How do you use the FE Reference Handbook during the exam?
During the FE exam you use only the on-screen FE Reference Handbook, edition 10.6. NCEES supplies it as a searchable PDF beside the question on a 24-inch monitor. Open it from the exam software, search with the box on the left (Ctrl + F does not work), and view it at 100% zoom. The exam copy drops pages you do not need to solve questions, so learn the chapter order from the full download before test day.
What you have on exam day
Study edition 10.6, eighth printing April 2026, which you can download free as a 506-page PDF in MyNCEES. Use that same file for every practice session so the wording and chapter order match the book NCEES is publishing for this cycle.
During the exam, this handbook is the only reference allowed. The exam specifications describe the FE as closed book with an electronic reference, and printed copies or personal files are not allowed in the room, so a marked-up paper handbook stays outside. For how that rule works in practice, see is the FE exam open book.
The exam-day PDF is shorter than the download because NCEES removes pages that are not needed to solve questions, including the cover, introduction, index, and exam specifications. In the full handbook the index starts at page 467, but that index is absent on exam day, so you cannot browse it at the test center. Instead, you search, or you open a chapter you already know.
What the handbook leaves out
The handbook omits material on purpose. It does not include every formula, since basic theories, conversions, formulas, and definitions that examinees are expected to know are left out. When a question needs special data, the question supplies it, so a missing constant is a reason to reread the problem before you assume the PDF failed.
Treat a failed search as one of two cases: either the term you typed is not the wording on the page, or the item is a basic relation you were already expected to know. If the question states the value, use that value. If the relation is a standard definition from your courses, write it from memory and move on.
Keep that same split while you study. Recall the short relations you can reproduce cleanly, and use the handbook for longer formulas, tabulated values, and discipline material that is easy to mis-copy. For each problem type, save the search term that lands on the right line, since those terms are your stand-in for the index the exam copy removes.
How to search during the exam
Click the search box on the left side of the reference, type a short term, and read the hit list for the chapter name. A find command from the PDF reader you use at home will not carry over once you are in the exam software, so build the habit of using that box instead.
Stay at 100% zoom so a magnified page does not hide the question. Zoom in only when one equation is too dense to read, then return to 100%.
An 8-minute tutorial shows how to move between questions, flag items for review, and open the reference handbook. Use it to check the controls: open the handbook, run one search you already know will hit, such as a word from the units pages or the name of your discipline, and return to the question. Learn flagging in that tutorial too, so you are not discovering the control during a hard item.
Search with a short term, such as the name of a method, a distinctive symbol, or two words from a heading. A full sentence copied from your notes often returns nothing, because the handbook line does not match your wording. When several chapters contain the word, ignore hits from the wrong subject: a formula that belongs to your discipline should come from that discipline chapter, and a general tool should come from Mathematics or from Engineering Probability and Statistics.
Where chapters start in edition 10.6
These start pages are the printed pages in the full download. They give you the book order, which is the order behind a long hit list.
General chapters
| Chapter | Start page |
|---|---|
| Units and Conversion Factors | 1 |
| Ethics and Professional Practice | 4 |
| Safety | 15 |
| Mathematics | 36 |
| Engineering Probability and Statistics | 64 |
| Chemistry and Biology | 86 |
| Statics | 95 |
Mechanics and thermal chapters
| Chapter | Start page |
|---|---|
| Dynamics | 102 |
| Materials Science | 117 |
| Mechanics of Materials | 130 |
| Thermodynamics | 143 |
| Fluid Mechanics | 181 |
| Heat Transfer | 209 |
| Instrumentation, Measurement, and Control | 225 |
Economics and discipline chapters
| Chapter | Start page |
|---|---|
| Engineering Economics | 235 |
| Chemical Engineering | 243 |
| Civil Engineering | 265 |
| Environmental Engineering | 318 |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering | 361 |
| Industrial and Systems Engineering | 422 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 436 |
Memorize the start page of the discipline chapter for the exam you are taking, plus two or three general chapters you expect to open often. If you are deciding which of those general subjects your exam includes, use which topics are on every FE exam as a checklist, then find each subject in the tables above.
How to practice with the PDF at home
Download edition 10.6 from MyNCEES and make it the only handbook you open. One way to build speed is a fixed loop on every problem set.
- Read the problem and name the chapter before you search.
- Type a short search term rather than using your reader’s own find command.
- Open the hit in the chapter you named and read the formula there.
- Solve from that formula.
- If the first term misses, write a better term and search once more.
Run that loop inside how to study for the FE exam in 60 days, on sets of free FE practice problems with full solutions. After you solve, compare your setup with the written solution. The useful check is whether you opened the right chapter, not only whether the final number matched.
Keep that same 100% zoom and side-by-side layout in practice, since matching the exam view trains the right habit. If your screen is too narrow for side-by-side, still search inside the NCEES file rather than a photo of a page or a printed packet.
When a search fails, change the term before you jump chapters at random. Try the formal name of the method, then a symbol, then a noun from the chapter title. Write down the term that worked next to that problem type, and start with that term next time. Across a study plan, that note becomes a personal index, which is what you will wish you had once the printed index is gone.
Units, significant figures, and handbook errors
Page 1 is Units and Conversion Factors. The exam and the handbook use both metric and US Customary units, and in USCS, pound-force (lbf) and pound-mass (lbm) stay distinct through gc = 32.174 lbm-ft/(lbf-sec²), a conversion factor. g is the acceleration of gravity, with a standard value of 9.807 m/s² or 32.174 ft/sec², and the shared digits with gc make the two easy to swap. Work conversions until you can name which symbol the equation needs. A focused walk-through is on how to handle lbm, lbf, and gc.
Page 2 states the significant-figure rules: for multiplication and division, the result keeps the number of significant digits of the least precise input, and in engineering solutions it is customary to keep 3 to 4 significant digits in the final result. Follow that custom on practice answers so your write-up matches the handbook’s own rule. The same rule is applied to exam-style numbers in how many significant figures to use on the FE exam.
NCEES states that examinees are not penalized for handbook errors that affect an exam question, so if a printed error changes the item, that error is not charged against you. Solve with the handbook on the screen and with any special data the question supplies. An outside errata list is another reference, and outside references are not allowed in the room.
Frequently asked questions
Can you bring your own FE Reference Handbook?
No. The on-screen handbook is the only reference allowed during the FE exam, and personal or printed copies are not allowed in the room. Study from the free edition 10.6 download in MyNCEES, and leave paper copies and personal files outside the test center.
Can you use Ctrl+F in the FE handbook?
No. Ctrl + F does not work in the exam software, so you search with the box on the left side of the reference. A 100% zoom is usually the right setting on the 24-inch monitor provided for every examinee.
Which version of the FE handbook is used in 2026?
The current FE Reference Handbook is edition 10.6, eighth printing April 2026, a free download in MyNCEES with a full file of 506 pages. The exam copy removes pages that are not needed to solve questions, including the cover, introduction, index, and exam specifications.
Does the FE handbook have every formula?
No. Basic theories, conversions, formulas, and definitions that examinees are expected to know are left out of the handbook. If a question needs special data, the question includes it, so read the problem statement before you treat a formula as missing.
What if the handbook has an error on your question?
NCEES states that examinees are not penalized for handbook errors that affect an exam question, so a printed error that changes the item is not scored against you. Use the on-screen handbook and the data in the question. A separate sheet of corrections is not allowed in the room.
Sources
- NCEES FE Reference Handbook 10.6 (free PDF in MyNCEES). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
- NCEES Examinee Guide, May 2026 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
- NCEES: FE exam. Retrieved October 3, 2026.