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Learn about what history functionality your iPhone calculator has
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If you use your iPhone calculator a lot, you may wonder if it's possible to see a history of your calculations. If you’ve updated to iOS 18, you can now view and edit your history in the Calculator app! Unfortunately, earlier versions of the iPhone Calculator app don’t really have a history feature, though you can copy your last calculation result and use the memory functions within the calculator itself, which we will teach you about in this article. If you're looking for a more robust calculator app with history, we also have some third-party app suggestions at the end of this article.
Viewing Your Calculator History: The Basics
- If you have iOS 18 or later , tap the menu icon in the top left corner of the screen to view your history.
- Press and hold the calculator app in the Control Center, home screen, or App Library to get an option to copy the result from your last calculation.
- Use the memory recall function on your iPhone calculator to store a number in your calculator's memory that you can use again later.
Steps
Section 1 of 5:
View Your Calculator History (iOS 18 or Later)
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Perform a calculation. To see anything in your history, you’ll need to have used the calculator app since updating to iOS 18. Do any calculation to start populating the list of previous calculations. -
Tap the History menu. It’s an orange icon that looks like a bulleted list with three lines in the top left corner of the screen. [1] X Research sourceAdvertisement -
View your list of calculations. They’ll be organized by date. -
Tap and hold a result to see other options. Tapping and holding one of your previous calculations will bring up a new menu. Select from Copy Expression (which will copy the expression you entered to do the calculation), Copy Result (to copy just the answer), or Delete .- If you want to delete multiple past calculations, tap Edit at the top right corner of the main history menu. Select any results you want to delete, or tap Delete All at the bottom to completely clear your history. Tap Done when you’re finished.
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Section 2 of 5:
Copy Last Result
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Open the Control Center. You can do this by placing your finger in the upper-right corner of the screen and swiping down. Your iPhone allows you to copy the result of the last calculation you did in your calculator without having to open the app.- This method will work in iOS 17 or earlier as well as iOS 18. If you have iOS 18, you can also do this from within the app (see the previous method ).
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Press and hold the calculator app. This app is at the bottom of the Control Center and has a black background with a white calculator icon. A contextual menu will pop up.- You can also press and hold on the calculator app on your home screen or in your App Library to pull up the contextual menu.
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Tap Copy Last Result . This will copy the result of your last calculation, but it won't show you what the formula was. Nonetheless, it is a method of obtaining some history from your Calculator app even if you don’t have the latest version of iOS.- Your last calculation will be stored even if you restart your phone.
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Section 3 of 5:
Memory Function
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Open the Calculator app. Like a physical calculator , you can use the iPhone app to remember specific numbers using the memory function. -
Switch to Scientific mode. In iOS 18, tap the button with the calculator icon in the lower-left corner of the screen. This is the Mode button. Tap Scientific . [2] X Research source- To access the scientific calculator in iOS 17 or earlier, turn the phone to landscape orientation. If you have Portrait Orientation Lock on, turn it off by swiping down from the upper-right corner to open the Control Center and tapping the orientation lock button, which looks like a lock surrounded by an arrow. [3] X Research source
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Perform a calculation that has a result you want to save. -
Press the m+ button. This will add the current number on your calculator to the memory. The mr button will highlight when the memory recall function is active. -
Press the mr button to recall the saved number. The saved number will pop up in the number field, and you can include it in future calculations. -
Use the m+ and m- buttons to adjust the saved number. For example, if your saved number was 7 and you typed 14 into your calculator and pressed m+ , your new saved number would be 21.- Using m+ and m- will change your saved number. If you want to just use the number in calculations, use the normal plus and minus buttons.
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Press mc to clear your saved number. If you need to re-do your saved number or are finished, you can clear it out by pressing mc.
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Section 4 of 5:
Screen Recording (Pre-iOS 18 Workaround)
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Open your Settings app. If you’re running iOS 17 or earlier and need to recall a list of calculations, you can record your phone's screen while you do the calculations to refer back to later. -
Tap on Control Center . The icon looks like two toggle switches and is below General . -
Tap the green + next to Screen Recording . This will add the iPhone's built-in screen recording function to your Control Center. [4] X Research source -
Open the Control Center. Swipe down from the upper-right corner to open the Control Center. -
Tap the Screen Recording button. It is at the bottom of the control center and looks like a dot with a circle around it. The screen recording will begin in a few seconds.- If you have an iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, there will be a red dot in your Dynamic Island indicating the screen is recording. If you have a different iPhone version, the clock will be highlighted in red.
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Perform your calculations. Use your calculator to do the calculations you want to refer back to. -
Turn off Screen Recording. Return to the Control Center and tap the red recording button to stop the recording. The recording will be saved to your iPhone's photo library. -
Review the recording. Watch the recording back to see your calculations.
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