Online Compass
Open Coordinates and choose its location action when you want a position report. You can also use the coordinate converter without granting location access. Keep the coordinate order and north reference clear when moving a result into another tool.
Read latitude first and longitude second
A coordinate pair identifies a position using two angles. Latitude measures north or south of the equator; longitude measures east or west of the prime meridian. Online Compass displays latitude first. Some mapping formats use longitude first, so check the destination's labels before pasting a pair.
Positive latitude means north and negative latitude means south. Positive longitude means east and negative longitude means west. The signs belong to separate values. A minus sign on longitude does not say that the whole position lies south of the equator.
Valid latitude values run from −90° to 90°, and longitude values from −180° to 180°. Zero is a valid value. A latitude of 0° lies on the equator, and a longitude of 0° lies on the prime meridian. A result containing zero is not automatically a failed location report.
Convert decimal degrees into degrees, minutes and seconds
Take the example latitude 40.5°. The whole part gives 40 degrees. Multiply the remaining 0.5 by 60 to obtain 30 minutes. There is no fractional minute left, so the result is 40° 30′ 0″ N.
For a longitude of −73.25°, work with the magnitude 73.25 and retain the western hemisphere. The quarter degree becomes 15 minutes, giving 73° 15′ 0″ W. The signed pair 40.5, -73.25 and the two DMS values describe the same mathematical position.
To reverse that conversion, add degrees, minutes divided by 60, and seconds divided by 3600. Apply the hemisphere sign to the whole magnitude afterward. For 12° 15′ 30″ S, that is −(12 + 15/60 + 30/3600), or approximately −12.258333°.
Online Compass validates minutes and seconds below 60. At a latitude of 90° or longitude of 180°, the smaller parts must be zero. Extra decimal places describe how a number is written; they do not establish the accuracy of the source position.
Check the position's timestamp and accuracy
Location permission allows the browser to try to return a position. It does not guarantee a particular accuracy or prove that the result came only from GPS satellites. The browser chooses the available position source.
The accuracy field reports the browser's horizontal estimate in meters. Read that estimate beside the coordinate pair. A tightly formatted position with a broad accuracy estimate still has broad positional uncertainty. Copying more decimal places cannot remove it.
Online Compass requests a fresh report when you use its location action. Check the displayed capture time, especially if you have moved since the previous request. A locally saved position is a snapshot; reopening it does not update it to where you are now.
Treat altitude as a separate report
The browser may return an altitude and a vertical accuracy estimate, or omit either value. The tool keeps unavailable values visible instead of replacing them with zero. A returned altitude of zero and a missing altitude are different states.
The Geolocation specification defines altitude relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid. That reference differs from a terrain height or a map's height above mean sea level. Do not compare those values as though they used one reference. Horizontal accuracy also does not tell you the vertical accuracy.
Online Compass labels the altitude as reported by the browser. It does not fetch a terrain elevation service or promise survey quality. If you need ground elevation, choose a source that identifies its vertical datum and coverage.
Copy or save only the position you intend to use
Copying a pair is useful for calculating an initial bearing between two known places. Confirm which pair represents your start and which your destination. The bearing calculator uses geographic north and a spherical Earth approximation; it does not calculate a road route.
Use the explicit local save action when you want to keep a snapshot in this browser. Clearing it removes that saved copy. Private browsing, another device or browser storage cleanup may make it unavailable. Your sensor and coordinate values are not submitted to Online Compass's backend by these tools.