How do I put coordinates into a map?
Type them into the map’s search box as decimal degrees, latitude first, with a period for the decimals and a comma between the two numbers: 47.6205, -122.3493. Google Maps also takes degrees, minutes and seconds, and degrees with decimal minutes.
In Google Maps
Google’s help page lists three forms its search box accepts: decimal degrees (41.40338, 2.17403), degrees, minutes and seconds (41°24'12.2"N 2°10'26.5"E) and degrees and decimal minutes (41 24.2028, 2 10.4418). It asks for latitude first, a latitude between −90 and 90 and a longitude between −180 and 180, and periods rather than commas for decimals. To read the coordinates of a spot on a computer, right-click it; they appear in decimal form at the top of the menu.
The mistakes that move a point far away
Swapping latitude and longitude, or dropping the minus sign of a western or southern coordinate, puts the point on another continent: 47.6205, -122.3493 is the Space Needle in Seattle, while 47.6205, 122.3493 is in northern China. A comma as the decimal mark, as in 47,6205, turns two numbers into four, and the map can’t tell which is which.
Check the point before you send it
Paste the same numbers into the coordinate fields of any tool here. The point appears on a map with its city, county, ZIP area and time zone in the United States, and its country and time zone elsewhere, so a swapped or mistyped number shows at once.
When a form wants another format
Some receivers, rescue forms and printed maps ask for UTM, MGRS or a Plus Code instead. The coordinate converter writes the same point in each of them; only the notation changes, not the place.