Math Keyboard Online

Finding the symbols from a QWERTY keyboard

With "Type with my physical keyboard" on, symbols are placed by key position, not by sound. π is on F, σ on H, θ on I and ω on the \ key. The Greek alphabet runs in order: α to μ along the Q row, ν to ω along the A row. The bottom row holds set and logic symbols: Z ∀, X ∃, C ∅, V ∇, B ∈, N ∉, M ⊂, , ⊃, . ∪, / ∩.

Hold Shift for capital Greek and for the operators on the bottom row: ∞ ∫ ∑ ∏ √ ∂ ≈ ≠ ≤ ≥, with ≤ and ≥ on . and /. ≅ is AltGr+backtick. For the third layer, use AltGr or Ctrl+Alt on Windows, or Option on a Mac. It holds subscript digits on the number row, superscripts on the Q row, and ×, ·, ¬, ∧, ∨, the arrows and ° on the A row.

Caps Lock only affects the Greek letters, which makes it handy for a run of capitals such as ΔΣΩ.

Look-alike symbols that mean different things

Several symbols here look almost identical but are different characters, and software treats them differently.

• Σ vs ∑ and Π vs ∏: Shift+H gives the Greek capital letter Σ. Shift+C gives the summation operator ∑. Likewise, Shift+F gives the letter Π and Shift+V gives the product operator ∏. Use ∑ and ∏ for operators, and the letters for variables or names.
• ε vs ∈: ε (T) is the Greek epsilon, used for small quantities. ∈ (B) means "is an element of". Writing "x ε A" for set membership is a common mistake.
• δ vs ∂, φ vs ∅: ∂ (Shift+N) is the partial derivative, not a Greek delta. ∅ (C) is the empty set, not the Greek φ (L) and not the Scandinavian letter Ø.
• ∶ vs : and ∼ vs ~: The ratio sign ∶ and the tilde operator ∼ (both on the AltGr layer) are not the ordinary colon and tilde.
• Exponents: x² is Shift+backtick or AltGr+E. For an inverse, type AltGr+] then the backtick key to get ⁻¹.

Superscripts are limited to digits, + and −, and subscripts to digits. Letters such as xⁿ or aᵢⱼ are not available.

Unicode symbols, Word equations or LaTeX?

Copy Unicode from this page for plain text: chats, emails, forum posts, spreadsheet cells and code comments. It works for expressions you can write on one line, such as x ∈ A ∩ B, A ∩ B = ∅ or x² + y² = r².

Use an equation editor for fractions, roots over long expressions, limits under ∑, matrices or anything stacked. In Word, Alt+= inserts an equation. In Google Docs, use Insert → Equation. Both accept backslash commands such as \alpha, \sum and \int, which turn into symbols when you press Space.

Use LaTeX for papers and theses. Pasting raw ∑ or ∈ into a classic pdfLaTeX document usually causes errors. Type the command instead: \sum, \in, \emptyset, \forall, \partial, \leq, \Rightarrow, \propto. XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX with the unicode-math package do accept the Unicode characters directly.

If you need full Greek with accents and final ς, which mathematics doesn't use, use the Greek keyboard.