Learn how to use the Calculator app on your Mac to quickly convert a unit of measurement to another.
You probably think the Calculator app on your Mac is a bare-bones math calculation app used to quickly multiply, divide, subtract, and add numbers, but it can do many other things that are often overlooked.
Although it’s great at these kinds of things, did you know your macOS Calculator app is also a full-featured unit converter that can convert one form of measurement to another? For example, you can convert meters to yards or inches to centimeters, and a lot more!
Use the Apple Calculator app to convert units of measure
Now, you probably think I’m going to tell you to remember there are 12 inches in a foot to use the Calculator to convert a unit of measure, but no. There is actually a function built right into the Calculator app on your Mac that has all these formulas built into it already, so you won’t have to remember how many quarts are in a gallon, how many feet are in a yard, etc.
For the purpose of this tutorial, we’re assuming you want to convert a number of feet to inches, for example, convert 2,847 feet to inches.
1) Launch the Calculator app on your Mac and enter the value you want to convert.
2) Click the calculator icon at the top and select Convert. You can also click View > Convert from the top menu bar or press the option + command + C keys.
3) Use the little drop-down selectors to set the desired conversion options and units.
The macOS Calculator app supports a wide range of units of measure, which include:
- Angle
- Area
- Currency
- Data
- Energy
- Force
- Fuel
- Length
- Power
- Pressure
- Speed
- Temperature
- Time
- Volume
- Weight
That’s all there is to it! You’ve just used the Calculator app on your Mac to convert one unit of measure to another. You can use any numbers and any units of measure you want, and the steps above will still be the same.
As a side note, the Currency function gets its data from Yahoo, and these numbers need to be updated regularly via the Internet because the currency is subject to change.
To return to the normal calculator, do one of the following:
- Press the option + command + C keys.
- Click the calculator icon or the View menu in the top menu bar and uncheck Convert.
If your Mac isn’t running the latest version of macOS, don’t worry, as this feature is also available on old OS X. Just open the Calculator app, click Convert from the top menu bar, and follow along.
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