Decimal Degrees to DMS Converter — Degrees Minutes Seconds
Switch between decimal degrees (e.g. 40.7488°) and DMS notation (40° 44′ 55.68″) — the two coordinate formats used by GPS, Google Maps and navigation tools.
Conversion direction
°
40° 44′ 55.68″
How does this calculator work?
Decimal degrees → DMS: degrees = whole part; minutes = floor(fraction × 60); seconds = remaining fraction × 60. Reverse: DD = D + M/60 + S/3600. Example: 40.7488° = 40° 44′ 55.68″. Used in GPS coordinates, Google Maps, surveying and celestial navigation where DMS is the traditional format.
Formula
How this is calculated
Angles and geographic coordinates are expressed in two common formats. Decimal degrees (DD) give a single floating-point number (e.g. 40.7488°). Degrees-minutes-seconds (DMS) splits the angle into three components where 1 degree = 60 arc-minutes and 1 arc-minute = 60 arc-seconds (e.g. 40° 44′ 55.68″). DMS is the traditional surveying and celestial navigation format; decimal degrees are preferred in digital mapping and GIS because they are simpler for arithmetic.
To convert DD to DMS: the whole-number part is the degrees; multiply the fractional part by 60 for minutes (take the whole part); multiply the remaining fraction by 60 for seconds. For 40.7488°: degrees = 40, 0.7488 × 60 = 44.928 → minutes = 44, 0.928 × 60 = 55.68 → seconds = 55.68. Result: 40° 44′ 55.68″. The reverse is D + M/60 + S/3600.
Negative values represent south latitudes or west longitudes. Minutes and seconds must each be in the range 0–59; the sign is carried by the degrees component only. This calculator also outputs DM (degrees-decimal-minutes) notation used by some chart plotters, and the radian equivalent.
Frequently asked questions
Both express the same angle. Decimal degrees (e.g. 40.7488°) are a single number convenient for computation. DMS (40° 44′ 55.68″) splits it into sexagesimal components matching the traditional notation for geographic coordinates and telescope pointing.
Enter a negative decimal degree value (e.g. -33.8688 for Sydney latitude). In DMS mode enter a negative degrees value; minutes and seconds remain positive.
DM (degrees-decimal-minutes) keeps the degrees integer but expresses only two components: e.g. 40° 44.9280′. Many marine chart plotters and handheld GPS units use this format rather than full DMS.
Also known as
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. (2026). Decimal Degrees to DMS Converter — Degrees Minutes Seconds [Online calculator]. TG we-Calculate. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/decimal-to-minutes-degrees-calculator
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team. "Decimal Degrees to DMS Converter — Degrees Minutes Seconds." TG we-Calculate. 2026. https://we-calculate.com/calculator/decimal-to-minutes-degrees-calculator.
TG we-Calculate Editorial Team, "Decimal Degrees to DMS Converter — Degrees Minutes Seconds," TG we-Calculate, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://we-calculate.com/calculator/decimal-to-minutes-degrees-calculator
@misc{wecalculate_decimal_to_minutes_degrees_calculator, title = {Decimal Degrees to DMS Converter — Degrees Minutes Seconds}, author = {{TG we-Calculate Editorial Team}}, howpublished = {\url{https://we-calculate.com/calculator/decimal-to-minutes-degrees-calculator}}, year = {2026}, note = {TG we-Calculate} }
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