← All articles

MGRS in Google Maps and Google Earth

October 25, 2026

Google Maps can find a taco truck from a misspelled street name, but it cannot read a grid. Hand it 18T WL 8073 0470 (the Statue of Liberty, to 10 m) and it has no idea what you mean. Google Earth knows a little more, on one version only. Here is the short list of what each one does with MGRS, and how to get the grid itself on a map.

In this post

  • Google Maps: no MGRS in, no MGRS out, no grid.
  • Google Earth Pro on a desktop: an MGRS readout under the cursor.
  • Google Earth in a browser or on a phone: lat/long only.
  • A live MGRS grid you can search, plot on and print at a true scale.
The grid reference from the opening line, on the grid it belongs to.

Can Google Maps show MGRS?

No, in either direction. Google's own help page lists the three formats its search box reads: decimal degrees, degrees minutes seconds and degrees decimal minutes. MGRS is not on it. Drop a pin and you get decimal lat/long and a Plus Code, never a grid reference, and neither Maps nor My Maps has a grid layer to turn on.

The workaround is a converter. Run the grid through the lat long to MGRS converter and paste the lat/long it gives you into Google Maps. It works for one point. For a patrol plan with nine checkpoints it gets old by the third.

Can Google Earth show MGRS?

Google Earth Pro, the desktop app, can. Open Tools, then Options, then 3D View (Google Earth, then Preferences on a Mac), and set Show Lat/Long to Military Grid Reference System. The reference under your cursor now reads in MGRS. That is a readout, not a map: there is nothing to print at 1:25,000 and plot on with a protractor.

Google Earth in a browser or on a phone gives you less. Its formatting setting offers decimal degrees or degrees minutes seconds, and that is the end of the menu.

Already have the points in Google Earth? Save them as a KMZ and open it in the KMZ viewer. The placemarks keep their names and land under an MGRS grid.

The live MGRS grid

Turn on the MGRS grid and it stays drawn as you pan and zoom, from 100 km squares down to 1 m. Paste 18T WL 8073 0470 into the search and the map lands on that square with the grid already on.

Then do the thing Google never will: print the map as a PDF at 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 with the grid and labels on it, so a protractor reads true on paper. If the digits still look like a phone number, start with how to read a military grid reference.

FAQ

Does Google Maps support MGRS?

No. Google Maps search reads decimal degrees, degrees minutes seconds and degrees decimal minutes, and it never draws a grid. Convert the MGRS reference to lat/long first, or paste it into a map that reads MGRS directly.

Can Google Earth show MGRS coordinates?

Google Earth Pro on a desktop can show the MGRS reference under your cursor, set under Show Lat/Long in the 3D View options. Google Earth in a browser or on a phone formats coordinates only as decimal degrees or degrees minutes seconds.

How do I put an MGRS grid on a map?

Open the MapGridder map and switch the grid to MGRS. The grid lines and labels follow you as you pan and zoom, a pasted reference such as 18T WL 8073 0470 lands on its square, and the map prints as a PDF at a true scale with the grid on it.

Google is great at addresses. For grids, open the MGRS map.