Qibla Direction Finder: Accurate Bearing to the Kaaba

The Qibla is the direction of the Kaaba at Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. This page uses the Kaaba coordinates 21.4224779° N, 39.8251832° E and your latitude and longitude to calculate the initial great-circle bearing. A great circle is the shortest path between two points on a sphere.

The calculation matters because a flat map can make the shortest direction look wrong across long distances. From much of North America, the great-circle route to Mecca begins northeast even though Mecca appears southeast on some rectangular maps. The result is a true bearing measured clockwise from geographic north.

Your coordinates remain in the browser while the tool performs the trigonometry. You can allow location access or enter coordinates manually. The tool also calculates the great-circle distance to the Kaaba as useful context.

On a phone with a usable magnetometer, the dial places the Qibla marker on the compass rose. Hold the screen facing up, keep the top edge pointed forward, and turn until the fixed index aligns with the marker. Move away from steel furniture, vehicles, speakers, magnetic cases, and power equipment before relying on the heading.

Phone compass accuracy depends on hardware, calibration, tilt, and local interference. If the marker jumps or north looks wrong, move the phone through a gentle figure-eight and compare it with a known direction. The compass calibration guide explains these checks.

A device without a magnetometer can still calculate the Qibla angle. This page uses the computed position of the sun or moon as a visible true-north reference. The sun compass also shows current solar azimuth, elevation, sunrise, and sunset.

A city name alone does not enter a position because Online Compass does not send a place search to a geocoding provider. Use your device location for your actual coordinates, or copy trusted city coordinates into the manual fields.

The Qibla angle changes continuously as you move around Earth. Two cities in the same country can have slightly different bearings, and a value copied from a distant city may be unsuitable for precise building alignment. Permanent mosque construction requires appropriate local surveying and religious guidance.

Location accuracy and compass accuracy are separate. An approximate city coordinate can still produce a stable bearing, while a magnetometer beside metal can point incorrectly. Check both the coordinate source and the physical heading. If your device has no compass sensor, follow the guide to finding Qibla without a compass.

True bearing uses the geographic North Pole. Magnetic bearing uses the direction a physical compass needle points. The angle between them is magnetic declination, which varies by place and changes with time.

This tool evaluates the bundled WMM2025 model for your position. It applies local declination to show the bearing a magnetic compass should use. Select true for maps, satellite images, and building plans. Select magnetic for a baseplate compass.

For the underlying field value and bearing conversion, use the magnetic declination calculator. Its visible result includes the model validity and sign convention.