For your first question, yes, by and near are synonymous in this situation. Your understanding of “in” and “on” is correct. Ex: a building on an island or a cat in a building. “Located at” I would personally use if I’m giving a very specific position, for example an address, coordinates, or if I’m using prepositions to describe the exact placement of something. Ex: The button is located at the top of the screen. The building is located at 123 Street Rd. I don’t think “located to” exists. I can’t think of a situation where that would ever sound natural to say. Hope that makes sense!

Thank you Maria! I got it.

Hi! You can say something is located "by" or "near" another place and they both will mean the same thing. For example: "The house is located by the school" or "The house is located near the school' You are saying in both sentences that the house is close to the school. However, sometimes in certain contexts we use "located by" when something is a bit closer. For example, we can say "the house is located BY the school" if the house is right next to the school. But if the house was on the same road as the school but not right next to it, we would probably use "The house is located NEAR the school" Either use is correct/means the same thing, but the last examples give more specific context. Hope this helps!!