BYTETOOLS

DMS to Decimal Converter

Convert degrees, minutes and seconds to decimal degrees. Enter D/M/S with a hemisphere, or bulk-paste many DMS coordinates and convert them all at once.

Latitude

Longitude

40.446111
Latitude (decimal degrees)
-74.005972
Longitude (decimal degrees)

Decimal degrees

Signed pair (GeoJSON order is reversed)
40.446111, -74.005972
Degrees decimal minutes
40°26.7667'N 74°0.3583'W

What is the DMS to Decimal Converter?

This converter turns degrees-minutes-seconds coordinates into the signed decimal degrees that web maps, GeoJSON, spreadsheets and APIs expect.

  • Structured degrees / minutes / seconds fields with hemisphere selectors
  • Bulk mode converts an entire pasted list in one go
  • Validates minutes and seconds below 60 and the ±90° / ±180° ranges
  • Also shows the degrees decimal minutes (DDM) equivalent
  • Clear, specific error messages instead of silent wrong answers
  • 100% client-side — nothing is uploaded or stored

How to use the DMS to Decimal Converter

  1. 1

    Choose whether you are converting one coordinate or bulk-pasting a list.

  2. 2

    For a single coordinate, type the degrees, minutes and seconds and pick the hemisphere.

  3. 3

    For bulk conversion, paste one DMS coordinate pair per line into the text box.

  4. 4

    Read the decimal degrees result and click Copy to take it to your spreadsheet or code.

About the DMS to Decimal Converter

This converter turns degrees-minutes-seconds coordinates into the signed decimal degrees that web maps, GeoJSON, spreadsheets and APIs expect. Enter the degrees, minutes and seconds for latitude and longitude with an N/S/E/W selector, and the decimal value appears immediately with full validation of the 60-minute and 60-second limits.

There is also a bulk mode: paste a whole column of DMS coordinates, one per line, and get back a clean list of decimal pairs ready to drop into Excel, a CSV or a database import. The parser handles 40°26'46"N, 40 26 46 N, 40d26m46sN and degrees-decimal-minutes such as 40°26.767'N.

This is the conversion people most often get wrong by hand, because south and west values must become negative and the minutes-and-seconds arithmetic is easy to fumble. Everything runs locally in your browser — no coordinates are uploaded, which matters when you are converting client survey data or unpublished site locations.

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. For 40°26'46" that is 40 + 26/60 + 46/3600 = 40.446111°. Finally, make the result negative if the coordinate is south or west.

Why is my converted longitude negative?

In decimal degrees the sign carries the hemisphere: west of Greenwich is negative and south of the equator is negative. So 74°0'21"W becomes −74.005833. Dropping that minus sign is the single most common coordinate mistake.

How many decimal places should I keep?

Five decimal places locate a point to about 1.1 metres and six to about 11 centimetres at the equator. Since consumer GPS is only accurate to a few metres, six decimals is more than enough for almost every practical use.

Can I convert a whole spreadsheet column of DMS coordinates?

Yes — switch to bulk mode, paste the column with one coordinate pair per line, and copy the decimal list straight back into your sheet. Lines that cannot be parsed are reported and skipped rather than silently producing a wrong number.

What if my coordinate has no seconds?

Leave the seconds field at zero, or paste a degrees-decimal-minutes value like 40°26.767'N in bulk mode. Both forms convert correctly — DDM is what most marine and aviation GPS units display.

Is my data uploaded to a server?

No. The conversion is plain JavaScript running in your browser, so coordinates are never transmitted or logged. That keeps confidential survey points and client site data entirely on your device.

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