-metre precision, which is enough for a building or job site. Six is more than most phone GPS can reliably deliver. Two or three decimals will only place you within a neighbourhood.

Why does my photo show different coordinates in different apps?

Apps display the same stored values in different formats, and some round differently. Compare them by converting one to the other. If the two still differ by more than rounding, one app may be reading a different tag or an edited copy of the file. Our guide to checking photo metadata shows how to inspect the raw fields.

Can I paste DMS into Google Maps?

Usually yes. Google Maps accepts DMS and decimal in the search box. Use a degree symbol, minute and second marks and a direction letter for each value. If it fails, convert to decimal and try again.