Subtraction Worksheet Generator

Create a printable subtraction worksheet in seconds. Choose the number of digits and problems, press Create, and print it with its answer key. Free, no sign-up.

How to make a subtraction worksheet

Choose the number of digits: 1, 2 or 3. This sets how big the numbers are and how hard the sheet feels.
Choose vertical problems (stacked, the way children learn to subtract with a pencil) or horizontal problems (written on one line, good for mental math).
Pick how many problems you want on the page: 12, 16, 20, 24 or 30. Turn on problem numbers if you want to say "look at number 7" while you check the work, and keep the numbers bold for easy reading.
Press Create. The preview shows the page exactly as it will print. Press Download PDF to save the sheet, or Print to send it straight to your printer. Press Create again whenever you want a fresh set: the numbers change, the layout stays the same.
Press Show answers to see the same sheet with every answer in red. Download or print it as your answer key.

No negative answers, ever

The generator always puts the larger number on top, so every answer is zero or more. Young children never meet a problem like 4 - 9 that they cannot yet solve, and older children can focus on borrowing instead of puzzling over the order of the numbers.

Which settings for which grade

Kindergarten and 1st grade: one-digit problems such as 9 - 4. Twelve or sixteen problems is plenty. Children can count back on a number line, or think of the addition fact they already know: 4 and what make 9?

2nd grade: two-digit problems. Some will need regrouping (borrowing from the tens) and some will not. Ask your child to look at the ones column first and say whether the problem needs a trade before starting it.

3rd grade: three-digit problems, where borrowing can happen twice in one problem, or across a zero, as in 402 - 167. These are worth slowing down for.

Tips for subtraction practice

Check with addition. When a problem is done, add the answer to the bottom number: it should give the top number. This habit catches most borrowing mistakes.
Use the horizontal layout for mental strategies such as counting up: for 53 - 48, count up from 48 to 53.
If borrowing is new, print a 12-problem sheet and do it together, using coins or base-ten blocks for the first few problems.

Using the sheets at home and in class

At home, a short sheet three or four times a week works better than a long one at the weekend. Read the first problem together, then let your child continue alone while you stay nearby. In class, print the same settings twice, once as practice and once a week later as a quick check, and compare the two. The answer key makes marking fast, and children can correct their own mistakes in a different colour so you can see what they fixed.

What is on the printed page

Each sheet has a clear title, a line for the child's name and the date, and a neat grid of subtraction problems with plenty of room to write. The font is large and simple, the page is uncluttered, and it prints well in black and white. Because the numbers are random, two sheets with the same settings are never the same, which makes the generator handy for daily practice, homework and quick checks before a test.