Subtraction Worksheets Without Regrouping, With It, or Across Zeros

Twelve 3-digit problems that never regroup. Press Make a new sheet for new numbers, or pick Always regroup.

Sheet type

Problems

Answer key

12 problems. 3-digit subtraction, never regroup. Sheet 1ZENMG, with its answer key.

3-digit subtraction, never regroup

Name Date Score / 12

Subtract. Start with the ones.

Sheet 1ZENMG · Made at homeroomtools.com

Answer key. 3-digit subtraction, never regroup

1.175
2.18
3.336
4.342
5.1
6.776
7.213
8.486
9.603
10.570
11.12
12.235

Sheet 1ZENMG · Made at homeroomtools.com

Next step Print 3-digit addition with no regrouping Make a plain sheet in any of 4 operations

How it works

867 − 342 = 525 needs no borrowing: these subtraction worksheets without regrouping open on 12 such 3-digit problems. Subtraction with borrowing worksheets regroup every time, a set number of times or across zeros, in 2, 3 or 4 digits.

Read the full guide

Three digit subtraction worksheets, never or always

These multi digit subtraction worksheets are sorted by regrouping, not by grade. Never regroup and Always regroup hold the same three sizes: print 867 − 342 one day and 742 − 368 the next. Everything mixed: 2, 3 and 4 digits, any regrouping comes after both, because a word problem never says which kind it holds.

4 digit subtraction worksheets by number of regroupings

A 4-digit problem can regroup once, twice or three times, and each count has its own sheet, up to 7,234 − 3,658. Zeros are separate again: Across two zeros prints problems like 7,002 − 3,458, and From 10,000 is the only sheet with a 5-digit number.

Crossings-out on a never regroup page mean regrouping by habit. Print 4-digit, regroup once, in any column next.
Taking 1 from both numbers turns 5,000 − 2,746 into 4,999 − 2,745, which needs no regrouping.
On 4-digit minus 3-digit, a 5 copied down in 5,326 − 748 means the last regrouping was forgotten.

Questions and answers

What is subtraction without regrouping?

It is a subtraction where every digit of the top number is at least as big as the digit under it, so each column is a single fact and nothing is borrowed: 867 − 342 = 525. Change 342 to 368 and two columns regroup.

Should subtraction with or without regrouping come first?

Without. With no regrouping a pupil learns the columns and the ones-first order while every step is a known fact. Common Core sets fluency within 100 in grade 2 (2.NBT.5), within 1,000 in grade 3 (3.NBT.2) and the standard algorithm in grade 4 (4.NBT.4).

Is there a subtracting across zeros worksheet?

Yes, a whole group. 4-digit with a zero in the tens and 4-digit with a zero in the hundreds come first, then Across two zeros, From whole thousands and From 10,000. Zeros in the number taken away puts the zeros in the bottom number.

All 23 sheet types

Never regroup 5

2-digit subtraction, never regroup Two columns and no regrouping: 79 − 34 = 45 is 9 take away 4 and 7 take away 3. Texas 2.4(B) asks grade 2 to subtract two-digit numbers with mental strategies and algorithms, and this is the first page of the algorithm.
3-digit subtraction, never regroup The opening sheet: 12 stacked problems where every top digit is at least as big as the digit below it, as in 867 − 342 = 525. Each column is a one-digit fact and nothing is crossed out. Use it to settle the layout and the habit of starting at the ones.
4-digit subtraction, never regroup Four columns, still with nothing to regroup: 8,769 − 3,425 = 5,344. What is new is the thousands place and the comma in the answer, nothing else, so it suits the first day of 4-digit work before any regrouping is asked for.
Never regroup, 3-digit minus 2-digit The bottom number is a digit shorter and sits under the tens and ones: 487 − 53 = 434. Nothing is regrouped, so the hundreds digit comes straight down. The slip to watch for is an empty hundreds place in the answer, as if nothing under the 4 meant nothing left.
Never regroup, printed side by side Twenty 3-digit problems printed in a line, such as 596 − 274 = 322, for working in the head. With no regrouping the hundreds, tens and ones can be taken in any order, even left to right, so nothing needs writing down but the answer.

Show all 23 sheet types (18 more)

Always regroup 4

2-digit subtraction, always regroup The ones always run out: 63 − 27 = 36 becomes 5 tens and 13 ones, then 13 − 7 = 6 and 5 tens take away 2 tens. With two digits there is only one place to regroup from, so this is the cleanest page for learning the move itself.
3-digit subtraction, always regroup Every problem regroups at least once and some regroup twice, as in 742 − 368 = 374, where the top number is held as 6 hundreds, 13 tens and 12 ones. No top number has a 0 in it; zeros have their own group further down the menu.
4-digit minus 3-digit, always regroup The bottom number is a digit shorter. In 5,326 − 748 = 4,578 all three lower columns regroup, so the thousands digit falls from 5 to 4 with nothing written under it. A pupil who copies the 5 down has forgotten the last regrouping.
4-digit subtraction, always regroup Every problem regroups in at least one column and some in all three. In 6,243 − 2,718 = 3,525 the ones take a ten and the hundreds take a thousand, while the tens need nothing. Common Core 4.NBT.4 asks grade 4 for multi-digit subtraction with the standard algorithm.

4-digit, a set number of regroupings 4

4-digit, regroup a thousand only The ones and tens are fine and the hundreds are short, so a thousand becomes 10 hundreds: 6,428 − 2,715 = 3,713, where 14 hundreds take away 7 hundreds. It is the only regrouping a pupil has not already met in 3-digit work.
4-digit, regroup once, in any column Exactly one column regroups, and it may be the ones, the tens or the hundreds. In 7,482 − 3,157 = 4,325 it is the ones. Because the place changes from problem to problem, the pupil has to check every column and cannot regroup by habit.
4-digit, regroup three times Every column but the thousands regroups. In 7,234 − 3,658 = 3,576 the top number ends up held as 6 thousands, 11 hundreds, 12 tens and 14 ones. Add those up and it is still 7,234, which is worth showing once before the page begins.
4-digit, regroup twice Two columns regroup in every problem. In 8,352 − 2,671 = 5,681 the ones are fine, the tens take a hundred and the hundreds take a thousand, so the 3 becomes 2 before it becomes 12. That double change to one digit is what this page practices.

Regrouping across zeros 6

4-digit with a zero in the hundreds The empty place is the hundreds. In 6,053 − 2,487 = 3,566 the tens need a hundred and there is none, so a thousand is opened: 5 thousands and 10 hundreds, then 9 hundreds and 10 more tens. That makes three regroupings for one problem.
4-digit with a zero in the tens The ones need a ten and the tens place is empty. In 6,305 − 2,178 = 4,127 a hundred is opened first, 3 hundreds becoming 2 hundreds and 10 tens, and then one of those tens is opened for the ones. The tens digit ends up as 9, never 10.
Across two zeros: 7,002 − 3,458 and the like Two empty places in a row. In 7,002 − 3,458 = 3,544 the ones need a ten, the tens have none, the hundreds have none, and so a thousand is opened and passed down: 6 thousands, 9 hundreds, 9 tens and 12 ones.
From 10,000: take away a 4-digit number Every problem starts from 10,000, as in 10,000 − 4,382 = 5,618. Four regroupings leave 9 thousands, 9 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones. It is the one sheet here with a 5-digit number on it, kept because the whole chain of zeros shows most clearly on it.
From whole thousands: 5,000 − 2,746 and the like The top number is 2,000, 3,000 and so on, so three places are empty: 5,000 − 2,746 = 2,254. Regrouped, 5,000 is 4 thousands, 9 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones. Taking 1 from both numbers first gives 4,999 − 2,745 = 2,254, with no regrouping at all.
Zeros in the number taken away Here the zeros are in the bottom number, as in 6,854 − 2,007 = 4,847. Taking away 0 changes nothing, so the 8 hundreds and, after one regrouping, the 4 tens come straight down. A pupil who writes 0 under a column that takes away 0 is mixing it up with multiplying.

Mixed pages: decide first 3

Everything mixed: 2, 3 and 4 digits, any regrouping Numbers of 2, 3 and 4 digits, with or without regrouping, as in 3,406 − 78 = 3,328, which crosses a zero on the way. The top number is always longer, and most problems are 4-digit minus 3-digit. This is the closest sheet to what turns up in word problems, where nobody says in advance what kind of subtraction it is.
No rule: numbers up to 100, 20 side by side Twenty problems in a line with any numbers up to 100, such as 71 − 46 = 25. Some need regrouping and some do not, and with no columns printed the pupil decides whether to stack them on scrap paper or work in the head.
No rule: numbers up to 1,000, a page of 30 Thirty stacked problems with any numbers up to 1,000, such as 905 − 172 = 733. Nothing is controlled: sizes are mixed, regrouping comes as it falls, 0 is never taken away and no answer is 0. It is a fair cold test of the whole skill.

Layouts that help 1

Th H T O headers over every problem Small letters for thousands, hundreds, tens and ones sit over each problem. In 4,618 − 1,243 = 3,375 the tens are short, and the header helps a pupil say what is regrouped: one hundred, which is 10 tens. Useful when the words matter as much as the answer.

How this list was compiled: Sheet types, wording and worked examples are own work. Every worked example was computed by script on 2026-09-19, twice (by subtracting and by adding the answer back). The same script counted the regroupings claimed for each example with the standard right-to-left method and checked each regrouped form quoted, such as 7,234 held as 6 thousands, 11 hundreds, 12 tens and 14 ones. Standard numbers were read on 2026-09-19 in the full text of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (California Department of Education copy, https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/ccssmathstandardaug2013.pdf): 2.NBT.5 (fluently add and subtract within 100), 2.NBT.7 (within 1000, where it is sometimes necessary to compose or decompose tens or hundreds), 3.NBT.2 (fluently add and subtract within 1000) and 4.NBT.4 (multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm); and in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, 19 TAC chapter 111 subchapter A (https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/ch111a.pdf): 2.4(B) (subtract two-digit numbers using mental strategies and algorithms), 3.4(A) (problems within 1,000) and 4.4(A) (the standard algorithm). The word crutches for regrouping marks, and the rule that taking the same number from both numbers leaves the answer unchanged, were checked on 2026-09-19 against Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtraction . The sheets follow no single curriculum, and naming a standard does not mean a sheet is approved by anyone. Licence: own work