Insert special characters in MathType Web

Use Insert Special Characters to add a character that you cannot find in MathType's usual symbol palettes. You can browse the character picker by category or search using a Unicode value.

Before you begin

Requirements

• Access to the MathType editor.
• If you want to search by Unicode value, the code for the character you want to insert. 

Applies to

A MathType Web integration, including MathType for Microsoft 365 and MathType for Google Workspace.

Steps

Open the character picker

1. Place the cursor where you want to insert the character in your equation.
2. On the General tab, select Insert Special Characters in the Formatting group.

The character picker opens. Use either of the following methods to find the character you need.

Browse by category

1. Open the category menu at the top right of the character picker.
2. Choose the category that best matches the character you need:
   • Symbol — mathematical and other symbols, including arrows, inclusion signs, inequalities, and a variety of shapes.
   • Punctuation — punctuation marks, including different types of parentheses, hyphens, and dashes.
   • Letter — letters from different alphabets and writing systems.
   • Mark — marks and diacritics.
   • Number — numerals from different writing systems and some compact fraction characters.
   • Phonetical — phonetic characters.
   • Other — characters outside the preceding categories.
3. Browse the characters in the selected category. Scroll through the grid or choose another category if you do not see the character immediately.

Search by Unicode value

1. If you do not know the code, search for the character's name or paste the character into Compart Unicode character search. Find its hexadecimal Unicode value, shown with the prefix U+.
2. Enter the value after U+ in MathType's Code field. For example, enter 210F for U+210F, the reduced Planck constant ℏ.
3. Review the characters shown in the picker to identify the one you want.

A numeric search may show more than one character because MathType interprets the entered value as both hexadecimal and decimal. For example, searching for 198 may show the character with hexadecimal code U+0198 and the character represented by decimal code Æ. These are different characters, so select the result that matches the code format you intended to use.

Insert the character

Select the character in the picker. MathType inserts it at the cursor position in your equation.

Verify it worked

Check that the intended character appears at the correct position in the equation. If your code search returned multiple results, compare the inserted character with the one you wanted.

Common errors

The inserted character is different from the one expected

If you searched using numbers, check whether you selected the hexadecimal or decimal result. Search again and select the character that matches the intended Unicode value.

The code search does not show the character you expected

Check that you entered the hexadecimal value after U+, rather than the character's name or the complete U+… notation. You can look up the value again on Compart Unicode character search.

Related

• Creating equations with MathType Web.
• Toolbar and keyboard shortcuts.
• Formatting equations with MathType web.