Windows 10 Calculator Shortcut Keys

Summary: Some people, I among them, find using the keyboard much faster and more accurate than using the mouse. The Windows 10 Calculator can be operated entirely from the keyboard, but finding which key to use for what function means reading through the long list in Microsoft’s article Keyboard Shortcuts in Apps. This article is based on that one, but arranged in what I hope is a more useful way. I have also corrected a few errors and omissons.

See also: Create a Shortcut Key to Open the Calculator, in Windows 10 Tips and Tweaks.

Key	What it does	In modes
Alt+1 Alt+2 Alt+3 Alt+4 Alt+5 or Ctrl+E	Change mode to … Standard Scientific Graphing Programmer Date Calculation
Alt+H	Menu of all calculator modes and converters
F9 * / Enter	+/− × (multiply) ÷ (divide) = (works sometimes in Prog mode)	Std, Sci, Prog
%	%	Std
%	mod	Sci
%	% (mod)	Prog
R	1/x (reciprocal)	Std, Sci
V X or E	F–E (scientific notation on/off) exp (enter exponent in scientific notation)	Sci
Q @	x² 2√	Std, Sci
# B	x³ 3√	Sci
G Ctrl+G L Ctrl+N N Y or ^ Ctrl+Y Shift+L	2x 10x log ex ln xy y√x logyx	Sci
P Shift+E	π e	Sci
M none	→dms →deg	Sci
S O T J U I	Trig functions: sin cos tan cot sec csc Shift for inverse function, Ctrl for hyperbolic function, Ctrl+Shift for inverse hyperbolic.	Sci
F3 F4 F5	Angles are measured in: DEG RAD GRAD	Sci
Shift+\ ! [ ] Shift+R	|x| (absolute value) n! (factorial) or Γ(x+1) (gamma function) ⌊x⌋ (floor) ⌈x⌉ (ceiling) rand (between 0 and 1)	Sci
Ctrl+M Ctrl+P Ctrl+Q Ctrl+R Ctrl+L	Memory operations: MS (Store to memory) M+ (Add to memory) M− (Subtract from memory) MR (Recall from memory) MC (Clear memory)	Std, Sci, Prog
F5 F6 F7 F8	Input format: HEX DEC OCT BIN	Prog
F12 F2 F3 F4	Register size: QWORD DWORD WORD BYTE	Prog
& | ^ ~ \ . (period)	Bitwise functions: AND OR XOR NOT NOT NAND	Prog
Shift+, (<) Shift+. (>)   Shift+, (<) Shift+. (>)	Bit shifts, in either circular mode: RoL (Rotate left one bit) RoL (Rotate right one bit) Bit shifts, in arithmetic or logical mode: Lsh (Shift left n bits) Rsh (Shift right n bits)	Prog
Ctrl+H or Alt+I Ctrl+Shift+D	History list Clear the history	Std, Sci
Backspace Del Esc	CE (Clear current input) C (Clear calculation)
Tab Space	Navigate to next button Click the button that currently has focus
0–9, A–F, =, (, and ) map to those buttons when visible.

What’s Special about This List?

Why did I bother to create this list, when a Web search will show you plenty of others? Well, every one I found was just a duplicate of Microsoft’s list, referenced above, all with the same problems and some with additional problems.

Microsoft’s list has several problems, in my view:

• Some shortcuts aren’t in their list, such as B for ³√ , Shift+E for the constant e ≈ 2.71828 and Shift+R for a random number between 0 and 1.
• There are some errors, such as S for 10^x. (S is actually sin.) ! is given as n! (factorial), but if ! is used with a non-integer then it computes the gamma function.
• Keys aren’t grouped functionally, so you have to look through the whole list to find the one you’re looking for. I didn’t solve this problem completely, but I believe I did make some improvement.
• Some of the button names are rather obscure; I’ve added explanatory notes to the ones I could figure out.

If you have any suggestions for improving the layout of my list, please let me know!