Math and LaTeX in Markdown Tables

How do I put math in a Markdown table?

Math in a cell is ordinary inline math. Write the table as usual and put each expression between single dollar signs. Anything that works in inline math elsewhere in the document (fractions, Greek letters, subscripts, \text{…}, \color) works in a cell.

| Quantity     | Formula                              | Unit |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------ | ---- |
| Kinetic energy | $E_k = \frac{1}{2} m v^2$          | J    |
| Absolute error | $\lvert x - \hat{x} \rvert$         | —    |
| Norm         | $\lVert \mathbf{v} \rVert_2$         | —    |
| Conditional  | $P(A \mid B)$                        | —    |

Keep each expression on one line, because a line break ends the row. Long formulas make the column wide; if that hurts readability, put a short name in the table and the full equation below it. For colored values in cells, see text formatting and color.

How do I write | inside math in a table?

This is the problem nearly everyone hits. GFM splits a table row on every unescaped | before it looks at inline content, and math is inline content. So $|x|$ is cut into three cells and the table breaks. Use a LaTeX command that draws the same symbol instead:

| Function       | Definition |
| -------------- | ---------- |
| Absolute value | $|x|$      |

| Function       | Definition                 |
| -------------- | -------------------------- |
| Absolute value | $\lvert x \rvert$          |
| Set builder    | $\lbrace x \mid x > 0 \rbrace$ |

\lvert … \rvert is preferred over \vert for absolute values because it spaces the bars as opening and closing delimiters. Escaping as \| is a trap: the table removes the backslash before math renders, so you get a single bar on GitHub, while in LaTeX \| means ‖. Other renderers may treat it differently again. Stick to the named commands, which work everywhere. The general rules for pipes are on the escaping pipes page.

Dollar signs, underscores and backslashes

Math is parsed after Markdown in some renderers, so Markdown can change the expression before MathJax sees it. The symptoms are underscores turning into italics, \\ collapsing to \, or braces disappearing. On GitHub and GitLab, the backtick form $`…`$ protects the expression completely:

| Term     | Expression          |
| -------- | ------------------- |
| Sum      | $`\sum_{i=1}^n x_i`$ |
| Variance | $`\sigma^2`$         |

The opposite problem is a dollar sign that isn't math. Two $ in one cell (a price range) can be read as a math span. Escape them as \$:

| Plan | Price         |
| ---- | ------------- |
| Pro  | $10-$20/month |

| Plan | Price           |
| ---- | --------------- |
| Pro  | \$10–\$20/month |

LaTeX tables in Jupyter and other notebooks

A common search is how to write a LaTeX table in a Jupyter Markdown cell. MathJax, which Jupyter uses, typesets math only; text-mode environments such as tabular and table aren't supported, so this shows up as raw text:

\begin{tabular}{lcc}
Model & Accuracy & F1 \\
Baseline & 0.81 & 0.78 \\
\end{tabular}

You have three working options:

1. A Markdown table with inline math (the examples above). It renders in JupyterLab, Notebook, VS Code notebooks and Colab, and exports cleanly to HTML and PDF.
2. A math-mode array, which MathJax does support, including column rules and \hline. Text must go in \text{…}:

$$
\begin{array}{l|c|c}
\text{Model} & \text{Accuracy} & \text{F}_1 \\
\hline
\text{Baseline} & 0.81 & 0.78 \\
\text{Tuned} & 0.89 & 0.87
\end{array}
$$

3. Generate the table from code. A DataFrame displays as an HTML table on its own; to get Markdown, use to_markdown(). df.to_latex() produces tabular source for a paper, not something the notebook renders.

import pandas as pd
from IPython.display import Markdown

df = pd.DataFrame({"Model": ["Baseline", "Tuned"], "Accuracy": [0.81, 0.89]})
Markdown(df.to_markdown(index=False))  # needs the tabulate package

More on generating tables from code is in the Python guide.

Math in tables on docs sites (MkDocs, Docusaurus, Hugo, Jekyll)

Static site generators don't render math by default. Once math is enabled for the site, it works in table cells with the same pipe rule.

• MkDocs: pymdownx.arithmatex plus MathJax or KaTeX.
• Docusaurus: remark-math and rehype-katex, plus the KaTeX CSS.
• Hugo: the Goldmark passthrough extension with MathJax or KaTeX in your templates.
• Jekyll / GitHub Pages: kramdown recognises $$…$$ (for inline math too) and outputs MathJax delimiters; add MathJax to your layout.

# mkdocs.yml
markdown_extensions:
  - pymdownx.arithmatex:
      generic: true
extra_javascript:
  - javascripts/mathjax.js
  - https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@3/es5/tex-mml-chtml.js

// docusaurus.config.js (docs preset options)
import remarkMath from 'remark-math';
import rehypeKatex from 'rehype-katex';

docs: {
  remarkPlugins: [remarkMath],
  rehypePlugins: [rehypeKatex],
},
// and add the KaTeX stylesheet to `stylesheets`

| Shape  | Area        |
| ------ | ----------- |
| Circle | $$\pi r^2$$ |

Math in tables by platform

Common mistakes and fixes

• Raw | in math. Splits the cell. Use \lvert, \rvert, \mid or \Vert.
• Pipes inside backtick math. $`|x|`$ still splits the cell; GFM splits rows before code spans are parsed.
• Display math in a cell. $$ blocks need their own lines, which ends the row. Use inline math with \displaystyle.
• Spaces next to the dollar signs. On GitHub, $ x $ may not be treated as math. Write $x$.
• Using a table for a matrix. For a matrix, use \begin{bmatrix} in math, not a Markdown table.

When a table with math refuses to render, the table validator shows which row has the extra column.

When to switch to LaTeX or HTML

Markdown tables with inline math suit READMEs, notes and notebooks. For a paper or a PDF with numbered tables, merged header cells and booktabs rules, write LaTeX. Convert an existing table with the Markdown table to LaTeX converter or let Pandoc do it as part of the build. On a website that needs merged cells as well as math, use an HTML table; MathJax and KaTeX typeset math inside HTML tables too.

For the basics of table structure, see Markdown table syntax.

Frequently asked questions