The GRE on-screen calculator, free to use and practice with
Yes, you get a calculator on the GRE, but only in the two Quantitative Reasoning sections, and it is deliberately basic: four functions, one memory, parentheses and a square root. You cannot bring your own. The calculator below is the same one our mock tests put on screen, so you can learn where the keys are before the clock is running.
Try the GRE calculator
This is the calculator, not a picture of one. It follows the same specification ETS describes for the on-screen calculator in Quantitative Reasoning: four functions, parentheses, a square root, a single memory, an eight-digit display, and a Transfer Display key. It is a faithful re-creation, not the ETS asset itself.
Live GRE calculator
The same calculator our mock tests put in the Quant sections. Try the keys, then send a result to the answer box with Transfer Display.
In a real section this box is the answer field. Transfer Display is greyed out on any question that is not Numeric Entry, which is most of the test.
If you want it in context rather than on its own, every Quant section in our free GRE mock tests opens the same panel from the toolbar, over real questions and under real timing.
Quick GRE check
3 questions, about 2 minutes. How would you do on the real test?
Quant · Quantitative Comparison
The five recorded daily rainfall totals, in millimeters, over a five-day period are and .
Quantity A
The mean of the five rainfall totals
Quantity B
The median of the five rainfall totals
Can you use a calculator on the GRE?
In Quantitative Reasoning, yes. ETS provides an on-screen calculator in both Quant sections, and it is the only one you may use.
- You cannot bring your own. No handheld, no phone, no watch calculator. Personal items are stored before the test.
- There is no calculator in Verbal or Analytical Writing. It appears only in the Quant sections, where it is the tool on the screen.
- It is the same whether you test at a center or at home. The at-home GRE is the same test delivered the same way.
One consequence people miss: because the calculator is on screen rather than under your hand, reaching for it costs more time than it would at a desk. That is the real reason to practice with it.
Every key, and what it actually does
The GRE calculator is deliberately limited. There is no exponent key, no factorial, no trigonometry, no logarithm, and no way to see the expression you typed. Knowing the exact set in advance stops you hunting for a key that is not there.
- + - × ÷ with real order of operations. Typing 2 + 3 × 4 = gives 14, not 20.
- Parentheses. The only way to force a different order.
- √ applies immediately to whatever is on the display.
- MR, MC, M+. One memory slot: recall, clear, and add to it. An M shows on the display when it holds a value.
- +/- flips the sign.
- C and CE. C clears everything; CE clears only the number you are typing, which is the one you want after a mistyped digit.
- Transfer Display puts the result straight into a Numeric Entry answer box. See below, because it has rules.
The eight-digit limit, and ERROR
The display holds eight digits. Anything that overflows, and any division by zero or square root of a negative, shows ERROR and the only way out is C. If a calculation on the GRE is pushing past eight digits, that is nearly always a signal that the question wanted an estimate or a cancellation rather than brute arithmetic.
Transfer Display, the key with rules
Transfer Display is the one key with no equivalent on a physical calculator, and the one that catches people out. It copies the current display straight into the answer box, which removes the risk of mistyping a long decimal.
- It works on Numeric Entry questions only. On multiple-choice questions it is greyed out, which is most of the test.
- On a question that asks for a fraction, with separate boxes for numerator and denominator, it does not apply.
- It transfers the display as shown. If the question asks you to round, you still have to round, and the display will happily hand over more decimal places than the answer wants.
That last point is where marks are lost. Practice the habit of reading the rounding instruction before you press it, in timed Quant practice rather than on test day.
When not to reach for it
The calculator is there to stop arithmetic being the obstacle. It is not there to solve questions, and on a timed section it is often slower than the alternative.
- Quantitative Comparison. You are comparing two quantities, not producing a number. Simplifying both sides usually settles it before the calculator would have finished.
- Anything that cancels. A fraction with shared factors resolves faster by cancelling than by dividing.
- Estimation questions. If the answer choices are far apart, rounding in your head beats eight digits of precision you do not need.
- Percentages of round numbers. Ten percent of anything is a decimal shift.
The reliable use is the opposite case: ugly division, long decimals, square roots that are not clean, and the final step of a question you have already set up correctly. Our guide to GRE Quant traps covers the questions built to punish reaching for it too early.
Frequently asked questions
See where you actually stand
The free GRE Quick Mock Test: the first Verbal and Quant sections under official timing, with an estimated score and a worked solution for every question.