Manuals & Documentation

The entire calculation stays visible – like on a paper tape. You change any item afterwards, add comments and create interim results. The total recalculates automatically after every change.

For Windows PCs, Mac, iPhone and iPad (one app for both) and Android phones and tablets, plus CalcTape Web in the browser on a computer. CalcTape for Windows is currently being rebuilt from the ground up; until the new version is out, the previous version 6.0.8.1 is available for download. Each platform has its own app, and a purchase applies only to its own platform. The Platforms section shows what each version offers.

On Windows, on Android and in the browser, yes. On Windows and Android the Freeware is for private use; the Pro version adds more features and commercial use. On Mac, iPhone and iPad CalcTape is a paid app with the full feature set. What each version costs is shown in the Platforms section.

Yes, with the right edition; the rules differ by platform.

• Windows: The Freeware is for private use only; working from home for your employer is not private use. For commercial use you need Pro, or CalcTape Business from 25 licences, which adds your company logo inside the app and a custom setup (MSI) for deployment. Business is available on request; Pro licences return with the new Windows version.
• Android: The Freeware is for private use only; Pro includes commercial use.
• Mac, iPhone and iPad: There is only the paid app with the full feature set; there is no company edition.
• Web: CalcTape Web is a free service without editions.

The purchase belongs to the account you bought it with; for a new device on the same platform you do not buy again.

• Android: Pro belongs to your Google account. Sign in to Google Play on the new device with that account, open CalcTape with an internet connection and choose ⋮ → Restore purchases. From version 7.1 the app does this by itself at start.
• Mac, iPhone and iPad: The purchase belongs to your Apple Account. On every device with the same Apple Account you download CalcTape again from the App Store at no extra cost; iPhone and iPad share one app, the Mac app is a separate purchase.
• Windows: Enter the activation code from your order confirmation again on the new PC, together with the name or e-mail address it was issued to.

The licence is never part of a backup of your documents; it is always unlocked this way.

Usually for one of these reasons:

• Multiplication before addition, across lines. A multiplication or division line acts only on the item directly above it: + 3.99, * 3, + 2.49, * 2 gives 16.95, that is three times 3.99 and two times 2.49. A simple calculator works from left to right and arrives at 28.92. To multiply the whole total, close it with = first.
• A line with text only ends the calculation. The total below it counts from that line on; comments therefore go after the number, on the same line.
• A percentage refers to the total above it, see the next question.
• Rounding: By default CalcTape rounds every total to two decimal places (half up) and carries on with the rounded subtotal, just like on an invoice: 100 divided by 3 gives the subtotal 33.33, times 3 makes 99.99. The missing cent is the rounding. Without a subtotal CalcTape rounds only at the end: 10, / 3, * 3 gives 10.00.

CalcTape has four rounding options: round nothing, round final sums only (subtotals stay unrounded, so the example above gives 100.00), round results (the default) and round everything (every number you enter as well). “Round final sums only” comes with Android version 7.1 and the new Windows version; Windows 6.0.8.1, Android 7.0.5.1, Mac, iPhone and iPad offer the other three. The apps let you change decimal places and rounding in their settings; in CalcTape Web they are fixed.

A percentage refers to the running total above it, and CalcTape writes the amount right next to it: + 118.50, + 42.30, + 12% turns into the line + 12.00% with the amount 19.30 next to it and the total 180.10. With - you subtract: from a list price of 1,899 €, - 15% takes off 284.85 €; a following - 2% cash discount works on the new amount of 1,614.15 € and takes off 32.28 €, together 16.7 % and not 17 %. A tax included in a price comes out by division instead: at a 12 % rate, 1399.89, / 1.12 gives 1,249.90 € net. - 12% would take 12 % off the gross amount and leave 1,231.90 €, which is too little. Because / also acts only on the item above, make a subtotal with = first when there are several gross amounts. Examples to change: percentage calculation and VAT calculation.

With a blank line. At the end of a calculation press = (or Enter) twice: the first closes the calculation with its total, the second leaves a line empty, and below it a new calculation starts from zero. A line with text only, such as a heading, separates as well. Without a separation CalcTape carries on with the total: it becomes a subtotal, and the next items add to it. That way several shopping trips can stand one below the other in one document, each with its own total.

Behind a number, a typed +, -, * or / starts the next calculation line, even in the middle of the comment. To write it as text:

• Windows: in version 6.0.8.1 with Ctrl+Shift and the operator, * and / from the numeric keypad. The new version takes Alt and the operator.
• CalcTape Web: with Alt and the operator; on a Mac with ⌥ and the operator from the numeric keypad.
• Android: from version 7.1, while the system keyboard is open, the result bar shows "+" in place of ABC. Tap it once, and the next operator stays in the comment as text.
• Mac, iPhone and iPad: there is no dedicated key for this yet.

Type = name behind the total. With + 850.00 Base rent and + 120.00 Service charges, the total line becomes 970.00 = housing, and below it housing stands for 970.00: + housing, * 12 gives 11,640.00. Until the name is there, the line may report an error; the new Windows version shows it only if you leave the line that way.

Yes, you rarely need a save button; when saving happens depends on the platform.

• Android: in the app's own storage, within a minute of a change and whenever you leave the app or switch documents.
• iPhone and iPad: every change, by itself.
• Mac: when you switch to another document, close it or quit.
• CalcTape Web: every entry, in your browser's storage.
• Windows: CalcTape saves the worksheet when you quit; files you save with Ctrl+S, automatically only with Pro.

Saved is not the same as backed up, though: if the device is lost or you clear the browser data, the calculation is gone too. Make a copy as a file, or with the backup function, which is part of Pro on Android and in the new Windows version.

• Android: With Pro, ☰ → Backup / Restore writes a ZIP file with your documents, custom keys and settings to a place of your choice; on the new device you restore it with the same function.
• Mac, iPhone and iPad: With iCloud as the storage location, your documents live in the “CalcTape” folder in iCloud Drive and appear on every device with the same Apple Account; iCloud does not sync the settings.
• Windows: Copy your .calc files to the new PC. With Pro, the new version also packs worksheet, keys and settings into a backup.
• Web: Share the calculation as a link and open it in the browser of the new device.

The licence never travels in a backup; how to unlock it on the new device is explained under “How do I get my purchase onto a new device?”.

Yes. The easiest way is CalcTape Web: Share → Copy link creates a link that contains the whole calculation. The recipient opens it in the browser, sees the calculation as you do and can keep calculating without installing anything. The other ways:

• Web: also as text or PDF.
• Android: with Pro as text, HTML page or .calc file; printing, also to PDF through the print dialog, is part of Pro as well.
• Mac, iPhone and iPad: as text, HTML or .calc file, for example by mail, Messages or AirDrop, plus printing.
• Windows: Version 6.0.8.1 prints and sends the calculation by e-mail, also as HTML; the new version exports as text, HTML and PDF in every edition.

A .calc file is only useful to recipients who have CalcTape.

The previous version 6.0.8.1, which you can download today, runs on Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11. The new version needs Windows 10 version 1607 or later or Windows 11, 64-bit in both cases (x64 or ARM64); it no longer supports Windows 7 and 8.

Yes, the previous version 6.0.8.1 is available for download; for several machines there are ready-made installer packages (MSI). New Pro licences for version 6 are not on sale at the moment. Alongside it, CalcTape for Windows is being rebuilt from the ground up. The beta test is under way and all places have been taken. Everything else is on the CalcTape for Windows page.

• Version 6.0.8.1: Download the installer (CalcTape-6.0.8.1-Setup.exe) and run it. For deployment on many machines there is one installer package (MSI) per language.
• New version: It will come with a setup of its own and take over the data of an existing version 6 when it first starts. Beta testers receive the file and instructions with their invitation; the Windows manual already describes the new version.

In the new version: any number of files side by side instead of one file plus the worksheet, unlimited custom keys and keyboard layouts, adding machine mode, theme editing, Excel export, automatic saving with backup, and commercial use. Named values, comments and the worksheet are included in every edition. Details in the edition comparison.

In the new Windows version, drag past the edge with the mouse: the tape scrolls along, sideways as well as up and down, and the further out the pointer, the faster. It scrolls the same way when you drag selected text to its edge. With the keyboard, Shift+End selects from the caret to the end of the line.

Copy the cell, put the caret where you want it and paste with Ctrl+V. In the new Windows version a single cell lands in the line at the caret, for instance as a comment behind an amount. Several cells in a column become lines of their own. Numbers with foreign separators are converted to the document's format: in a document with a decimal point, 1.234,50 becomes 1234.50.

Yes, as files. All CalcTape apps save a calculation in the same format, as a .calc file: text with the lines of the calculation and a short header with settings such as the number of decimal places. A file saved on the Mac opens in CalcTape for Windows and vice versa; transfer it by e-mail, USB stick or a cloud folder. This is an exchange of files, not a sync: a change reaches the other computer only when you transfer the file again. Documents are synced automatically only between Mac, iPhone and iPad, via iCloud. On Android, opening and exporting files needs Pro; CalcTape Web saves .calc files but does not open them.

Yes, via iCloud. Choose iCloud as the storage location on each device; CalcTape asks at first start. Your documents then live in the “CalcTape” folder in iCloud Drive and appear on all devices with the same Apple Account. The documents are synced, the settings are not. There is no sync with Windows, Android or the web app; a calculation gets there as a file.

On Android, yes: the app can start a one-time trial with the full Pro feature set – 10 days, no purchase and no subscription. It ends by itself; documents you created stay readable and are read-only until you upgrade, while the worksheet stays editable.

Yes. At calctape.app you can use CalcTape without installation, right in the browser – handy on someone else’s computer or for a quick try. The web app is made for the browser on a computer; on phone and tablet the apps for Android and iPhone & iPad are the better choice.

Your calculation is kept in your browser’s storage on your device; the web app sends no calculation to a server. That means it is not there in another browser, and clearing the browser data or calculating in a private window loses it. Save important calculations as a file (Share → Save calculation, or Ctrl+S). A shared link contains the whole calculation, compressed, after the # of the address. Browsers do not send that part to the server when the link is opened, so nothing is stored at CalcTape. But anyone who has the link can read it, and it sits wherever you send it, such as a mailbox or a messenger. More in the manual.