There’s no need to switch out of Word to do simple calculations because Word for Windows has its very own built-in calculator. Calculate in Word has some nice tricks but also problems and traps.
Type a calculation, hit the button (see below) and the result appears in the status bar AND it’s loaded into the clipboard ready for pasting.
Calculate is a long-standing part of Word for Windows but not Word for Mac, Apple or Android.
The selection can be a line of text, paragraph or a table (column, row or whole table). Non-consecutive selections (by holding down Ctrl) can also be calculated.
Word’s calculator has some interesting tricks available but first let’s look at the basics.
The available functions are routine and no surprise.
+ Add or spaces between numbers
– Subtract or place the number in brackets, ( )
* Multiply (not x or X )
/ Divide
% Percentage
^ Exponentiation and roots
Clipboard too
Often ignored in explanations of Word’s calculator is the clipboard. Any Calculate result is added to the clipboard as well as appearing on the status bar.
That lets you paste the result into Word or any other program.
With the latest Windows 10 and Windows 11, the enhanced clipboard will save multiple clipboard entries. See our ebook Windows 11 for Microsoft Office users for details.
Add and Subtract tricks
Did we say ‘no surprise’ in the functions? That’s not entirely true because add and subtract have some useful, if inconsistent, tricks.
ADD: spaces or non-calculator characters will count as a plus symbol.
4 3 2 with spaces between the digits is added up to 9.
More surprisingly, this also works with words in-between.
Word ignores the text between the digits and treats it as a plus sign. This trick only works with digits not numbers as words (e.g. “Four calling birds”)
It’s a useful trick inside Word even though it’s different from standard algebra (space means multiply).
Subtract with brackets
Subtraction happens with digits only inside brackets.
4 3 (2) is calculated as 5 e.g. 4 + 3 – 2
That’s very useful for columns of numbers with accountancy formatting where debits are in brackets.
Word is inconsistent. You’d expect digits with words in brackets to be subtracted (i.e. the words are ignored, just like with addition) but that’s not what happens. This sentence does NOT return 8 (4 + 3 + 2 – 1)
Instead the result is 10 because the 1 inside brackets is added.
The problem is the text inside the brackets which messes up the Word calculator. Removing the text makes the calculation come out consistent with the rest of the Word calculator.
= kills the calculator
The strangest thing about Word’s calculator is its treatment of the equals sign =
Selecting an equals sign disables the calculator or gives a wrong result!
Type say “ 4 * 5 = “ then select all those characters including the equals sign and Calculate won’t work at all.
Select just “ 4 * 5 “and the result ‘20’ will appear.
That’s horribly inconsistent. If = isn’t a operator in Calculate it should be treated as text and ignored.
It gets worse. “ 4 * 5 = x “ doesn’t work but other trailing text is OK like “ 4 * 5 fred ” returns 20.
Beware digits after an equals sign “ 4 * 5 = 1 “gives the result 21! It seems that digits after an equals sign are added to the calculation ( = is treated as text and the following digits are added).
Order of precedence
Be really careful with more complex calculations. Word follows the usual order of precedence.
- percentage
- power / root
- multiplication / division
- addition / subtraction
When in doubt, include brackets to confirm the order of calculation you intend. That’s what real mathematicians do.
Dashes converted to Hyphens
You can enter your equation with or without spaces, but if you do have spaces, Word may change hyphens to dashes, which means they are treated as text (addition) not subtraction!
It’s caused by a conflict between Calculate and AutoFormat as you type.
As spaces make equations easier to read, you may want to turn off this behavior in AutoCorrect Options. (File | Options | Proofing | AutoCorrect Options | AutoFormat As You Type.)
It would be helpful if hyphens were treated as dashes by Calculate.
Install Word’s calculator
Word’s calculator is in-built but inaccessible until you put it on the Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon.
To add it to the Quick Access Toolbar or ribbon go to File | Options | Quick Access Toolbar, or by clicking the arrow next to the other quick access icons, and selecting More Commands.
Once in the Word Option dialog, select All Commands, scroll down to Calculator, click on it, and click Add to add it to the list on the right.
You will now see a faint circle on your Quick Access Toolbar. Don’t worry that it looks disabled; it won’t be enabled until you highlight an equation for it to calculate.
Add a Calculator shortcut
A keyboard shortcut for Calculate would be very useful, just select the formula then press the shortcut,
Customize Keyboard | All Commands has a ‘Calculate’ command hiding down at ‘ToolsCalculate’. Big ‘tip of the hat’ to Office-Watch.com reader Yvette J. who found the ‘missing’ Calculate command!
The ‘C’ shortcut options are all assigned but Alt + L ‘caLculate’ seems memorable.
The QAT customize confirms that ‘Calculate’ is the correct name for the command but it’s not listed under that name. Go figure ….
Needs some TLC
Word’s Calculator is a part of Office that’s been ignored for many years and shows it.
Problems and inconsistencies should have been fixed long ago but the code has remained unchanged for too long. At the very least, Calculate should be available in Customize Keyboard.
