PermitKeys
Free DMV permit practice tests
298 practice questions for California and New York, each written from that state's official driver handbook, with an explanation for every answer.
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Your state
Choose your state
The rules, the signs and the penalties change at the state line. Pick yours and everything on the page comes from that state's handbook.
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California DMV
198 questions36 questions per attempt, 30 correct to pass. Every one with an explanation and the handbook section behind it.
From the California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition.
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New York DMV
100 questions20 questions per attempt, 14 correct to pass. Every one with an explanation and the handbook section behind it.
From the New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), April 2026 version.
How the questions are written
One fact at a time, from the current handbook
No state publishes the questions on its written test. What each licensing agency publishes is a driver handbook, and that is what its test is built from. So ours are written from it, not copied from anywhere:
- Each question is drafted against the current edition of that state's handbook.
- It records the exact section it came from, and it is checked against that section before it is published.
- Its explanation gives the rule behind the answer and why the other options are wrong.
The practice test
Built to be taken more than once
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A format for each state
Its own bank, its own number of questions per attempt and its own mark to pass, plus a version for drivers under 18 where we run one.
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An explanation for every question
A correct letter teaches nothing once the wording changes. After each answer you read the rule behind it and why the other options are wrong.
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Retry what you missed
The result shows exactly which questions you got wrong. Retry those alone until they stick; nothing leaves your browser and there is no account to create.
Before you start answering
Guides to the rules themselves
Questions measure what you know; the handbook is what puts it there. These cover how to study, how a test question is built, and the rules a test leans on the most.
- How to study for your permit test An order of work that beats grinding random questions: read one topic in the handbook, practice that same topic, and spend the rest of your time on the answers you got wrong.
- How to read a permit test question Most questions you get wrong are questions you knew the answer to. Five habits that stop a well-written wrong option from taking the point off you.
- What a written permit test covers The eight topics a written knowledge test keeps coming back to, what each one asks about, and the confusion that costs people points in each.
Signs stick best when you see them over and over. The road sign games drill 54 of them with a memory game, a matching game and a one-minute sprint.
Sources
Where the questions come from
No state publishes its test questions. What each licensing agency publishes is a driver handbook, and that is what its test is written from. Our questions are written from the current edition of each state's handbook, one fact at a time, and each one points to the section it comes from. The about page explains how they are written and reviewed.