Where is Santa right now? How to track his progress live with NORAD and Google
Santa Claus is coming to town!
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived - it’s time for TechRadar’s annual Santa Tracker! We're following the old Kris Kringle as he delivers the best tech gifts this Christmas, using the two most popular trackers: NORAD and Google.
Kris Kringle’s annual jaunt across the globe is practically a sporting event these years, with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)’s Santa tracker historically being the go-to resource for following Santa’s whereabouts. However, thanks to the internet and smartphones, there are plenty of options to follow along as he delivers gifts at breakneck speeds.
What is a Santa tracker?
Santa tracking is a well-loved tradition increasingly observed worldwide, but it all began with a happy accident in 1955, making this the 70th year of Santa tracking silliness. According to NORAD, a Sears catalog accidentally printed the Colorado Springs' Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center’s phone number instead of a Santa hotline and began to receive calls from children hopeful to speak to Klaus himself.
Seeing an opportunity for a little festive fun (and some positive PR), CONAD began publishing press releases on Santa’s whereabouts every year, handing the reins to NORAD after its formation in 1958. In 2004, Google released its own Santa Tracker, which offers a very different experience but is still just as fun.
Fast forward to today and there are a number of ways to find out what's happening to Santa, but these two are the key ones to look out for, in our expert opinion.
Which is the best Santa tracker? NORAD vs Google
NORAD Santa Tracker
The original way of following Santa and, some would say, still the best, this website is actually run by the US military. It fuses gruff colonels presenting a video about Santa Claus with live, up-to-the-minute info on where the man in the big red suit is.
You can download the app on the App Store or Google Play Store, and from there you'll be presented with some mini-games to play as well as being able to follow the progress of the present-giving live.
It's quite basic compared to other trackers, lacking a lot of polish and website design. However, it's also the most popular and has a heartwarming history behind it – as well as an army of volunteers ready to take your call to find out where Santa is, and the power of Verizon's network in a now 23-year partnership.
NORAD has also added an AI chatbot called Radar to help you spot Santa, but if you prefer to use the phone then dialling +1 (877) HI-NORAD will do the trick too.
- Check out the NORAD Santa Tracker
Google Santa Tracker
A more recent addition to the Santa tracking mix, Google's Santa Tracker has been going since 2004, combining the power of Google Maps with the savvy knowledge of where Father Christmas is.
Every year, when we publish this guide, we have people wondering how to play the games on mobile as the big 'PLAY!' button in the middle of the screen sometimes fails and will only ever give you random games or video anyway. Well, just go to the Santa Tracker site on a mobile browser, click the three lines in the top left-hand corner and see all the games to play. (Note – the 'install' option, which tells you to 'Add to Home Screen', doesn't work on iPhones).
While Google doesn't have the same satellite tracking power as NORAD, one has to assume the search giant has struck a deal with the North Pole to figure out where he is in real-time using search and radar and lasers and... stuff. Don't ask us to interpret the magic.
Backing up the Santa Tracker are a whole host of minigames to play, as well as a month-long website encouraging children to learn to code while they encounter a winter wonderland.
There are some pro-Google tools moments in this Santa Tracker – the Quick Draw game is designed to teach Google's image-recognition software to improve, which feels a bit odd – but it's a wonderfully designed site and arguably the most visually accessible way to follow Santa.
You can download the app from the Google Play Store, but in our eyes the mobile site is just as good and more accessible for iPhone users, plus Google's Santa Tracker has the best and easiest-to-use desktop experience, too.
- Try the Google Santa Tracker
Live updates
Hello everyone 👋
And look, we have a photo of him enjoying just that kind of feast. Okay, it's not really a photo, obviously – it's an image we generated using Adobe Firefly. Looks pretty accurate though, right?
Whether Santa takes off in eight-and-a-bit hours or nine-and-a-bit, the important thing is that we've got a little while to wait, still. And that means there's time for me to get some sleep before liftoff.
So, I'll leave it there for a few hours – I'll be back online bright and early for the big moment.
And… I'm back! Good morning, everyone.
The good news is that it's now Christmas Eve nearly everywhere in the world – including in the UK, where I am.
The bad news is that I still need to do all of my wrapping sometime in the next 12 hours or so – let's hope Santa is better organized, given that he gets going in only just over an hour, according to NORAD. Google, meanwhile, says he still has a little over 2hrs until takeoff – so it's giving him a little lie-in, maybe.
Whether it's right about the takeoff time or not, Google's Santa Tracker site really is a wonderful thing, and I particularly love the little video that plays at the start. It's enough to get even the hardest-hearted Grinch into the festive spirit. But, if anyone from Google is reading this, I do have a slight issue with it – and it concerns penguins.
Look, we all know Santa lives at the North Pole. But we also know that penguins are southern-hemisphere creatures. They don't live in the North Pole. Then again, maybe Santa has flown them out there to help him prepare for Christmas – they do seem quite good at getting him ready for his flight, after all.
One of my favorites among Google's games is Quick Draw – although I'm pretty awful at it.
How does it work? Well the robot asks you to draw something Christmassy, then tries to guess what it is. It's like Pictionary, but with a robot rather than your family all shouting at you. The effect is much the same though, with it getting repeatedly annoyed at me and saying "I don't know what that is!"
Interestingly, the robot is called Tensor – which is the same as the machine-learning chip within Google's Pixel phones. Coincidence? I think not.
Quick time check: there's now only 23 minutes until NORAD's Santa Tracker starts! Not long to wait now, everyone…
Want more? Well, head to the Library and you can learn all about Santa, his sleigh and his reindeer. There's the Music Stage – where you can listen to his favorite songs – The Theater, where you can watch films about him, and a Gift Shop where you can buy Santa merch.
The Music Stage on NORAD's website includes some of my favorite Christmas songs of all time, including Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Here Comes Santa Claus, Winter Wonderland and Sleigh Ride.
Okay, so you don't get the versions recorded by The Crystals, Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, Darlene Love and The Ronettes respectively, but they are all available on your streaming service of choice if you want those. And you should do – it's not Christmas without Darlene Love and The Crystals…
Okay, so NORAD's Santa Tracker has reached zero and inevitably… the website has stopped working properly. This seems to happen every year at the start, but it always gets fixed quickly. And in fairness, they do have a lot going on.
For now, we'll have to stick with Google – and that's fine, because there's so much going on over there that you could spend months exploring that site.
And… NORAD is back. Phew!
Either way, we have good news! Because the NORAD tracking site has confirmed: "Current conditions at the North Pole indicate good weather for flying."
NORAD has games in its Arcade section too. They are… how do I say this kindly… not quite as impressive as Google's.
I just tried the 3D Santa Run game, and it's fairly terrifying – but why don't you give it a go and see if you can beat my terrible high score of 600.
Anyway, Santa Games is a Mario-style platformer in which you control the bearded one, avoiding goblin-type creatures (I didn't know goblins were an occupational hazard for Santa), collecting presents (good), the letters of the word Santa (good) and diamonds (confusing – why does Santa want diamonds?)
This one is actually pretty fun. But difficult though – it's proper old-school in that regard.
There's about 20 minutes to go until Santa takes off, according to Google. NORAD's countdown has already reached zero, but it still says he's preparing, so I think both sites agree that he'll be leaving at about 10am GMT / 5am ET / 2am PT / 9pm AEDT.
Here's hoping he doesn't have a last-minute flat tire on that sleigh…
It put a lot of thought into its very detailed answer, so I won't include it all – but its 'Short Answer' was as follows:
Folks we're about t-minus 2 minutes from the big take-off – over on the Google Santa Tracker the map view is showing the man of the moment preparing to leave the North Pole.
As yet NORAD hasn't updated its 2D or 3D maps – but we're watching closely for the next update.
Santa's next stop, according to Google, will be Provideniya in Russia. The pictures it has of the region show a very pretty if slightly isolated little town.
With Santa already hard at work we're still waiting for the NORAD Santa Tracker to get a lock on his location – but we expect the big man has his most excitable elf currently working on the issue, and for now, you can stick with using the Google Santa Tracker.
Santa is about to reach Anadyr, in Russia. According to Wikipedia (no, I did not know this myself beforehand), Anadyr is the easternmost town in Russia. And very pretty it looks too.
NORAD still hasn't updated, but Google is showing Santa delivering gifts in Anadyr – and says he's now delivered 100,000-plus gifts in 15 minutes. That's probably more than even Amazon can manage!
Want to chat with Santa the easy way?
Who needs to dial a number when you can use Google Assistant to ring up the man in red himself? Just grab your Android phone, Google-enabled smart speaker or Google app on iPhone to ask 'What's new at the North Pole' and hear the latest news updates from Santa's world.
Kiwis also have their own special Christmas Tree, the Pōhutukawa, which has bright red flowers that are popular decorations and also feature on Christmas cards. It's been associated with Christmas since the mid-1800s, though many people do also erect the globally recognized pine-style tree in their homes.
Ooh, we might have lift-off with NORAD... I'm getting a black screen, but the present delivery counter has begun!
In Russia, he's known as Ded Moroz, or Father Frost. He travels with Snegurochka – a snow maiden who is said to be his granddaughter. Your Santa might be round and jolly but in Russia he's tall and thin, and instead of traveling by sleigh, he makes his way around the country using a 'troika' pulled by horses.
Father Frost is actually a little early to be giving out his gifts here – Russians have a New Year tree rather than a Christmas tree, so the children there will be looking for their presents on 1 January.
Did you know that Santa's sleigh has to travel 650 miles per second (that's 3,000 times the speed of sound!) in order to deliver all those presents on time? That makes it the fastest vehicle on the planet.
When it comes to Christmas songs, the Guinness Book of World Records claims that Bing Crosby's White Christmas is the best-selling Christmas song… and, if fact, the best-selling single of all time. We doubt its popularity has changed too much in the era of streaming, since it's probably on every single Christmas playlist.
Stuck on what to watch this Christmas? Try this handy wee movie marathon quiz we've set up to help you figure out your viewing plans!
One of our resident audiophiles, Jamie Richards just wrote about his favorite Christmas pick this gifting season, and it's a doozy for producers and electronic music lovers. That's doubly true if you're on a budget, because this affordable mixer could change the game for music lovers who are just starting out their DJ journey.
I've been running our Santa tracker for a few years now, and this early shift is always the slowest part of the day. China and Russia are just so massive, so it takes the bearded one a fair while to make sure everyone over there gets their Christmas gifts in good time too.
As the year comes to a close, Japan has a slightly different formula to most Western countries that celebrate Christmas, where it’s considered to be a day you spend with friends and partners. Instead, New Year’s Day is the day to celebrate with family. Christmas Eve is also Japan’s version of Valentine’s Day, so overall, it’s the season of sentimentality.
Japan’s Christmas culture is fairly unique, too. Believe it or not, the meal of choice on Christmas in Japan is KFC, with an estimated 3.5 million Japanese families flocking to the fast food chain for their Christmas chicken fix. There are also some typical traditions like Christmas cakes, lights, and markets with a culturally relevant Japanese spin on them.
Still mulling over those Christmas movie choices? Well, we polled your fellow TechRadar readers to find out which were the best of all-time, narrowing it down to the six ultimate Christmas movie picks. Check it out!
Meanwhile over at NORAD, Santa is still schlepping his way around the various locations Google has already covered with its tracker.
Just like New Zealand, it’s hot hot hot in Australia for Christmas, which is why they leave Santa a nice, cool beer by the Christmas tree.
As you can expect, the summer season makes for a very different-looking festive season than we’re used to in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s popular to have seafood down under for Christmas, and on Boxing Day, many families and friends will gather for a BBQ on the beach.
While Santa makes his way around the coast of Australia, let's roll through some more Christmas fun of our own.
“Jingle Bells” might be one of the most iconic Christmas songs in history, but more than that, it’s a treasure trove of trivia.
First off, and I hope you’re sitting down for this one - it was originally a Thanksgiving song. I hear you, it’s a shock to me too. It was originally composed back in the mid-19th century by James Lord Pierpont for his church's Thanksgiving concert before it was re-released later in 1857 with a more Christmassy title and overall vibe.
Fast forward over 100 years and “Jingle Bells” takes the biscuit once again; in the lead-up to Christmas in 1965, astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford relayed an unusual sighting to Mission Control from aboard the Gemini 6 spacecraft. Apparently, an "unidentified flying object" was poised to enter Earth's atmosphere, moving in a polar orbit from north to south. Injecting a touch of humor into the situation, they abruptly broke the tension by serenading Mission Control with a rendition of "Jingle Bells” accompanied by Schirra on a compact harmonica, and Stafford with a handful of small sleigh bells.
NORAD's Santa tracker is finaly catching up, tailing Google's Santa around Australia while we all live in hope he might bring some of that beautiful weather further afield... nope, scratch that, there's a terrific storm right now in Darwin.
Santa is landing back in Japan shortly according to Google, which leads me to believe he left his KFC bucket behind the first time.
Did you know...
Google uses its Santa Tracker to learn more about its systems and tools? That's right, the tech giant gets its staff in the festive mood by letting developers experiment with computer and mobile interactions through the Santa tracker - but apparently, it doesn't always go to plan. In a blog post, Dave Holmes who works in developer relations at Google said: "One engineer who focused on AI and human movement came up with this idea for a game where you could enable tracking on your computer and teach the elves to dance, and they would mimic your movement.” But just before launch…they found a glitch. “If the tracker lost you for a second…the elves' heads and arms would go flying off!”
If you want to find out where Santa is hands free, and you have an Echo or Echo Dot, then check out the various Santa Tracker skills on Alexa - there's one for NORAD too, if you're following along.
Just ask “Alexa, ask NORAD Tracks Santa, where's Santa?" - it's a bit wordy but if Alexa is the only smart assistant in your house, you've got to work with what you've got.
Santa just made his brief little hop over to South Korea, according to Google, and like Japan, South Korea celebrates Christmas as a holiday of romance, which couples will spend together, more akin to Valentine's Day than what we think of as Christmas in the UK or US. And it's an official public holiday, so they really get to enjoy their day.
The Christmas delicacy of choice is sponge cake covered in whipped cream and strawberries – the fruit of love!
While Google's Santa Tracker shows the jolly fellow making fast time across South Korea – remember, he's delivered well over 1,141,999,999 gifts – NORAD's tracker shows the sleigh over Japan. Either way, we're confident gifts are coming in hot, and Santa Claus is indeed coming to town.
After a busy drop of presents and gifts, Google notes that Santa is en route to Russia, and since the sleigh has magic powers, NORAD says Santa's sleigh is making its way across China.
In Russia, Santa is known as Ded Moroz, or Father Frost, and he travels with Snegurochka – a snow maiden who is said to be his granddaughter. Your Santa might be round and jolly, but in Russia, he's tall and thin, and instead of traveling by sleigh, he makes his way around the country using a 'troika' pulled by horses.
Father Frost is actually a little early to be giving out his gifts here – Russians have a New Year tree rather than a Christmas tree, so the children there will be looking for their presents on 1 January.
In China, Santa is better known as Dun Che Lao Ren (dwyn-chuh-lau-oh-run). As Christianity spread in China, so too did Christmas celebrations, which carry over many classic traditions but with a more culturally relevant twist. Those who celebrate the festive season will light their homes with paper lanterns and adorn their Christmas trees with paper decorations.
Considering Santa travels faster than the speed of light, we'd see he's making pretty good timing, and both trackers are showing the sleigh doing just that. Currently, Google's tracker shows Santa making his way across China, with Beijing being the next major city to expect some jolly presents.
It seems NORAD and Google's Santa Trackers are back in sync and show Santa, the sleigh, and all his reindeer – including Rudolph – making their way across China, delivering tons of presents.
Whether you're tracking with just Google or NORAD, Santa's journey is far from over, but it's clear that progress has been made. Just take a look at the view when you zoom all the way out on Google's Santa Tracker. That's a lot of ground covered.
A quick status update – NORAD's Santa tracker, as well as Google's official Santa tracker, are both showing old Kris Kringle wrapping up in Australia and heading towards the very aptly named 'Christmas Island'.
Santa was last seen at Christmas Island, which was named in 1643 when Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company named the island after spotting it on Christmas Day (although there were sightings by English and Dutch navigators dating back to the early 1600s). The island is now famous for its incredible coral reefs, red crabs, whale sharks, and seabirds.
A different kind of Night Before...
As Santa races across the globe, delivering gadgets and toys to children of all ages (currently in Bangkok!), one might wonder how the jolly old elf is dealing with this rapidly changing world, especially AI.
Perhaps he's changing his style, or maybe someone else, like an AI St. Nick, might be stepping in. Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff has his own take on the iconic "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that envisions what that special, tech-infused night could look like in 2025.
The Night Before Tech Christmas — a very modern holiday fable
While both Google and NORAD say Santa is making his way through China and Mongolia, NORAD shows that his next major country will be Russia, and he should be there in about 6 minutes.
Google's Santa Tracker now shows the sleigh and the big man himself in Russia delivering gifts, while NORAD shows Santa just in India.
While Christmas isn’t as widely celebrated in India, the festivities are still observed with fervor, and different regions have different traditions. For example, Kerala places a strong focus on nativity, with the community banding together to create the best possible scene and add flair to the crib. Branches from mango trees serve as Christmas trees, adorned with baubles and homemade decorations.
Santa's making excellent time – Google's official tracker currently shows Mr. Kringle last spotted in Nepal, while NORAD shows big red en route to the Maldives.
While Santa is making his way across Kazakhstan and Russia, according to NORAD and Google's tracker, which show him dropping presents in India, we at TechRadar want to know if you've been tech naughty or tech nice.
For the moment, both NORAD and Google agree on Santa's location, so we can say with some certainty that the Jolly Elf is somewhere in Western Asia, near the Black Sea.
Both NORAD and Google now have Santa heading south of the Equator to the southern hemisphere. NORAD says that Santa is currently heading north from Tanzania, on the eastern side of Africa. The Google Santa Tracker has the Jolly Elf sunning his rosy cheeks in the Seychelles, north-northeast of Madagascar. Either way, Santa seems to be zig-zagging from south to north and back, heading westward as the sun sets on Europe.
If you're reading this in Europe, you better go to sleep! Santa is heading your way right now. Both NORAD and Google have the Jolly Elf on the eastern edge of Europe, heading either towards Ukraine or Turkey, depending on the source. Of course, Santa travels as both a particle and a wave, so it makes sense he would be in both places at once.
Santa just made a quick pit stop at home. Actually, Santa moves very fast, as you can imagine, so he's already heading back south from the North Pole, so you better close your eyes if you are expecting a visit some time soon, as Santa is heading to Scandinavia! Christmas traditions vary depending on where you live.
Norwegians have been celebrating all month with markets and merriment. And, of course, there’s plenty of feasting in Norway too. A long standing Norwegian Christmas tradition is eating lutefisk, a dried fish treated with lye – or lut. It’s a bit of an acquired taste but according to Visitnorway.com more than 750 tonnes are hungrily eaten every year.
He’ll see lots of cosy candles in windows as he makes his rounds in Sweden but these are no ordinary flames. The Advent Candlestick is a Swedish tradition counting down the Sundays before Christmas. Every Sunday a candle is lit, Swedes enjoy spicy mulled wine and eat gingerbread biscuits to celebrate. Gifts are traditionally swapped after dark on Christmas Eve so there’s already plenty of wrapping paper scattered around before lots of feasting tomorrow.
Santa is moving at full speed! NORAD's Santa Tracker has the Jolly Elf near the southern tip of Africa, passing over Swaziland as he heads back north. The Google Santa’s travels have taken him to Kenya now, where lots of other people have been travelling too to make sure they are with their families over the Christmas period. One of Kenya’s languages is Swahili so Santa will make sure to call ‘Heri ya Krismasi!’ or ‘Krismasi Njema’ down from his sleigh between present stop-offs.
On Christmas Day in Kenya, one of the most popular traditional dishes to be enjoyed with family members is Nyama Choma or roast meat. This can be goat, sheep, or lamb and is roasted outside on a barbecue and served with rice and chapatis. Hungry just thinking about it…
Both NORAD and Google's Santa Tracker have the Big Guy somewhere in central Africa right now, with Google tracking Santa heading south towards Chad, and NORAD finding the sleigh heading north to Libya.
Okay folks, it's time to get serious. The NORAD Santa Tracker has our sleigh making a pit stop high up north near the North Pole again, presumably for a cookies and egg nog recharge. On Google's Santa site, we can see the big guy is still delivering presents in Ghana, but he is slowly heading northwards.
St. Nick might have just arrived in Ghana, but the celebrations here kicked off from the 20th so he’s a little late to the party. The good news is that the frivolity lasts until early January so there’s plenty of fun still to be had.
Christmas in Ghana is a full family affair, with adults donning costumes and handing out candies around the neighborhood while children decorate with paper ornaments. Just like Kenya, lots of people have been travelling from all over the country to celebrate the festivities with family members. Ghana’s capital, Accra, is full of music festivals, live events and parties over the Christmas period and is fully decked out with trees, tinsel, and sparkling lights. What a great view for the big man in red!
That Santa sure is wiley! According to NORAD, Santa took a hard right turn at Malta and is now in central Africa, delivering presents in Mali on his way to Timbuktu. On the other hand, Google's Santa Tracker shows Santa sitting over Ukraine right now, so clearly the little elf has been very busy!
Christmas in Ukraine might look very different from what most families are used to these days, but the rich festive culture of the country speaks to its people’s spirit. While an increasing number of Ukrainian households are now celebrating with much of the rest of the world on December 25th, many still observe the Julian calendar and celebrate on January 7th, with the 6th being Christmas Eve. Similar to other slavic countries, some in Ukraine refer to Santa as Old Man or Father Frost.
Upon the appearance of the first star in the night sky, some Ukrainian families will gather to enjoy a meal on Christmas Eve - the Sviata Vecheria (Holy dinner), which has 12 courses to represent the apostles of Jesus. Also, fun fact: Carol of the Bells is actually based on a traditional Ukranian koliadky (Christmas Carol) called “Shchedryk”.
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