Digital LSAT interface guide: tools, timer, and navigation

The digital LSAT shows one question per screen: the stimulus or passage on the left, the question and five answer choices on the right. Tools include underline and highlight in three colors, an answer eliminator, a question flagger, a timer, and adjustable font size and line spacing. Run LSAC's interface tutorial before test day so nothing feels new.

Prep tools: the test date planner for scheduling and the hours calculator for budgeting study time.

The layout

One question fills the screen. The left column holds the stimulus (the argument or paragraph in LR) or the passage (in RC). The right column holds the question stem and the five answer choices. Clicking the circle to the left of a choice selects it. Your answer is recorded the moment you click. There is no separate answer sheet and no bubbling.

The tools

• Underline and highlight. Icons near the top of the screen activate underlining and highlighting in three colors, plus an eraser to remove marks. Use them the way you would mark up paper: conclusions, key terms, structural pivots.
• Eliminate answers. Clicking the circle to the right of an answer choice grays it out. Important: graying out four choices does not select the fifth. You must still click the left circle of your answer.
• Flag questions. A flag button marks the question for review. Flagged questions show up in the navigator so you can jump back.
• Text controls. Four font sizes, three line-spacing options, and a brightness slider. Set these before your first section, not during it.

The timer

Each section gives you 35 minutes. The countdown sits in the top right and starts at 35:00. For the first 30 minutes of a section, you can hide the timer by clicking on the numbers. A large five-minute warning pops up on its own and you have to dismiss it. Plan your pacing around it: at the halfway point of each section, you should be roughly halfway through the questions.

Getting around

• The bubble bar. A horizontal bar along the bottom shows every question in the section: answered, blank, and flagged. Tap any bubble to jump straight to that question.
• Arrows. Left and right arrows at the bottom move one question at a time.
• Directions button. Top left. It reopens the section directions. You will not need it on test day, but it is there.

Work a question on the interface, step by step

1. Read the left column first. The stimulus or passage is yours to mark up: underline the conclusion, highlight key terms, strike through nothing yet.
2. Read the stem in the right column. Know exactly what the question asks before you look at the choices.
3. Eliminate visibly. Click the circle to the right of each wrong answer to gray it out. Graying out four choices does not select the fifth.
4. Click the left circle of your answer. Your answer is recorded the moment you click. There is no separate answer sheet.
5. Flag the shaky ones. If you were not sure, hit the flag button before moving on. Flagged questions show in the navigator for the end-of-section sweep.
6. Check the bubble bar before the section ends. Every bubble should be filled and no flag unvisited. A blank bubble is a point you left on the table.

The format around the interface

The multiple-choice test is four 35-minute sections: two scored Logical Reasoning sections, one scored Reading Comprehension section, and one unscored variable section of LR or RC that LSAC uses to test future questions. You cannot tell which section is unscored, so treat every section as scored. There is a short break between the second and third sections.

LSAT Argumentative Writing is separate: a 50-minute unscored essay you complete online on your own schedule. Your multiple-choice score will not release until you have an approved writing sample on file.

Practice on the real interface

LSAC publishes a free digital practice tool and tutorial that use the actual test interface. Take at least one full practice test on it before test day. The tools feel different under a mouse or touchscreen than they sound in a description, and the five-minute warning popup startles everyone the first time.

What may change

LSAC adjusts the interface over time: tool placement, colors, timing display, and remote-testing software all evolve. Everything above reflects the interface as described in LSAC's published materials and prep-provider guides as of October 12, 2026. If something looks different in LSAC's current tutorial, the tutorial wins.

Sources

• Screen layout, highlight/flag/eliminate tools, timer behavior, and bubble bar: LSAC's "Digital LSAT Screen Layouts" publication and Kaplan's digital LSAT interface guide. Last verified October 12, 2026.
• Five-minute warning popup and timer details: PowerScore's tablet test-day guide. Last verified October 12, 2026.
• Current section format (2 scored LR + 1 scored RC + 1 unscored variable; 50-minute Argumentative Writing): LSAC's August 2024 format announcement and Kaplan's "What's Tested on the LSAT." Last verified October 12, 2026.

Last updated October 12, 2026