Can you take the permit test online in California?
No, not for a first license. The California Department of Motor Vehicles closed its at-home webcam knowledge test to new driver's license applicants on January 3, 2025: a notice on its Online Learning page, archived that January, told new applicants to choose the in-office option in the application and sent anyone who had paid online but not yet tested to a DMV office. No DMV page checked in September 2026 brings the at-home test back. The page now titled Online Learning covers only eLearning, a no-fail course open only to eligible noncommercial Class C renewal applicants, and the Learner's Permits page describes office testing that must start before 4:30 p.m. The at-home test DMV ran from 2022, and widened in September 2023 to applicants under 18 and people moving to California, is history for anyone applying for a first permit now. Checked in September 2026.
Source: California DMV, Online Learning page notice (January 2025, archived); California DMV news release, More Californians Fulfilling DMV Testing Requirement Online (December 28, 2023); California DMV, Online Learning and Learner's Permits pages, checked September 25, 2026.
Can you take California's permit knowledge test at home in 2026?
No, not for a first license. DMV stopped offering its webcam knowledge test to new driver's license applicants on January 3, 2025. The notice it posted that month on its Online Learning page told new applicants to pick the in-office option in the Virtual Test Center step of the application, sent anyone who had paid online but not yet tested to an office, and let applicants who had already passed online keep their office appointment. It gave no reason for the change.
Nothing checked on September 25, 2026 reopens it. The page at dmv.ca.gov/portal/driver-education-and-safety/online-learning-and-tests/ is now titled Online Learning and covers only eLearning, the no-fail renewal course. The Learner's Permits page describes office testing that must start before 4:30 p.m., the eDL 44 page mentions no online test, and DMV's Teen Driver Roadmap puts the written test inside the office appointment. None of them gives a date for the at-home option to return.
Older DMV material still reads as if the door were open. The December 28, 2023 news release that describes the at-home test carries no note about the January 2025 change, and OLIN 2023-09, the DMV memo that set out the program's rules, describes the same route. Both are history for anyone applying for a first permit now.
How did the at-home test work while it was open?
It ran from February 2022 until the January 2025 change, and it was always fenced. OLIN 2023-09 dates the start to February 2022, when REAL ID and federal noncompliant applicants for an original or renewed noncommercial Class C or Class M license could finish the knowledge test on a personal computer before the office visit. The December 28, 2023 release describes that first phase as open to eligible Californians over 18. From September 15, 2023 the memo extended it to provisional original Class C and Class M applicants, the under-18 path, and the release adds people moving to California from out of state.
The conditions came from the December 2023 release: an internet-connected computer or laptop with a webcam, never a tablet or phone; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, state holidays excluded; identity verification and consent to be monitored for the whole exam; 35 languages; and questions from the same handbook-based pool used in offices. A tester got two tries online, and anyone who failed both was sent to an office for the third. OLIN 2023-09 names the proctoring tool, MVProctor, and shut out two groups: emancipated minors, and applications already started and pending at a field office.
- February 2022Virtual Test Center opens
OLIN 2023-09: REAL ID and federal noncompliant Class C and Class M applicants, original or renewal, test on a computer or laptop before the office visit. The December 2023 release says this phase was for eligible applicants over 18.
- September 15, 2023Under-18s added
Provisional original Class C and Class M applicants can test through MVProctor. Emancipated minors are excluded.
- 2023537,000 online tests
The December 28, 2023 release counted more than 537,000 online tests and nearly 200,000 eLearning courses that year, nearly 45,000 online exams a month. None of the pages checked gives a later count.
- June 25, 2024Still offered in 35 languages
The Spanish eLearning release repeats the webcam, weekday window, identity, and monitoring rules.
- January 3, 2025Closed to new applicants
DMV's Online Learning notice sends new driver's license applicants to an office for the knowledge test. Renewals that must test are pointed to eLearning.
What can you still do online before the office visit?
The paperwork, not the test. The eDL 44 application is filled in online, stored for up to one year, and processed only when you visit a field office. Under 18, your parents or guardians sign off from their own MyDMV accounts, per the Teen Driver Roadmap. REAL ID documents can be uploaded in advance, though the eDL 44 page still asks for the originals at the appointment. DMV's four English Class C sample tests are online too, and DMV refreshes them with new questions now and then, but they are study material, not the scored exam.
- Online: complete the eDL 44
Processed only at a field office. Stored for up to one year.
- Online: parent or guardian approval if you are under 18
Each approves from their own MyDMV account. The Teen Driver Roadmap also wants a parent or guardian at the appointment.
- Online: upload REAL ID documents if you choose
Bring the same originals anyway.
- Online: practice on DMV's sample tests
Four English Class C sample tests. They do not replace the knowledge test.
- In person: the knowledge test
Started before 4:30 p.m. The Driver's Licenses page also rules out the last 30 minutes before closing.
- In person: vision, photo, thumbprint
The December 2023 release kept these as office steps even when the test itself was taken at home.
From the eDL 44 page, the Teen Driver Roadmap, the Sample Driver's License Knowledge Tests page, the Learner's Permits page, the Driver's Licenses page, and the December 28, 2023 release.
What happens if you fail the office test?
You get the three attempts per application that the handbook gives every original applicant, now all at a field office; the two-online-then-office pattern in the 2023 release no longer applies to a first license. The Teen Driver Tips page says a new application fee is due after the third fail. Under 18, Vehicle Code section 12814.6(a)(5) requires a wait of not less than one week after a failed written test, and the handbook counts it as seven days not including the day of the failure. The Teen Driver Roadmap gives 8 days instead, with no word on whether the failure day is one of them. What counts as a fail is itself stated two ways: the Learner's Permits page puts the passing score at 80 percent, while Fast Facts 19 (REV. 7/2019) lets a provisional applicant miss no more than 8 questions and gives no total that would connect the two.
Nadia, 16, Sacramento, September 2026
- 1Tuesday, September 8, 2026: Nadia, 16 years and 8 months old, completes the eDL 44 online, and her father, Omar, approves it from his own MyDMV account. An older article she found describes a webcam test, but DMV closed that route to new applicants on January 3, 2025, so she books a field office appointment for Wednesday, September 16.
- 2At the office she shows her identity and residency documents and her driver education certificate, with Omar beside her as the Teen Driver Roadmap asks. She pays the $46 fee by debit card, which adds the 2.1 percent in-office service fee, about 97 cents, and passes the vision exam.
- 3She starts the knowledge test at 10 a.m. and misses 9 questions, one more than Fast Facts 19 allows. That is attempt 1 of 3 on the application.
- 4She is under 18, so the handbook's seven waiting days run Thursday, September 17 through Wednesday, September 23. She returns on Friday, September 25, a date that satisfies the Roadmap's 8-day figure under either count, and misses 5. That is a pass on attempt 2.
Outcome. One office fail cost Nadia nine days and no new fee. Under the 2023 rules her first two tries could have been at home; in 2026 every try on the $46 application happens at a field office, and a third fail would have meant a new application and a new fee.
How is eLearning different from the permit test?
eLearning is a renewal course, not a knowledge test, and a first-time permit applicant cannot use it. The live Online Learning page limits it to eligible noncommercial Class C renewal applicants and names four groups that do not qualify: Class M renewals, holders of both Class C and Class M, original applicants, and commercial applicants. It cannot be failed, but an unfinished course does not satisfy the knowledge test requirement.
| Rule | At-home knowledge test (closed to new applicants January 3, 2025) | eLearning course | In-office knowledge test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it is for in 2026 | No new driver's license applicant | Eligible noncommercial Class C renewal applicants only | Every original applicant with a knowledge test requirement |
| Device | Computer or laptop with a webcam. No tablet. No phone. | Computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone | Touchscreen modules at the office. The December 2023 release says paper tests were scrapped about a decade earlier. |
| Hours | 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, state holidays excluded | Any day, any time, while the one-year renewal application is open | Office hours, with the test started before 4:30 p.m. |
| Monitoring | Identity check and agreement to be monitored. OLIN names MVProctor. | Not monitored. Self-paced. | In person at a DMV office |
| Attempts | Two online, then the third at an office, within three per application | Pass only. The whole course must be finished to count. | Three per application, then reapply. Minors wait seven days after a fail. |
At-home column from the December 28, 2023 and June 25, 2024 releases, OLIN 2023-09, and the January 2025 notice. eLearning from the Online Learning page, checked September 25, 2026. Office cutoff from the Learner's Permits page. Attempt limits from the handbook, Section 3.
Even the length of eLearning is published two ways: about 20 to 30 minutes on the live Online Learning page, approximately 45 minutes in both news releases. For a first-time permit applicant the conflict does not matter, because the course is closed to original applicants.
DMV's December 28, 2023 release still describes two online attempts, a webcam, and a weekday window, and it has no note about the January 2025 change. A page or video that repeats those rules as current is repeating that release. For a first California permit in 2026, the knowledge test is taken at a field office.
What DMV does not publish, on any page checked: a reason for closing the at-home test to new applicants, a date for it to return, a time limit for the office test, or a current question count.
More questions about this in California
Can you take California's permit test on a phone or laptop at home in 2026?
No. DMV ended the webcam knowledge test for new driver's license applicants on January 3, 2025, and none of the DMV pages checked on September 25, 2026 brings it back. Even while it ran, the December 28, 2023 release ruled out tablets and mobile devices. Phones work only for eLearning, the no-fail Class C renewal course, which original permit applicants cannot use.
Does the two-online-attempts rule from 2023 still apply?
Not to a first license. The December 2023 release allowed two tries online and a third at an office, but it described the at-home route DMV closed to new applicants in January 2025. In 2026 all three attempts on an original application are office sittings, and the Teen Driver Tips page says a new application fee is due after the third, which is $46 for a Class C original on the Licensing Fees page. Under 18, each retake also waits at least one week, and the handbook does not count the day of the failure.
Can an adult or someone moving from another state still test at home?
Not on any current DMV page. Adults over 18 were the first group allowed to test at home in 2022, and the December 2023 release added people moving to California from out of state, but the January 2025 notice covers new driver's license applicants without carving out either group, and no page checked offers them an at-home route.
Were the at-home questions different from the office test?
No. The December 28, 2023 release says all questions came from the California Driver's Handbook and from the same pool whether the test was taken online or at a DMV office. No DMV consumer page checked gives the current number of questions. The Learner's Permits page puts the passing score at 80 percent.
Can a renewal applicant still do something online instead of an office test?
Yes, if eligible: eLearning. The Online Learning page limits it to noncommercial Class C renewal applicants, and it is a no-fail course rather than a scored test. The January 2025 notice that closed online testing to new applicants pointed renewals that must test to eLearning. Motorcycle renewals, holders of both Class C and Class M, and commercial applicants do not qualify.
If you paid online in 2024 and never tested, can you still test at home?
No. The January 2025 notice said anyone who had paid the application fee online without completing the test would take it in an office. That application would also have lapsed by now: the Learner's Permits page says the application and fee are valid for 12 months after you apply.
Sources
- California DMV, Online Learning page notice (January 2025, archived); California DMV news release, More Californians Fulfilling DMV Testing Requirement Online (December 28, 2023); California DMV, Online Learning and Learner's Permits pages
- California DMV, Online Learning (current page, eLearning only)
- California DMV news release, More Californians Fulfilling DMV Testing Requirement Online (December 28, 2023)
- California DMV news release, no-fail eLearning renewal course in Spanish (June 25, 2024)
- California DMV Occupational Licensing Industry News 2023-09, Provisional Testing for Proctortrack
- California Driver's Handbook, Section 3: The Testing Process
- California DMV, Learner's Permits
- California DMV, Driver's Licenses (knowledge tests not given within 30 minutes of closing)
- California DMV, Driver's License / ID Card application (eDL 44)
- California DMV, Teen Driver Roadmap
- California DMV, Sample Driver's License Knowledge Tests
- California DMV, Licensing Fees
- California DMV, Teen Driver Tips
- California Vehicle Code section 12814.6 (Brady-Jared Teen Driver Safety Act of 1997)
- California DMV Fast Facts 19, Provisional Licensing (REV. 7/2019)
Other questions about California
- How many questions can you miss on the California permit test?
- What happens if you fail the permit test in California?
- What to bring for the California permit test if you are under 18
- What to bring for the California permit test if you are 18 or over
- California supervised driving hours, and whether the log is turned in
Ready to practice for the California test?
How this works in other states
Florida, Texas, California, and New York have different rules. In Florida and New York, age decides if an online test is available. Read the guide.
Written by Vikas. Checked against the source above on September 25, 2026. California DMV does not run this site and does not endorse it.