How to Download Programs on a TI-84 Plus CE

Every math program on CalcPlex goes onto a TI-84 Plus CE straight from your browser, over the calculator’s USB cable. Programs and apps from other sites go on with TI Connect CE.

Send a program from Chrome or Edge

  1. Plug the calculator into a computer and turn it on. The cable that came with it works. A charge-only cable won’t show up.
  2. Open the TI-84 Plus CE math programs page in Chrome or Edge. This box sits above the programs.
    The box on the CalcPlex math programs page that says Plug in your TI-84 Plus CE, turn it on, and click Connect to install programs, with a Connect your calculator button
  3. Click Connect your calculator. A popup lists your calculator. On Windows, the page first asks if TI Connect CE is installed, since the popup can’t list the calculator without it.
    The browser popup that says calcplex.com wants to connect, with TI-84 Plus CE selected and the Connect button lit
  4. Select TI-84 Plus CE and click Connect. The box turns green and shows your calculator’s OS version.
    The math page box in green, saying Calculator connected (OS 5.8.5). Pick a program below and click Send to calculator.
  5. Click Send to calculator on the program you want. Its card says Sent! once the program is on your calculator.
    The Quadratic Equation Solver card after the send: Sent! To run it, press prgm, pick QUADSOLV, and press enter twice

Games go on the same way from their own pages: see how to download games on a TI-84 Plus CE.

Run the program

  1. Press prgm. Programs are listed in alphabetical order, and a * before a name means it’s stored in Archive. On a TI-84 Plus CE Python, choose TI-Basic next.
    The TI-84 Plus CE prgm menu on OS 5.8.5, listing *QUADSOLV
  2. Arrow to the program and press enter. Its name lands on the home screen.
    The TI-84 Plus CE home screen showing prgmQUADSOLV
  3. Press enter again. The program starts. Quadratic Equation Solver asks for A first.
    Quadratic Equation Solver on a TI-84 Plus CE showing AX²+BX+C and an A: prompt
  4. Answer its prompts. For x2 − 3x + 2, type 1, -3 and 2, pressing enter after each, and it prints both solutions.
    Quadratic Equation Solver after A=1, B=-3, C=2, showing X=2 and X=1

Programs from other sites: TI Connect CE

TI Connect CE is TI’s own program for Windows and Mac. It sends any program or app, and it works in place of the browser on Safari or Firefox. On a phone, an iPad or a school Chromebook that blocks USB, switch to a Windows or Mac computer.

  1. Install TI Connect CE.
  2. Download the program. If it’s a .zip, unzip it. TI84CalcWiz has more programs beyond our math ones.
  3. Plug in the calculator, turn it on and open TI Connect CE. It opens on screen capture, which doesn’t take files.
  4. Click the second icon down in the left sidebar. It looks like a stack of pages, just below the green camera.
    TI Connect CE on a Mac with a TI-84 Plus CE connected: the left sidebar shows a green camera icon, then a stacked-pages icon, highlighted, then a third icon
  5. Drag the program’s file or files into that window. Then send them from the box that opens.

Then run it from prgm. An app (a .8ek file) opens from the apps key instead.

If it doesn’t run

  • ERROR: INVALID means the program is written in assembly or C, and on OS 5.5 or later those need a jailbreak first. The jailbreak installer covers OS 5.5 through 5.8.5.
    ERROR: INVALID on a TI-84 Plus CE on OS 5.8.5 with no jailbreak, with 1:Quit and 2:Goto
  • On OS 5.2 or earlier, assembly programs start through Asm(: press 2nd, then 0, select Asm(, press prgm, pick the program and press enter.
  • To stop a TI-Basic program, press on, then enter on Quit.
  • To delete a program, connect your calculator on the math programs page. A program the page sent gets a Delete button on its card.