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How to enable comma separation of integers in Ubuntu's default calculator?

By default the calculator doesn't separate every three digits so looking at the difference between large integers is difficult.

Example:

10000000000

10000000

For old guys with poor vision like me it's hard to tell the difference between a few million and a few billion without the commas.

1,000,000,000

10,000,000

Eliah Kagan
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1 Answers1

6

ubuntu 14.04 / calculator 3.10.3 && calculator 3.18.3 - ubuntu 16.04

The solution took me a few minutes too long to find given the simplicity and obviousness of it so here it is in case anybody else overlooks it like I did and will again next time I reinstall Ubuntu.

  1. (calculator 3.10.3 - ubuntu 14.04) click Edit

    (calculator 3.18.3 - ubuntu 16.04) click Calculator

  2. click Preferences

  3. check Show thousands separators

  4. click Close

    no reboot needed

Bonus Tip - The menus for Ubuntu software programs are not intuitive, especially when the app is not full screen (like the calculator app). To reveal the menu, hover your cursor at the top of the screen and it will show itself. (thanks to Raymond)

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    The 'Calculator' menu will be at the top bar on your screen (next to 'Activities'), it's easy to miss if you've been majorly a Windows user. – Wachaga Mwaura Feb 11 '19 at 22:24
  • Just to clarify, the "Preferences"context menu is under the calculator icon, on the actual calculator window (top left). Just click on the icon. – Bob Mar 23 '20 at 14:48