How to Type Math Equations in Google Docs

Whether you’ve switched to Google Docs for typed notes or need to create a worksheet with complex mathematical notations, Google Docs has a built-in equation editor to make it easy.

Use the Google Docs Equation Editor

To get started, open an existing document or create a new one and click where you want to insert an equation. Then, go to Insert in the top menu, and select Equation from the dropdown menu.

A toolbar will appear with the following drop down menus:

• Greek letters: Symbols like alpha, beta, delta, etc.
• Miscellaneous operations: Standard mathematical operations like multiplication and division.
• Relations: Relational symbols like less than, greater than, not equals to, subest, etc.
• Math operations: Symbols for fractions, exponents, square roots, integrals, limits, etc.
• Arrows: Contains arrows and vector notations.

All you need to do is expand one of the dropdowns and select your desired symbol. It’s as simple as that!

For example, to write the formula for calculating the volume of a cylinder, you’d start by expanding the
Greek letters
dropdown to choose the pi symbol. Then, go to
Math operations
dropdown, pick exponents, and type “r.” Position the cursor to add the exponent, and finally, type “h.”

When you’re done typing your equation, hit Enter to exit the equation editor. If you need to add another equation, just click New equation. When you’re finished with equations altogether, you can hide the toolbar by going to View in the top menu and deselecting Show equation toolbar.

Use Shortcuts to Write Math Notations Quickly

As you probably gathered from the example above, typing equations in Google Docs can be a time-consuming process. Even a simple equation, like the cylinder volume, can take a while because of the repeated need to expand dropdown menus and locate each symbol.

Thankfully, there’s a simpler way. Similar to Obsidian’s equation editor, Google Docs’ equations editor is based on LaTeX syntax. As a result, you can use shortcuts to write math notations quickly. To enter a symbol or function, just type its code after a backslash ().

For example, using the same cylinder formula, you can add the pi symbol by typing pi. This isn’t limited to Greek symbols either—you can use it for all the symbols typically found in the dropdowns. While Google Docs doesn’t offer an official list of shortcuts, this site has a great list of all the equation editor shortcuts you can use!

To add a superscript, type the variable followed by a circumflex (^), and for a subscript, use an underscore (_). For example, typing r^2 will give you r squared.

While I doubt Google Docs would be most students’ first choice for taking math notes, it’s still a convenient option and the LaTex-based shortcuts make the tedious process much quicker.