Data shows up in the wrong location (wrong CRS)
Your data loads, but it's in the wrong place — shifted by hundreds of meters, collapsed to a tiny dot near 0, 0, stretched across the wrong part of the world, or sitting on the wrong continent entirely.
Why it happens
Every coordinate only means something relative to its coordinate reference system (CRS). If a tool reads the numbers under the wrong CRS, the data renders in the wrong place. The classic cases: projected coordinates in meters (UTM, State Plane, RD New, British National Grid) interpreted as WGS 84 degrees — so a 6-digit easting becomes an impossible longitude and the data flies off near 0, 0; or a small datum mismatch (NAD27 vs NAD83, or a local datum vs WGS 84) that offsets everything by tens to hundreds of meters.
How to fix it
- Open the CRS detector and paste a .prj file for a reliable EPSG match, or paste sample coordinates to narrow down the CRS.
- Decide geographic vs projected: values within roughly ±180 are degrees; large six- or seven-digit values are a projected grid in meters or feet.
- Identify the specific source CRS from the coordinate ranges plus the data's known real-world location, then reproject the data from that CRS into WGS 84.
- Preview the reprojected data on a map to confirm it now lines up where it belongs.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my data offset or in the wrong place?
Because it's being interpreted under the wrong coordinate reference system. Projected coordinates (meters) read as degrees fly far off; a datum mismatch (e.g. NAD27 read as NAD83) shifts everything by a consistent offset of tens to hundreds of meters.
How do I know if my coordinates are projected or geographic?
Geographic coordinates (degrees) stay within ±180 for longitude and ±90 for latitude. Projected coordinates are typically large numbers — six or seven digits of meters, or feet. If your 'longitude' is 500000, the data is projected, not geographic.
What's the difference between a wrong projection and a wrong datum?
A wrong projection usually puts data dramatically off — wrong continent or near 0, 0 — because the whole coordinate model differs. A wrong datum is subtler: the projection is right but the reference ellipsoid differs, offsetting everything by a consistent, smaller amount (often tens to hundreds of meters).
How do I fix data that's in the wrong CRS?
Identify the true source CRS (from a .prj, the coordinate magnitudes, and the data's known location), then reproject the data into WGS 84. Once it's in a known, standard CRS, every downstream tool places it correctly.