How to Compute the Square Root on a Mac

Need the square root of 2? Got a formula figured out and there’s something squared on one side? Find out here how to compute the square root (and other roots) for a number quickly on a Mac ⤓ (using Spotlight, Calculator or Terminal).

How to Compute the Square Root for a Number on a Mac

Using Spotlight

it’s also for writing: How to Insert the Square Root Symbol ( √ ) on a Mac

Cube root: You can use cbrt({radicand}) for the third root.

Compute Other Roots with Spotlight

You can also compute other roots than the square root with Spotlight.

To take arbitrary roots most easily on a Mac:

1. Bring up Spotlight search.
2. Type <radicand> ^ (1 / <index>).
   Radicand: Replace <radicand> with the number whose root you want to take.
   Index: Replace <index> with the index of the radical, e.g., 3 for a cube root.
   Raising: ^ is, of course, the operator that will raise (e.g. square) a number in Mac Spotlight.
   Examples: Type 27 ^ (1 / 3) for the cube root of 27 (3), or 9 ^ (1 / 2) for the equivalent of the square root of 9 (also 3).

Mac Spotlight Square Root Example

Type sqrt((34.6+4)^3/5) in Spotlight to compute $\sqrt{\frac{{(34.6+4)}^3}{5}}$.

Compute a Root Using Mac Calculator

To use macOS Calculator to find the square root (or the nth root) for any number:

1. Open Calculator.
   Here’s how: You can use Launchpad to open Calculator, for example.
2. Switch to Scientific mode.
   Here’s how: Press Command 2 in Calculator or select View | Scientific from the menu.
3. Enter the number whose square root you want compute.
   Type-or-press: You can either use the on-screen buttons or the keyboard to enter the number.
4. Click $\text{exception 25:}$.
   Other radices: Press $\text{exception 25:}$ for the cube root and $\text{exception 25:}$ followed by the root’s index for an nth root.
   

Calculate Square Roots in Mac Terminal

To compute the root for a number fast on a Mac using bc in Terminal:

1. Open Terminal on the Mac.
2. Type bc -e "sqrt(<radicand>)" for the square root.
   Cube root: Use bc -e "cbrt(<radicand>)" to compute the cube root.
   Nth root: You can use bc -le "root(<radicand>, <n>)" to take the nth root of the radicand.
   Examples: Use bc -e sqrt(9) to quickly compute the square root of 9 and bc -le "root(243, 5)" to compute the 5th root of 243.
   Why “-l”: The -l parameter loads the math library for bc, which includes the root() function for computing arbitrary roots.
3. Press Enter.
   

(Tested with macOS Tahoe 26.0–26.5, Sequoia 15.3–15.5 and Sonoma 14.3–14.6; first published April 2024, last updated June 2026)