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DMS to decimal degrees converter

Paste a coordinate in degrees, minutes and seconds — like 40°42′46″N 74°00′22″W — and get clean decimal degrees back instantly, with the conversion formula spelled out, a live map and one-tap copy. Everything runs in your browser.

Accepts symbols (° ′ ″), letters (N S E W) or plain spaces, e.g. 40 42 46 N.

Try example
Latitude (decimal degrees)
40.712778
Longitude (decimal degrees)
-74.006111
Decimal degrees (lat, long)
40.712778, -74.006111
Interpreted as (DMS)
40°42'46.0"N 74°00'22.0"W
Conversion formula DD = degrees + minutes ÷ 60 + seconds ÷ 3600 (negate for S / W)

All coordinates use the WGS84 datum.

Drag the marker to adjust — or tap the map to move it.

What is DMS to decimal degrees conversion?

It rewrites a coordinate from degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) — like 40°42′46″N — into a single signed decimal number such as 40.712778. Both describe the same point; decimal degrees just packs the minutes and seconds into the fractional part, which is what apps, links, spreadsheets and code expect.

How to convert DMS to decimal degrees

  1. Type or paste your degrees-minutes-seconds coordinate into the box above — symbols, N/S/E/W letters or plain spaces all work.
  2. Read the decimal-degrees result underneath; latitude and longitude appear separately and combined as “lat, long”.
  3. Tap copy to grab the decimal value, or open the point on the map to confirm it landed where you expect.

The DMS to decimal formula

StepCalculationExample (40°42′46″N)
Minutes to degreesminutes ÷ 6042 ÷ 60 = 0.7000
Seconds to degreesseconds ÷ 360046 ÷ 3600 = 0.0128
Add to whole degreesdeg + above40 + 0.7000 + 0.0128 = 40.7128
Apply hemisphereN/E positive, S/W negativeN → +40.7128

Tips, accuracy and privacy

Remember the sign: south latitudes and west longitudes are negative in decimal degrees. Six decimal places resolve to about 11 cm, so there’s no precision lost going from DMS to DD. Conversions are exact transforms on the WGS84 datum and run entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Need the reverse? Use the decimal to DMS converter, or get every format at once with the coordinate converter.

See all tools →

Frequently asked questions

How do you convert DMS to decimal degrees?
Divide the minutes by 60 and the seconds by 3600, then add both to the whole degrees: DD = deg + min/60 + sec/3600. For example 40°42′46″ becomes 40 + 0.7 + 0.0128 = 40.7128°. Make the result negative for southern latitudes or western longitudes.

Why is my converted coordinate negative?
Decimal degrees use signs for hemisphere: north and east are positive, south and west are negative. So 74°00′22″W converts to −74.0061, and a coordinate marked S becomes a negative latitude. This tool applies the sign automatically from the N/S/E/W letter.

What formats can I paste in?
The input is tolerant: it accepts ° ′ ″ symbols, straight quotes, colons or plain spaces, with the hemisphere letter at the start or end — for example 40°42′46″N, 40 42 46 N, or N40:42:46. Latitude and longitude can be separated by a comma or a space.

How accurate is decimal degrees?
Plenty accurate. One arcsecond is roughly 31 metres, so seconds matter; decimal degrees to six places resolve to about 11 cm. No precision is lost converting DMS to DD, since it’s an exact arithmetic transform on the WGS84 datum.

How do I convert decimal degrees back to DMS?
Use the decimal degrees to DMS converter, which adds the N/S/E/W direction for you. To see UTM, MGRS, Plus Codes and Geohash for the same point, try the coordinate converter.

Is this DMS converter free and private?
Yes. It’s completely free, needs no account, and the math runs entirely in your browser — your coordinates are never sent to a server. You can use it offline once the page has loaded.