Degrees, Minutes and Seconds to Decimal Degrees in Excel
Last updated 26 September 2026
Convert coordinates like 25°12'30.5"N to 25.208472 with one Excel formula, and why a DMS column must be converted before mapping.
Why it matters
Mapping programs, Excel to KML included, read latitude and longitude as plain decimal numbers: 25.208472, not 25°12'30.5"N. A column of degrees, minutes and seconds has to be converted first, or points land in the wrong place.
The arithmetic
Decimal degrees = degrees + minutes ÷ 60 + seconds ÷ 3600. South and west are negative.
25°12'30.5"N → 25 + 12/60 + 30.5/3600 = 25.208472
55°16'45"E → 55 + 16/60 + 45/3600 = 55.279167
33°52'10"S → −(33 + 52/60 + 10/3600) = −33.869444
In Excel: degrees, minutes and seconds in separate columns
With degrees in A, minutes in B and seconds in C, put this in D2 and fill it down:
=A2+B2/60+C2/3600For southern latitudes or western longitudes, put a minus sign in front of the result.
In Excel: one text value like 25°12'30.5"N
With the value in A2, this formula reads the degrees, minutes, seconds and the N, S, E or W at the end:
=(LEFT(A2,FIND("°",A2)-1)+MID(A2,FIND("°",A2)+1,FIND("'",A2)-FIND("°",A2)-1)/60+MID(A2,FIND("'",A2)+1,FIND("""",A2)-FIND("'",A2)-1)/3600)*IF(OR(RIGHT(A2)="S",RIGHT(A2)="W"),-1,1)It expects the symbols °, ' and ". If your sheet uses other marks — two single quotes for seconds, or spaces — use Find and Replace to change them first.
Degrees and decimal minutes (GPS style)
Handheld GPS units often show 25°12.508'N. That's degrees + minutes ÷ 60, with no seconds:
=(LEFT(A2,FIND("°",A2)-1)+MID(A2,FIND("°",A2)+1,FIND("'",A2)-FIND("°",A2)-1)/60)*IF(OR(RIGHT(A2)="S",RIGHT(A2)="W"),-1,1)How many decimal places
Six decimal places of a degree is about 0.1 m; eight is about a millimetre. Keep at least six for survey work, and don't round the column before converting.
Then map it
Head the columns LATITUDE and LONGITUDE, open the sheet, and choose Latitude and longitude already — no conversion under Coordinate system. To get eastings and northings from them, see latitude and longitude to UTM.
Try it with your own sheet