### quick and dirty guide to equation shortcuts in Microsoft Word post-2007

You can use shortcuts when using equations in Word by typing a character or phrase then pressing space. For example, typing \times then space gives you a multiplication sign ( × ), typing -> then space gives an arrow and typing x_1 then space gives you x1. Note that there are different ways of typing the same symbol.

There’s a full list of these shortcuts and a description of exactly how they work in the PDF file here (via). The phrases for symbols can be found by hovering over that symbol when selecting it in the Equation tools.

Also if you press the show more button for the Symbols, you can switch between sets of symbols by pressing the white arrow on the grey title-bar.

Some more shortcuts

• / + space gives a fraction
• x^1 + space gives x1
• /gamma + space gives δ (lowercase gamma) while /Gamma gives Δ (uppercase gamma)
• /sqrt or /cbrt or /qdrt + space gives the square root, cube root and 4th root sign
• for an arrow that says ‘phrase’ on top of it, type -> space \above space phrase space

This was going to be a post about how frustrating it is to post on Blogspot with a WordPress account but: