MGRS Converter
Convert coordinates between latitude and longitude and the Military Grid Reference System. Paste decimal degrees such as 52.5200, 13.4050 or MGRS references such as 33U UU 91390 17855, one per line, and each line is converted the other way on WGS84, with a precision you choose from 10 kilometers down to 1 meter. Used by armed forces, emergency services, search and rescue teams and in land navigation.
Frequently asked questions
What does an MGRS reference consist of?
A grid zone such as 33U, a two letter 100 kilometer square such as UU, and an even number of digits split into easting and northing within that square. The reference 33U UU 91390 17855 locates a 1 meter square in Berlin.
How do I choose the precision?
Precision 5 writes five digits each for easting and northing, a 1 meter square, while 4 means 10 meters, 3 means 100 meters, 2 means 1 kilometer and 1 means 10 kilometers. The default is 5.
Which point do I get when converting MGRS to latitude and longitude?
An MGRS reference names a square rather than a point, so the converter returns the center of that square. A 1 meter reference lands within a meter of the original position, a 1 kilometer reference within about 700 meters.
Can I enter references with or without spaces?
Both work. 33UUU9139017855 and 33U UU 91390 17855 are the same reference, and letters may be lower case. The output uses the spaced form, which is easier to read aloud.
Why does converting back not give exactly my input?
MGRS truncates coordinates to the chosen square instead of rounding them, as the standard requires. Converting back returns the center of the square, which can differ from your original point by up to half the size of the square.
Is MGRS the same as USNG?
The US National Grid uses the same grid as MGRS on the WGS84 datum, so references produced here are valid USNG coordinates as well. Publications differ only in how they space and group the characters.
Does MGRS work at the poles?
No. The UTM based part of MGRS covers latitudes from 80 degrees south to 84 degrees north, and the polar regions use UPS based references, which this converter does not support.
Which datum and library are used?
The conversion uses WGS84 and the mgrs library, which builds on the UTM projection. References read from older maps on other datums can be offset by up to a few hundred meters.
Can I convert many coordinates at once?
Yes. Put each latitude and longitude pair or MGRS reference on its own line, up to 10,000 lines, in any mix. Each line is converted the other way and the order is preserved.
Which input errors are reported?
The converter names the line of any entry that is neither a coordinate pair nor an MGRS reference, of an MGRS reference with an odd number of digits or an invalid square, and of latitudes or longitudes out of range.