Hold your phone flat, screen up, with its top edge pointing the way you want to check. Tap Start compass and allow motion access if asked. The number is your heading; the red N on the dial points north.
Reading sourceNot connected
Sensor accuracyNot available
If the reading seems off
Move away from magnets, speakers, metal desks, and magnetic phone accessories. Slowly move your phone in a figure eight a few times, then hold it flat again and compare with a known direction. This may help your phone recalibrate; it cannot guarantee accuracy.
Why isn't it showing a direction?
A working compass needs a phone with an accessible compass sensor. A desktop computer, some phones, or a browser with blocked sensor permissions cannot provide one. Open the page directly in Safari on iPhone or Chrome on Android, allow motion access if asked, and try again.
If the browser only supplies relative rotation, this tool leaves the heading blank. Relative motion cannot tell us where north is.
Is this true north or magnetic north?
The compass uses the north reference reported by your device. Safari's compass heading is relative to magnetic north; other browsers provide an absolute orientation reference. The source is shown above when available. We don't apply a magnetic declination model or calculate true north.
How accurate is it?
Accuracy depends on the phone, calibration, and nearby magnetic interference. If the device provides an accuracy estimate, it appears above; otherwise we show that it isn't available. Use this for an everyday direction check. Use dedicated navigation equipment when a reliable bearing matters.
Does it need my location?
No. Heading is read from the phone's orientation sensors. This page doesn't request GPS, camera, or microphone access, and your heading isn't uploaded.
Can it fill the whole screen?
The tool fills the available browser screen automatically. Where your browser supports it, the Full screen button hides the browser controls too. On browsers without that feature, the tool still uses the available screen.
Want to see which way nearby places lie? Try the nearby landmark compass.
Also useful: bubble level · tally counter.