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Plus Codes - Open Location Code Encoder Decoder

Free Plus Codes tool: encode/decode Open Location Codes, shorten codes with reference location, recover full codes. Google Plus Codes converter for addresses.

What are Plus Codes (Open Location Code)?

Plus Codes, also known as Open Location Codes (OLC), are short codes that represent locations anywhere on Earth. Developed by Google, Plus Codes provide a simple way to share precise locations without needing street addresses—perfect for areas without formal addressing systems.

A Plus Code looks like this: 7P28W9CM+F9 (Hanoi, Vietnam). The code can be shortened to W9CM+F9 when combined with a city name or nearby reference point. Unlike GPS coordinates, Plus Codes are easier to remember and communicate.

Key features of Plus Codes:

  • Short and easy to communicate: 10-11 characters instead of long coordinates
  • Work anywhere: Even in areas without street addresses or postal codes
  • Free and open source: No licensing fees or restrictions
  • Offline capable: Can be computed without internet connection
  • Integrated with Google Maps: Click Plus Code to open location in Maps

Plus Codes are particularly useful in developing countries, rural areas, informal settlements, and for emergency services.

How to Use Plus Codes

Plus Codes consist of an area code (first 4 digits) and a local code (last 6+ digits), separated by a plus sign. The more digits, the more precise the location:

Code length and precision:

  • 6 digits (e.g., 7P28W9+): ~14km × 14km area (city level)
  • 8 digits (e.g., 7P28W9CM+): ~275m × 275m area (neighborhood)
  • 10 digits (e.g., 7P28W9CM+F9): ~14m × 14m area (building entrance)
  • 11 digits (e.g., 7P28W9CM+F9W): ~3m × 3m area (precise spot)

Shortening Plus Codes:

When combined with a city name or reference location, you can drop the first 4 or 6 digits. For example, '7P28W9CM+F9' becomes 'W9CM+F9' or even 'CM+F9' when the reference location is nearby.

To use a short code, you need to recover the full code by providing a reference location (latitude/longitude) close to the target location.

Plus Codes vs GPS Coordinates

Comparing Plus Codes with traditional GPS coordinates:

  • Readability: Plus Codes (W9CM+F9) are shorter than coordinates (21.027800, 105.834200)
  • Communication: Easier to read over phone or write down without errors
  • Memorability: Alphanumeric codes are easier to remember than decimal numbers
  • Precision: Both provide similar accuracy depending on code length
  • Universal: Both work anywhere on Earth without requiring maps or databases

Plus Codes are ideal for human communication, while GPS coordinates remain better for technical applications and calculations.

Real-World Applications

Plus Codes are used in various practical scenarios:

  • Emergency Services: Quick location sharing for ambulances and rescue teams
  • Delivery Services: Precise drop-off points in areas without street addresses
  • Travel and Tourism: Share meeting points, hiking trailheads, or photo spots
  • Real Estate: Identify land parcels and construction sites without formal addresses
  • Humanitarian Aid: Navigate refugee camps and informal settlements
  • Business Locations: Help customers find shops, restaurants, or service providers

Plus Codes are integrated into Google Maps, Apple Maps, and many other mapping applications, making them accessible to billions of users worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Plus Code (also called an Open Location Code or OLC) is an open-source grid-based geocode developed by Google in 2014 to give a physical address to any spot on Earth, including unaddressed rural areas, slums, refugee camps, and undeveloped land. A full code like "8FVC9G8F+6X" encodes a 14 × 14 meter rectangle anywhere on the planet using a base-20 alphabet that deliberately excludes vowels and easily-confused characters (no 0, O, 1, I, L). Unlike street addresses, a Plus Code requires no naming authority, postal service, or street network — it works in Mongolia, Antarctica, the middle of the Sahara, and on the open ocean. Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, and most major map apps decode them natively.

A full Plus Code is 10 characters plus a "+" with two trailing characters: e.g., 8FVC9G8F+6X. The first 10 characters resolve to anywhere on Earth with no ambiguity. A short code drops the first 4 characters and is only meaningful when paired with a nearby reference locality: "9G8F+6X Zurich" works because "Zurich" disambiguates the missing prefix. Compound codes are short codes plus a town name and are what Google Maps typically shows. The plus sign always sits before the last two characters and marks the boundary between the 1/8000° resolution and the 1/40000° refinement. Codes can be extended past 11 characters for sub-meter precision but consumer apps rarely do so.

The Earth's surface (-90° to +90° latitude, -180° to +180° longitude) is first divided into 18 × 36 cells of 20° × 20° each, encoded by the first two characters. Each cell is subdivided into 20 × 20 sub-cells of 1° × 1° (characters 3–4), then 20 × 20 again for 0.05° (characters 5–6), 20 × 20 for 0.0025° (characters 7–8), and finally 20 × 20 for 0.000125° (characters 9–10), giving approximately 14 m on a side at the equator. The 11th character refines to a 4 × 5 grid (3.5 m × 2.8 m) using a different base-20 alphabet. The total alphabet is "23456789CFGHJMPQRVWX" — chosen so codes can be read aloud without confusion. Cells get narrower toward the poles because longitude lines converge.

Yes — Google released the Open Location Code algorithm under the Apache 2.0 license on GitHub at github.com/google/open-location-code with reference implementations in over 20 languages including JavaScript, Python, Java, Go, C++, Rust, and PHP. There are no patents, no royalties, no required attribution beyond the standard Apache notice, and no API key. You can encode, decode, and display Plus Codes in commercial products without contacting Google. The OLC specification is also documented as a stable W3C-style technical reference. By contrast, what3words is a proprietary patented system with paid API access — that is the most common confusion when developers compare alternatives.

what3words encodes 3 m × 3 m squares as a triplet of common dictionary words (filed.most.heaters) — memorable but proprietary, language-specific, and patented. Plus Codes encode any-size cells in alphanumeric characters and are open-source. Geohash, invented in 2008 by Gustavo Niemeyer, also uses a base-32 hierarchical alphabet and is fully open — it precedes Plus Codes and is widely used in databases (Elasticsearch, Redis) for proximity search because adjacent geohashes share prefixes. MGRS (Military Grid Reference System) is built on UTM and divides the world into 6° × 8° zones — it is the NATO standard for military operations and emergency response. Plus Codes hit a sweet spot for civilian use: open, short, pronounceable, no central authority.

At the equator a standard 10-character code (xxxxxxxx+xx) encodes a 13.9 m × 13.9 m square; at 45° latitude it is 13.9 m north–south × 9.8 m east–west; at 60° latitude it is 13.9 m × 7.0 m. Adding the 11th character refines to roughly 3.5 m × 2.8 m at the equator — enough to point at a specific building entrance. Adding a 12th character (used in some implementations) drops to about 1 m. The accuracy of a code is fundamentally limited by where in the cell the encoded point falls: it could be the southwest corner of the cell or the northeast corner, so the true position can be up to one cell-width away from the decoded center. Plan for ±7 m typical error on a 10-character code.

Yes — that is one of the strongest use cases. Plus Codes have been used by the Indian government to deliver mail to slum residents, by the UN to coordinate Rohingya refugee camp logistics in Cox's Bazar, by Red Cross teams in disaster zones where street signs are destroyed, and by Madagascar and Cape Verde national postal services as official addressing. Emergency dispatch systems in some US counties accept Plus Codes from 911 callers in unaddressed wilderness or off-grid hiking trails. Because the codes are deterministic, offline-computable, and globally unique, they work even when cellular networks are down — a paper card with the code printed on it is enough to navigate. The system is documented on plus.codes.

Most often because of latitude/longitude precision in the input. Google Maps stores coordinates to 7 decimal places (~1 cm) and computes the Plus Code from that, while a manually entered coordinate with 4 decimal places (~11 m) may fall in an adjacent grid cell, producing a code one character different in the 9th or 10th position. The OLC algorithm is deterministic — same input always gives the same output — so any disagreement traces back to input precision or to using different libraries with different cell-edge handling. Another source: some legacy implementations encoded the cell's center rather than the southwest corner. The official OpenLocationCode reference library encodes from the southwest corner; verify your library matches that convention.
Plus Codes - Open Location Code Encoder Decoder — Free Plus Codes tool: encode/decode Open Location Codes, shorten codes with reference location, recover full codes. Goog
Plus Codes - Open Location Code Encoder Decoder
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