To drop a pin in Google Maps on your phone, touch and hold any place on the map until a red pin appears. On a computer, right-click the spot to see its coordinates. Tap the address at the bottom of a phone screen to save, label or share the pin.
A dropped pin is the answer to 'I know exactly where I mean, but it has no address'. A gate on a farm track, the meeting point at a festival, the car park entrance everyone gets wrong. Once you've dropped a pin you can label it, save it, copy its coordinates or send it to someone. Here's how on a phone and on a computer, and what to do with the pin afterwards.
Drop a pin on your phone
- Open the Google Maps app.
- Move the map to the place you want and touch and hold on it. A red pin drops where you pressed.
- Tap the name or address that appears at the bottom of the screen.
- From there you can save the pin, label it or share it.
If you'd rather start from a search, you can also look up an address first and then press and hold a nearby spot to fix the exact position. That's useful when the address is right but the entrance is round the back.
Drop a pin on a computer
On a desktop browser, open Google Maps and right-click the spot you want. Google's help page says a pop-up appears with the latitude and longitude in decimal format at the top, and you can click the numbers to copy them. That's the quickest way to get precise coordinates to paste into a message or a spreadsheet.
What to do with a dropped pin
| I want to... | How |
|---|---|
| Send it to someone | Tap the place name or address, tap Share, then choose an app |
| Remember it | Tap the name or address, tap Save and choose a list |
| Name it | Tap the name, then Label, and type your own label |
| Get the exact coordinates | On a computer, right-click the spot and click the numbers to copy |
Label a pin so you can find it again
An unlabeled pin is just 'Dropped pin' and it won't mean much in six months. Google has a feature for exactly this: tap and hold a place, tap the name at the bottom and tap Label. Type something clear, such as 'back gate' or 'Mum's house'. Google says labeled places show up on your map, in search suggestions and in Google Photos, and you can find them again under You, then Labeled in the app, or Saved, then Labeled on a computer.
Save a pin to a list
If you want the pin kept with other places, such as a holiday plan, tap the name or address and tap Save, then choose a list or create a new one. Google's guide notes that only you can see your saved places unless you create and share a list. And there's a limit worth knowing: saved lists are capped at 3,000 entries, and lists with more than that may not display correctly.
Use coordinates the right way
If you need to send somebody a location in a way that works in any app, coordinates are the safest bet. Google lists the rules so they work every time:
- Use decimal degrees, with a dot rather than a comma as the decimal separator. Google's example of the right format is 41.40338, 2.17403.
- Put the latitude first, then the longitude.
- Latitude must be between -90 and 90, and longitude between -180 and 180.
- Paste them straight into the Google Maps search box and press Enter to jump to the spot.
Share a location from a computer
Click the Menu at the top left, then Share or embed map. You can send a link by email or text, share it through a social app, or copy HTML to embed the map on a web page. Google points out a few things you can't share: a map with your saved locations, a map with a distance measurement, or an image of the map itself.
If you run a business
If customers keep struggling to find your door, a dropped pin on a route description can save you a dozen phone calls. For a full listing, you'll want your business on the map itself. My explainer on local SEO citations covers one part of that, and the Google Maps ranking factors cheat sheet explains what helps you show up when people search nearby.
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Common problems with dropped pins
- The pin lands in the wrong place. Zoom in further before you press and hold. At a distance one fingertip covers a whole street.
- You can't find an old pin. If you didn't save or label it, it only appears in your recent searches. Label pins you care about straight away.
- A label doesn't show. Labeled places appear under You, then Labeled, in the app, and under Saved, then Labeled on a computer.
- The coordinates don't work in another app. Check the format: a dot as the decimal separator, latitude first and no stray symbols.
Dropped pins are also handy for messaging a delivery driver or a taxi. Share the pin and add a short note about the entrance, because the address alone often puts them at the wrong side of the building.
My verdict
On a phone, press and hold and a pin drops. On a computer, right-click for the coordinates. Label every pin you care about the moment you drop it, or you'll scroll past it later without knowing what it was.
Frequently asked questions
How do I drop a pin in Google Maps?
On your phone, touch and hold a place on the map until a red pin appears. On a computer, click the map, or right-click to see the coordinates.
How do I share a dropped pin?
Tap the place's name or address at the bottom of the screen, tap Share and choose an app.
How do I save or label a dropped pin?
Tap the name or address, then tap Save to put it in a list, or tap Label to give it your own name.
How do I get the coordinates of a spot?
On a computer, right-click the place and click the latitude and longitude at the top of the pop-up to copy them.
What format should coordinates be in?
Use decimal degrees with the latitude first, such as 41.40338, 2.17403, with a dot rather than a comma.
