Long Division with Steps
Long division worked one digit at a time — bring down, divide, multiply, subtract — for whole numbers and decimals, to any number of decimal places, exactly.
The quotient and remainder (also as a fraction), every step in a table, the decimal scaling explained when the divisor has decimals, and a repeating cycle when there is one.
Example: 1234 ÷ 7: 7 into 12 goes 1 (5 left), into 53 goes 7 (4 left), into 44 goes 6 (2 left) → 176 remainder 2, or 176.285…; 1 ÷ 7 shows the repeating cycle 142857.
Bring down, divide,
multiply, subtract.
The schoolbook algorithm step by step, how decimals are handled, and what "repeating" means.
The steps
Take the digits of the dividend one at a time. Bring the next digit down beside the remainder so far, ask how many times the divisor goes into that number, write the answer in the quotient, multiply it by the divisor, subtract, and carry the difference forward. When the digits run out, bring down zeros to continue into decimals.
Decimals
A divisor with decimals is awkward, so both numbers are multiplied by the same power of ten to make it whole — 12.5 ÷ 0.25 becomes 1250 ÷ 25 — which leaves the quotient unchanged. The remainder after the whole-number part is reported in the original units, and as a fraction of the divisor when both were whole.
Repeating and truncation
While zeros are being brought down, a remainder that recurs means the digits from that point repeat forever (1 ÷ 7 = 0.142857 142857 …); the cycle is shown in brackets. The quotient is cut off at the requested place, not rounded, so the last digit is the true digit at that place. Everything is exact integer arithmetic. Nothing leaves the browser; the same four anonymous usage counts as the rest of the site apply.
SOURCES
- Standard long-division algorithm (schoolbook division) in exact integer arithmetic; decimals handled by scaling both operands by the same power of ten
Last reviewed 20 September 2026. How results are checked: How we verify.