MathJax Compare

MathJax Delimiters Explained

MathJax only renders text wrapped in delimiters, the markers that say where math starts and ends. Anything outside them stays plain text. Here's how the defaults work and how to change them in MathJax 2, 3 and 4.

Try inline and display math in the live preview →

Default delimiters

Type Default in MathJax 2, 3 and 4 Example
Inline math \(...\) only The area is \(\pi r^2\).
Display math $$...$$ and \[...\] $$\int_0^1 x^2\,dx = \tfrac{1}{3}$$
Environments Rendered even without delimiters \begin{align} ... \end{align}

Why doesn't $...$ work?

Single dollar signs are off by default in every MathJax version, because dollar signs are common in normal text such as prices. If your content uses $x^2$, you have to turn them on.

How to enable $...$ for inline math

MathJax 3 and 4

<script>
  window.MathJax = {
    tex: {
      inlineMath: [['$', '$'], ['\\(', '\\)']]
    }
  };
</script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@3/es5/tex-chtml.js"></script>

MathJax 2

<script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
  MathJax.Hub.Config({
    tex2jax: {
      inlineMath: [['$', '$'], ['\\(', '\\)']],
      processEscapes: true
    }
  });
</script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@2.7.9/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS_CHTML"></script>

Backslashes are doubled ('\\(') because this is a JavaScript string. Keep \(...\) in the list so existing content still works.

Showing a literal dollar sign

Once $ is a delimiter, write \$ to show a real dollar sign, for example It costs \$5. This escaping is controlled by processEscapes:

Stopping MathJax in part of a page

MathJax never processes math inside <script>, <style>, <textarea>, <pre> and <code> elements. To skip any other element, add a class:

Purpose MathJax 2 MathJax 3 and 4
Skip this element tex2jax_ignore mathjax_ignore
Process it anyway (inside an ignored element) tex2jax_process mathjax_process 
<div class="mathjax_ignore">
  Price range: $10 to $20 (not math)
</div>

Common problems