H3, Geohash and Tile (XYZ / Quadkey) Converter
Find the H3 cell, geohash, XYZ tile and quadkey of a coordinate, or decode an index to its centre and boundary. Add index columns to the coordinates in a CSV file.
You can also click the map to pick a point.
Resolution, precision and tile level come from the settings below.
Everything is computed in the browser; coordinates and files are not sent to a server. Only map tiles (Esri, OpenStreetMap) and libraries (jsDelivr) are downloaded.
Settings
Quick comparison
H3: hexagons, 16 resolutions, analysis and aggregation. Geohash: rectangular box, text code, proximity search in databases. XYZ tile and quadkey: Web Mercator square, map tiles and caching.
Related Tools
What H3, geohash and map tiles are
All three systems split the Earth's surface into cells and give each cell a short identifier. A coordinate can then be stored, grouped and joined to other tables like any other key.
- H3 divides the world into hexagons at 16 resolutions, from 0 to 15. At resolution 0 the average edge is more than 1,200 km long; at resolution 15 it is about 0.6 m. Every hexagon has six neighbours whose centres are equally far away, so in density, accessibility and movement analysis the neighbourhood is measured the same way in every direction.
- Geohash repeatedly halves the latitude and longitude range and writes the result in a 32-character alphabet. The longer the code, the smaller the box: at the equator 5 characters give roughly 5 km, 7 characters about 150 m and 9 characters about 5 m. Codes that share a prefix are usually close together, which databases use for proximity searches.
- XYZ tiles name the Web Mercator squares used by web maps with z (level), x (column) and y (row). A quadkey writes the same tile as a single string of the digits 0-3, one digit per level.
How to use it
- In Coordinate mode, type a latitude and longitude or click the map. The H3 cell, geohash box and tile bounds are drawn on the map together.
- Change the H3 resolution, the width of the neighbour ring (k), the geohash precision and the tile level in the settings. The results and the map update to match.
- In Index mode, paste an H3 index, a geohash, a quadkey or a z/x/y value. The type is detected automatically and you get the cell's centre, boundary and its counterparts in the other systems.
- Use the "Copy" button on any row to put the value on the clipboard. Neighbour and child lists are copied one per line. "Download boundaries as GeoJSON" saves every shape on the map in one file.
- In Bulk mode, load a CSV or Excel file and pick the latitude and longitude columns. H3, geohash and optionally tile and quadkey columns are added to every row; download the result as CSV and the distinct H3 cells with their row counts as GeoJSON.
Which one to use when
H3 is the right choice for aggregating points in cells of near-equal area, scanning neighbouring cells or combining different datasets on a shared grid. Geohash is a common pick when a database needs a short text key for a coordinate and nearby records should be found by prefix matching. XYZ tiles and quadkeys are used for producing map tiles, building cache keys or checking which area a tile covers. Tile size depends on latitude; at the latitude of Istanbul a tile is about three quarters as wide as at the equator.
Data and method
H3 is computed with h3-js 4.4.0 (Apache-2.0 licence), the JavaScript build of the H3 library developed by Uber. Cell area and edge length are computed on a spherical Earth model; the edge length row shows both the mean edge of this cell and the published average for the resolution. Geohash, tile and quadkey calculations are implemented in this page's own code following the published algorithms. Tiles use the Web Mercator projection, with latitude limited to ±85.05°. In bulk mode CSV files are parsed with PapaParse 5.4.1 (MIT) and Excel files with SheetJS xlsx 0.18.5 (Apache-2.0). Basemaps belong to Esri and OpenStreetMap contributors and icons come from Lucide (ISC). Coordinates and files are never sent to a server. If you have accepted analytics cookies, only event names such as "index computed" are counted anonymously. Open-source libraries used and their licences: Data Sources.
Things to keep in mind
- H3 cells do not nest exactly: the seven children of a cell do not match the parent boundary one to one along the edges. Geohash boxes and tiles subdivide exactly.
- At every H3 resolution there are 12 pentagons worldwide. They have five neighbours, and the tool tells you when the selected cell is one of them.
- Two points very close to each other can sit on either side of a geohash box edge and share only a short prefix. A proximity search should also look at the 8 neighbouring boxes.
- In the XYZ scheme y grows from north to south; in TMS it runs the other way. The tool shows both values.
For organisations
Rodosto develops GIS software that builds H3 or geohash keys into data pipelines, database schemas and web applications, and dashboards that track indicators aggregated by cell. You can read more at rodostoteknoloji.com or get in touch through the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between H3 and geohash?
Geohash splits the world into rectangular boxes by halving latitude and longitude ranges; each box is a short string and codes that share a prefix are usually close together. H3 splits the world into hexagons. The six neighbours of a hexagon have equidistant centres and cell areas are more uniform across the globe, so H3 gives more consistent results in neighbourhood and density analysis.
Why is the XYZ tile y different from the TMS y?
In the XYZ (slippy map) scheme y grows from north to south, in TMS it grows from south to north. The two are related by TMS y = 2^z - 1 - y. The tool shows both values.
Do the children of an H3 cell cover it exactly?
No. Every H3 cell has 7 children, but hexagons cannot be split exactly into smaller hexagons, so the union of the children does not match the parent boundary one to one. There are small overhangs and gaps along the edges. Geohash boxes and tiles, on the other hand, nest exactly.
Is my file sent to a server in bulk mode?
No. The CSV or Excel file is read in the browser and the new columns are computed there. The coordinates you enter and the file contents are not sent to any server. Only map tiles and libraries are downloaded.