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How to see your calculator history on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

2024 November 19
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This quick tutorial covers several simple methods to check your past calculations and copy previous results using the Calculator app on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

We have tips for the stock Apple Calculator app as well as a couple of excellent, free third-party calculator apps.

iPhone and iPad

The first three methods are for the built-in Calculator app.

See your full calculator history and results

iOS 18 introduces a much-needed history feature to the built-in Calculator app on iPhone. You will find your past mathematical expressions as well as the results here. I was able to go back several months, to June, when I first installed the iOS 18 developer beta.

Additionally, iPadOS 18 also adds the much-requested Calculator app to the iPad. So, you can follow these steps to see past calculations and results on your Apple tablet as well.

  1. Open the Calculator app and perform a quick calculation if you like.
  2. Tap the bullet menu button from the top left corner.
  3. You will see your recent calculator history here.

Next, you can do the following in the History section of the iOS Calculator app:

  • Reload the calculation and use its result: Tapping an entry in the history section inputs that result directly into the calculator, making it easy to continue working with it. The full mathematical expression is also displayed in a smaller font for reference, allowing you to seamlessly start a new calculation using the previous result.
  • Copy the result: Touch and hold an entry in Calculator history and tap Copy Result. You can also swipe left and hit the copy icon.
  • Copy the mathematical expression: Touch and hold a history item and tap Copy Expression.
  • Delete a history item: Swipe left on an entry and tap the red trash icon, or, touch and hold an entry and tap Delete.
  • Delete multiple entries from history: Tap Edit, select the entries, and then hit Delete.
  • Clear entire calculator history: Tap the red Clear button, followed by Clear History. This will turn the History section into a clean slate. Note that this action can’t be reversed.

Copy last results

If you only need to copy the result quickly without viewing the full expression, simply touch and hold the Calculator app icon or the Calculator icon in Control Center, and select Copy Last Result. You can then paste the result into Notes, documents, Messages, Mail, or elsewhere.

Use the M keys

If you’ve ever used a physical calculator during school or college, you might be familiar with the M+, M-, and MRC (or individual MR and MC) buttons.

You can switch to the scientific layout in the iPhone or iPad Calculator app by touching and holding the calculator button. If your iPhone is on an older version of iOS, simply rotate your device to landscape orientation, and the app will automatically switch modes.

Once you’re in the scientific calculator, perform your calculation and then tap the M+ key to save the result to memory. Later, you can tap the MR button to recall this answer.

There’s more to these M-series buttons, which you can learn in this 2-minute video.

Use third-party apps

I’ve been using the awesome Solves and Calculator with History+ apps on my iPhone and iPad for a long time now.

The Calculator+ app conveniently displays the history on the main screen, while the Solves app takes a different approach by placing it behind a history button. Once you tap the button, your past calculations remain visible on the main screen until you swipe up or tap the upward arrow to hide them.

If you do frequent calculations, you will love these apps. And once you start using them, you can add their buttons to the iPhone Lock Screen or Control Center for faster access.

Mac

Just like on the iPhone, you can see calculator history on Mac in the official Calculator app or via third-party alternatives.

Use the Apple Calculator app

  1. Open the Calculator app.
  2. Click View > Show History from the top menu bar. Alternatively, you can press the Control + Command + S keys to show or hide the Calculator app sidebar that displays the history.
  3. From the history section, you can click an entry to add it to the Calculator or right-click/Control-click to copy the expression or result.

Use third-party apps

The Solves app we mentioned above is also available as a native Mac app. It seems to keep your history forever.

If you are looking for something different, Calculator Plus and NCalc are also good choices for those who want access to calculator history. However, note that Calculator Plus deletes the history after you quit the app, and NCalc only shows you the last 15 calculations in its free version.

On a related note:

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/11/19/how-to-see-calculator-history-iphone-mac/

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