Online Compass

Open this online compass on your phone, tap enable, and hold the device flat in your palm. The dial rotates so that N always tracks north, and the large number shows your heading in degrees from 0° (north) clockwise to 359°. Turn slowly until the reading settles, then face the direction the dial calls north.

The way north lies depends on where you are standing and which direction you are facing, so the only reliable answer is a live reading. Hold your phone flat and let this online compass to find north settle, then turn until the heading shows 0° — that is the direction of north from where you are right now. The big red marker at the top of the dial points the way you are facing, so you can read off north at a glance.

If you have no compass at all, the sun and stars can help: the sun rises roughly in the east and sets in the west, and at night the North Star sits almost directly over true north. With an analog watch, point the hour hand at the sun and the midpoint between it and 12 o'clock points south. That said, the magnetometer already in your phone is far quicker and more precise, which is exactly what this free online compass reads for you.

Most modern smartphones and many tablets include a magnetometer, the sensor an online compass relies on to detect the Earth's magnetic field. There is no spinning needle inside — the device measures the field electronically and calculates your heading. Most desktops and laptops have no magnetometer, so open this tool on a phone or tablet; if no sensor is found, the page will tell you.

Start by facing the direction you want to check and reading the heading in degrees, where 0° is north, 90° east, 180° south and 270° west. To follow a bearing, turn your body until the number matches the heading you want, then walk that way and re-check now and then to stay on course. Hold the phone flat and level while you read, since tilting it sideways skews the result.

A phone compass is good enough for everyday use — finding north on a walk, orienting a map, or aiming a dish — and is usually accurate to within a few degrees in clear conditions. Accuracy drops to 10–15° or more near metal, magnets, speakers or cars, and when the phone is tilted instead of held flat. For the steadiest reading, keep this online compass to find north level and away from interference, and treat it as a guide rather than survey-grade.

Wave the device slowly in a figure-eight motion a few times, tilting it through different angles, so the magnetometer can re-reference the magnetic field. Do this away from anything magnetic — laptops, speakers, metal desks, cars, and phone cases with magnetic closures all bend the field. If this free online compass reads relative or drifts, a quick figure-eight is usually all it needs.

A compass that spins, jumps or points the wrong way is almost always reacting to magnetic interference or stale calibration rather than a fault. Magnetic phone cases, MagSafe accessories, pop sockets, speakers, metal desks and car dashboards all distort the field the magnetometer is trying to read. Move away from metal and magnets, remove any magnetic case, and wave the phone in a slow figure-eight — the reading on this online compass tool should steady within a few seconds.

A magnetometer is pulled toward magnetic north, which sits some distance from true north (the actual top of the globe), and the gap between them — called declination — changes with your location. On iOS the browser hands us a heading already corrected to true north, so the dial is accurate straight away. On many Android devices the reading is magnetic or relative, and an on-screen badge always tells you which mode you are in.

Yes. This is a free online compass that runs entirely in your browser with no app to install and no sign-up. It reads your device's built-in orientation sensor, processes everything on the device, and never requests your GPS location or uploads your heading anywhere. Just open the page on a phone or tablet, tap enable, and start finding north.