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Santa tracker 2025: Follow his Christmas Eve trip using NORAD, Google

Volunteers at the NORAD Tracks Santa operations center monitor phone lines at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, Dec. 24, 2025. NORAD is a binational command that monitors and defends North American aerospace 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year using complementary, multi-domain defense capabilities, including military aircraft, radars, and satellites. The U.S. and Canadian professionals accomplishing this mission daily use these same systems with the additional mission of tracking Santa’s travels on Dec. 24 each year.  (U.S. Space Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jaime Sanchez)
By Mike Snider USA TODAY

Having already made his list – and having checked it twice – Santa Claus is coming. You can track his progress on Christmas Eve.

For 70 years, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has made a holiday tradition of its Santa Tracker, which follows St. Nick across the globe. Santa surveillance reportedly began when the agency, then called the Continental Air Defense Command, began getting calls from children looking for Santa after Sears goofed and printed the command’s secret number, Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup told The ‌Associated Press in 1999.

Since then, NORAD has upgraded its Santa-tracking technology by installing Santa cams in space to monitor the jolly old ‌elf, the agency says. “NORAD tracks Santa, but only Santa knows ‌his route, which means we cannot predict where and when he will arrive at your house,” a senior NORAD official said in a news release.

This year, the NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel is also displaying Christmas celebration videos submitted by families. “Their excitement reflects the spirit that has made ​NORAD Tracks Santa a worldwide favorite for nearly seventy years,” according to ‌the channel.

How to follow NORAD’s Santa ⁠tracker 2025

The NORAD Tracks Santa website began tracking Santa’s progress at 6 a.m. EST/4 a.m. MST on Wednesday, Dec. 24, better known as Christmas Eve. Want a live ‌update? Operators at NORAD will also be taking calls about Santa’s trip on 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) until midnight MST or 2 a.m. EST on Christmas Day. You can follow the NORAD Santa Tracker here.

You can also download the NORAD Santa Tracker app from Google Play and Apple’s App store.

The site, which went live on Dec. 1 with games, videos and other holiday activities, also has information about NORAD, which the United States and Canada collaborate on ‌to monitor each country’s airspace. The ​site is ‌available in English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

When does Google’s Santa tracker go live?

NORAD isn’t the only one tracking Santa. Google’s Santa tracker has been on the case since 2004.

The company’s Santa tracker website is providing animated real-time information on where St. ‌Nick and his sleigh is across the globe. There’s also a bundle of holiday-themed games and activities; the site is available in dozens of languages. You can also watch the Google Santa Tracker using an app ​available in the Google Play store.

Flightradar24’s Santa tracker

Global flight tracking service Flightradar24, which delivers real-time information about thousands of aircraft worldwide, also tracks Santa. You can watch Santa’s progress on the Flightradar24 website or its YouTube channel.

Flightradar24 has also given Santa a boost, having “worked closely with Santa’s workshop to ensure the sleigh ⁠is outfitted with the latest tracking technology,” the tracking firm says.