It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is making his annual journey around the world. With the help of the NORAD Santa Tracker on your Mac or iPhone, you can see exactly where he is at any moment, and even follow Jolly Old Saint Nick’s route in real time.
Here’s how to track Kris Kringle’s progress as he delivers gifts across the globe.
How to find the NORAD Santa tracker
NORAD’s tradition of tracking Santa Claus on Christmas Eve began in 1955, when a newspaper advertisement mistakenly listed the phone number of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) instead of a local department store’s Santa hotline. Rather than turning children away, Air Force Col. Harry Shoup and his team decided to play along, telling callers that radar showed Santa flying south from the North Pole.
What started as a simple act of kindness quickly captured the public’s imagination, and the following year NORAD — CONAD’s successor — formally took over the task. Today, the NORAD Tracks Santa program uses real-world radar, satellites and volunteers to continue the decades-old tradition of sharing Santa’s journey with families around the world on Christmas Eve.
There are two options for following St. Nicholas’ progress. There’s the NORAD Tracks Santa website (noradsanta.org). Alternatively, iPhone and iPad users can download the NORAD Tracks Santa app from the App Store.
Both methods offer moving maps showing the exact location of Rudolph and friends. And there are videos from Santa Cams with recorded footage of Santa at that location.
The NORAD Santa tracker also maintains an X account, posting frequent updates on St. Nick’s progress as he flies around the world delivering toys.
Santa Cam: Shanghai, China
Santa has been spotted flying over the bustling city of Shanghai!
NORAD satellites confirm his sleigh is moving quickly across Asia.
Track Santa live at https://t.co/gSvRD6f7zW#NORADTracksSanta #SantaCam #Shanghai pic.twitter.com/h2f6IVkkFu
— NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) December 24, 2025
Siri helps you track Santa, too
Apple’s AI assistant Siri gets into the holiday spirit, too. Ask her the location of Santa Claus and she will offer a fun reply.
As you wait for Father Christmas to arrive, you can enjoy Christmas-themed movies and variety shows on the Apple TV streaming service. There’s Hannah Waddinghams’s holiday special. And Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds star in Spirited, a modern take on A Christmas Carol. Plus, don’t forget the classic Peanuts Christmas special.
All of these are on Apple TV, plus more.
The Santa tracker shows Kris Kringle is working his way across Asia as we publish this. So, jump in bed and cover your head, because Santa Claus comes tonight.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
