These 4 digit subtraction worksheets are generated rather than scanned, which means you can print a different sheet every day of the week without paying for a subscription or running out of practice. You will see items like 2,207 − 1,078 and 4,164 − 2,062 on the printed page, with 1,129 and 2,102 waiting on the answer key so nobody has to redo the arithmetic.
‘New set of problems’ opens the generator in its own tab. There you can change the problem count and turn the answer key on or off. ‘Print or save as PDF’ opens the print dialog — choose Save as PDF in the printer list to keep the file. The sheet fits US Letter and A4, and the answer key prints on its own page.
This sheet uses four-digit numbers up to 9,990. That is deliberate: wide enough to force real regrouping, narrow enough that a child can still check the answer by adding back.
Fluency here means the child can say why a column needed regrouping, not just that it did. Ask about the column that produced 3,806 and you will hear the difference immediately.
Because the sheet regenerates, the child meets the borrowing pattern in a different place each time, which is exactly what stops the method from being memorised as a sequence of pen strokes; 7,404 − 3,678 today will not borrow in the same column as tomorrow's sheet.
Subtraction is where arithmetic confidence is usually won or lost. The written method itself is short, but it demands that the child hold a borrowed ten in their head while working on the next column — which is why 2,207 − 1,078 can take three times as long as an addition of the same size.
Work of this kind is commonly aligned with the subtraction strand of most US state standards for this grade; schools outside the US meet the same skill at roughly the same age, which is why these 4 digit subtraction worksheets travel well.
| # | Problem | Answer | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,207 − 1,078 = | 1,129 | Watch for: borrowing across a zero |
| 2 | 4,164 − 2,062 = | 2,102 | Check: forgetting to reduce the column that was borrowed from |
| 3 | 9,349 − 5,543 = | 3,806 | Look at: reading the minus sign as a plus |
| 4 | 7,404 − 3,678 = | 3,726 | Ask about: counting back one at a time |
| 5 | 2,875 − 1,206 = | 1,669 | Watch for: checking by re-subtracting |
| 6 | 9,544 − 7,821 = | 1,723 | Check: subtracting the smaller digit from the larger one |
Work 7,404 − 3,678 out loud as a demonstration. It gives 3,726. Children who hear 7,404 − 3,678 reasoned through once at the start of a session make noticeably fewer errors in the ten minutes that follow.
A good first problem to do together is 2,207 − 1,078, which comes out at 1,129. Do 2,207 − 1,078 once with the child narrating, then hand over the pencil and start the clock on the other 20 problems.
Because the numbers are random, there is no shared answer list to look up: the key printed behind your sheet is the only one that fits it, and it shows 1,129 for 2,207 − 1,078.
Keys are produced by the same code that produces the questions, so a mismatch between question and answer is not possible on these sheets.
Portrait orientation is what the sheet is designed for. Landscape works but wastes about a third of the paper, so leave the orientation alone unless you have a reason.
To save these 4 digit subtraction worksheets instead of printing them, choose 'Save as PDF' in the printer list. You get the worksheet and the answer key as a single PDF, on Letter or A4 depending on your printer settings.
Keep the finished 4 digit subtraction worksheets in date order — the drop in time across ten sheets is the clearest progress report you will get.
Free printable math worksheets from a working math academy director in Korea. Problems come from our own code, not from a published workbook. Every sheet prints on US Letter or A4 with its answer key. All worksheets · Worksheet generator · Korean site
Last updated: 2026-09-13