California · DMV knowledge test

California DMV practice test

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Our practice test

Questions: 36; 46 under 18
Correct to pass: 30; 38 under 18
Score needed: 83%
Question bank: 198; all explained

Written from the California Driver's Handbook (June 2025 edition). How we write the questions

For someone who has never held a license, a California license is earned in a fixed order: the permit, supervised practice, the drive test and, for a driver who is still a minor, a provisional license with limits of its own. This page lays out that order with the handbook page behind each requirement, explains what our practice test is for, and turns the rest of the site into a study plan you can follow one topic at a time.

What the questions cover

198 questions in 8 topics. Pick one to practice only its questions, or read the whole bank grouped by topic.

How the practice test works

Our practice test prepares you for the written knowledge test. Every attempt is a fresh random draw from our question bank, and every answer is followed by an explanation and the handbook page it rests on, so a wrong answer turns straight into something to read.

You can work through it two ways. The standard practice test is multiple choice and corrects each answer as you go. Review mode shows the question, lets you think it through first, then reveals the answer so you grade yourself, which is closer to recalling a rule than to recognizing it in a list.

When an attempt ends, the result lists the questions you missed and lets you retry only those. Your misses are saved in this browser, never on our servers, so they are still there the next time you open the test on the same device.

How an attempt is built

Each attempt draws 36 questions at random from the bank and asks for 30 correct answers; the under-18 version draws 46 and asks for 38.
An explanation after every answer

Right or wrong, you see why, which other option people confuse it with, and the section and page of the handbook it comes from.
Retry only what you missed

The result lists exactly the questions you got wrong. Retry those alone, as many times as you need; your misses stay in your browser between visits.

From permit to license, step by step

Every requirement below comes from the California Driver's Handbook, and the number beside it is the page printed in that edition, so you can open the PDF and check it in seconds. Adults and teenagers walk the same steps; minors pick up extra conditions at most stages, and each one is listed with the step it belongs to.

Step 1: apply for the instruction permit

The written test is part of the permit application, which means the studying happens before your first visit, not after it. Gather the documents before you book: the list is short, and every item on it is expected unless an exception applies to you.

A driver who holds no license from California or from any other state starts with an instruction permit, and needs it before the behind-the-wheel test. p. 2
The application asks for proof of who you are, two documents showing you live in California, a legal name document when the name on your identity document does not match the one on your application, and your social security number, with exceptions possible for residency and the social security number. p. 2
For a Class C permit you fill in the application, hand over the documents, pay an application fee that is not refunded, and pass both the knowledge test and a vision test. p. 2
Applicants under 18 must also be at least 15 and a half, have completed a driver education program, and have a parent or guardian approve the application and take on financial responsibility. Under joint custody, both parents sign. p. 3

Step 2: pass the knowledge and vision tests

This is the test our questions prepare you for. It is multiple choice, it is taken with nothing to look things up in, and a failed attempt costs a minor a wait before the next one, so arrive having already passed several full practice runs.

The knowledge test for an original license is multiple choice, and you get three tries to pass it before the application has to be filed again. p. 5
A minor who fails it waits seven days before trying again, and the day of the failure does not count toward those seven. p. 5
Nothing may be consulted while you take it: no handbook, no phone, no other aid. p. 5
Every applicant takes a vision test. Passing it with glasses or contact lenses puts a corrective lenses restriction on the license. p. 5

Step 3: practice on the road with the permit

The permit lets you learn on real streets, but never on your own. For a teenager this is also the longest stage: the handbook sets a minimum time holding the permit and a minimum number of practice hours, and both are conditions for the license.

A minor may not drive on the permit until behind-the-wheel training has begun with an instructor, who is the one who validates it. p. 3
Whoever supervises your practice holds a California license, is at least 18, or at least 25 when the learner is a minor, and sits near enough to take over the controls. p. 3
Under 18, you need to have held your permit for at least 6 months before you schedule the drive test, unless you turn 18 first, and you must be at least 16. A permit issued by another state counts toward that time. p. 3
Under 18, you also log at least 50 hours of practice with a California-licensed driver aged 25 or more, 10 of them after dark, and show that you finished both driver education and driver training. p. 3

Step 4: take the behind-the-wheel test

The drive test begins before the car moves. The examiner first checks the vehicle, and one that falls short means a new appointment, so treat the list below as homework for the day before.

On test day you bring your permit, a second driver with a California license who is at least 18, or 25 for a minor, a vehicle that is safe to drive, and valid proof of insurance and registration. p. 6
A rental car only works if your name appears on the rental contract and the contract does not rule out drive tests. p. 6
The examiner has you locate and show the driver window, windshield, mirrors, brake lights, tires, foot brake, horn, parking brake, turn and arm signals, wipers and seat belts. A vehicle that does not meet the requirements gets the test rescheduled. p. 6
A minor who fails the drive test waits 14 days to take it again, not counting the day of the failure. p. 6
During the drive the examiner may give two or more directions at once, to see whether you understand and carry out both. p. 5
Adaptive cruise control, lane departure and automated parallel parking may not be used during the test. A backup camera or a blind spot monitor may, but it never stands in for checking your mirrors and blind spots with your own eyes. p. 7

Step 5: the provisional license for minors

Pass the drive test before your eighteenth birthday and the license you get is marked provisional. Its limits are easy to blur together: only the night rule comes with a time limit in the handbook, while the passenger rule is written without one.

During the first 12 months with the license, a provisional driver may not drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. p. 4
A provisional driver may not carry passengers younger than 20 unless a parent, a guardian or a California-licensed driver aged at least 25 rides along. p. 4
A provisional driver may not drive for pay, nor drive anything that requires a commercial Class A, B or C license. p. 4
Each exception needs a signed note that you carry with you: from a physician for a medical need, from the school for classes or a school activity, from an employer for work, or from a parent or guardian to drive an immediate family member. p. 4
A parent or guardian can cancel a teen's license by filing a cancellation or surrender form. p. 4

Page numbers refer to the California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition.

Three sample questions

All 198 questions with explanations

A study plan, topic by topic

Read one topic, practice that same topic, then move to the next. The order below starts with what you can follow before you have ever driven and ends with the rules about the license itself. Each step names our guide for the topic, the matching questions in the bank and the part of our handbook summary that covers it.

1. Before you start

Begin with the general guides. One sets out a study routine, one maps what a written test keeps asking about, and one shows how a wrong option is built to look right. They apply in any state and make every later step faster.
2. Signs, signals and markings

Learn shapes and colors first, then the difference between a steady light, a flashing one and an arrow, then the painted lines. Most of this is recognition, which makes it a good first topic to practice.
3. Right of way

Work through the situations where two drivers could both believe it is their turn: intersections with no signs, left turns, roundabouts and people on foot. Draw the scene on paper if a question will not settle in your head.
4. Speed

Separate the limits that apply when no sign is posted from the rule that sits above all of them. Questions here reward exact numbers, so practice until you can say each one without picking between options.
5. Turns, lanes, passing and parking

This is the topic of sequences and distances: where a turn starts and ends, when a U-turn is allowed, how much room a pass needs, what each curb color means. Read it slowly and test it in small batches.
6. Sharing the road

Move on to everything that does not handle like a car: trucks and their blind spots, buses, light rail, motorcycles and bicycles. The questions usually ask what you owe the other road user, not what they owe you.
7. Safe driving and emergencies

Following distance, weather, skids and what to do when the car fails. Learn the emergency steps as sequences, because the order of the steps matters as much as the steps themselves.
8. Alcohol and drugs

Learn the blood alcohol limits together with who each one applies to, because a limit without its driver is the classic wrong option. Then learn what happens after an arrest and in what order.
9. License, points and insurance

Finish with the rules about the license itself, which tie back to the path at the top of this page: the provisional limits, the point thresholds, the insurance minimums and the reports owed after a collision.
10. Take full practice tests

With every topic covered, take the full practice test until you reach 30 of 36 without guessing, and retry your misses after each attempt.

Then see the rules in numbers

Three pages built from official data put a cost and a consequence next to the rules you just studied. None of them is needed to pass, but they make several rules easier to remember.

To see how the questions and guides are written and checked, and where the figures on the data pages come from, read our methodology. How we write and check every question.

All guides

Study the handbook

Handbook summary, section by section

The rules and numbers the test asks about, with the page each one comes from.

California Driver's Handbook

The official handbook, June 2025 edition, on the DMV website.

Road sign games

Memory, matching and a one-minute sprint with 54 US road signs.

Last updated: October 6, 2026