Forum Discussion
Windows location service persistently reports weird incorrect location
Since approximately March-April 2026 My Windows 11 Pro x64 started reporting strange and incorrect location information to applications that request it, primarily web browsers. I'm located in San Francisco Bay Area, California, but every web site that relies on location information (Google Maps, Bing Maps, Starbucks etc.) stubbornly places me at location 44.97320223006452, -93.35278344048427 in Minneapolis (Golden Valley, MN to be precise)
What is that location? And why has this started happening?
My default location in Windows 11 settings is also specified correctly, i.e. it contains my correct address in California. However, this has no effect on the above strange behavior. The computer in question is a desktop with no WiFi capabilities, just an Ethernet connection.
Another Windows 10 Pro x64 desktop computer on the same LAN (also Ethernet connection) has no such problems. Windows 10 on that machine is locating itself properly.
Various "where am I" web sites that determine my location by my external IP address also work correctly even on the problematic Windows 11 computer, i.e. they correctly place me in California. However, everything that works through Windows Location on that machine places me in Minneapolis. What gives?
2 Replies
A correction: The aforementioned Windows 10 Pro x64 machine located on the same LAN also suffers from the same problem. It also places me at the same location in Minneapolis.
Since the PC has no GPS or WiFi, Windows is likely using Microsoft's geolocation database and getting bad data. The fact that IP-based sites correctly show California while Windows Location reports Minneapolis strongly suggests a Windows Location Service issue, not a network problem.
Try clearing Location History, resetting Location Services, and checking for VPNs or recent updates. If it persists, reporting it through Feedback Hub may be the only way to get the location data corrected
