Greek Letters in LaTeX

Type a backslash and the letter’s name in math mode: $\alpha$ gives α, $\pi$ gives π. Capitalize the name for the uppercase letter (\Omega gives Ω). Uppercase letters that look like Latin ones, such as Alpha and Beta, have no command; type A and B.

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The Greek alphabet in LaTeX

\alpha
$α$
alpha
\beta
$β$
beta
\gamma
$γ$
gamma
\delta
$δ$
delta
\epsilon
$ϵ$
epsilon (lunate form)
\varepsilon
$ε$
epsilon, the curly form most texts use
\zeta
$ζ$
zeta
\eta
$η$
eta
\theta
$θ$
theta
\vartheta
$ϑ$
theta, script variant
\iota
$ι$
iota
\kappa
$κ$
kappa
\lambda
$λ$
lambda
\mu
$μ$
mu
\nu
$ν$
nu
\xi
$ξ$
xi
o
$o$
omicron: no command, type the Latin o
\pi
$π$
pi
\varpi
$ϖ$
pi, variant form
\rho
$ρ$
rho
\varrho
$ϱ$
rho, variant form
\sigma
$σ$
sigma
\varsigma
$ς$
final sigma
\tau
$τ$
tau
\upsilon
$υ$
upsilon
\phi
$ϕ$
phi (straight form)
\varphi
$φ$
phi, the curly form
\chi
$χ$
chi
\psi
$ψ$
psi
\omega
$ω$
omega
\Gamma
$Γ$
Gamma
\Delta
$Δ$
Delta
\Theta
$Θ$
Theta
\Lambda
$Λ$
Lambda
\Xi
$Ξ$
Xi
\Pi
$Π$
Pi
\Sigma
$Σ$
Sigma
\Upsilon
$Υ$
Upsilon
\Phi
$Φ$
Phi
\Psi
$Ψ$
Psi
\Omega
$Ω$
Omega

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Greek letters examples

Each result below is drawn from the LaTeX under it. Copy the code, edit it on this page, or open it in the full editor.

Normal distribution
$f (x) = \frac{1}{σ \sqrt{2 π}} e^{- \frac{(x - μ)^{2}}{2 σ^{2}}}$
LaTeX
```
f(x) = \frac{1}{\sigma\sqrt{2\pi}} e^{-\frac{(x - \mu)^2}{2\sigma^2}}
```
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Angles
$α + β + γ = π$
LaTeX
```
\alpha + \beta + \gamma = \pi
```
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Uppercase for change and sums
$Δ x = x_{2} - x_{1}, Σ = \sum_{i} λ_{i}$
LaTeX
```
\Delta x = x_2 - x_1, \quad \Sigma = \sum_i \lambda_i
```
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Variant forms

ϵ ε θ ϑ ϕ φ

LaTeX

\epsilon \; \varepsilon \quad \theta \; \vartheta \quad \phi \; \varphi

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Bold Greek
$μ = (μ_{1}, \dots, μ_{n})$
LaTeX
```
\boldsymbol{\mu} = (\mu_1, \ldots, \mu_n)
```
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Italic uppercase
$Γ Γ Ω Ω$
LaTeX
```
\Gamma \quad \varGamma \quad \Omega \quad \varOmega
```
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Uppercase Latin look-alikes
$A, B, E, Z, H$
LaTeX
```
\mathrm{A}, \mathrm{B}, \mathrm{E}, \mathrm{Z}, \mathrm{H}
```
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Uppercase Greek letters

LaTeX only defines uppercase commands for letters that differ from Latin capitals: \Gamma, \Delta, \Theta, \Lambda, \Xi, \Pi, \Sigma, \Upsilon, \Phi, \Psi and \Omega. Capital Alpha, Beta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Iota, Kappa, Mu, Nu, Omicron, Rho, Tau and Chi are identical to A, B, E, Z, H, I, K, M, N, O, P, T and X; write them as \mathrm{A} and so on if they should be upright like the other capitals.

Uppercase Greek is upright by default. amsmath adds italic versions: \varGamma, \varDelta, …, \varOmega.

Bold, upright and text-mode Greek

For bold Greek use \boldsymbol{\alpha} (amsmath) or \bm{\alpha} (bm package); \mathbf{\alpha} does not change lowercase Greek. For upright lowercase Greek, as in units like µm, load upgreek and write \upmu, or use siunitx, which handles the micro sign in units.

Greek commands are math-only. In a sentence write $\alpha$ . For actual Greek text, compile with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX and a font with Greek glyphs, or use the babel greek option with pdfLaTeX.

Common mistakes

Standard LaTeX has no \Alpha or \Beta because they look exactly like Latin A and B.
Instead of
```
\Alpha, \Beta
```
Write
```
A, B
```
Omicron is the Latin o; standard LaTeX has no command for it. MathJax accepts \omicron, so a formula can render on the web and still fail in Overleaf.
Instead of
```
\omicron
```
Write
```
o
```
\mathbf only affects Latin letters and digits. Use \boldsymbol or \bm for Greek.
Instead of
```
\mathbf{\alpha}
```
Write
```
\boldsymbol{\alpha}
```
The commands only work in math mode; the plain word is not converted.
Instead of
```
The angle alpha = 30 degrees.
```
Write
```
The angle $\alpha = 30^\circ$.
```

In Overleaf, MathJax and Word

Overleaf and pdfLaTeX
All letters in the table work without packages. \varGamma and friends and \boldsymbol need amsmath, \bm needs bm, and \upmu needs upgreek.
MathJax and KaTeX
MathJax and KaTeX support every command here, including \boldsymbol and \varGamma. MathJax does not support \bm; use \boldsymbol on the web.
Microsoft Word
In a Word equation, \alpha, \Omega and the other names followed by Space insert the Greek letter. Copy for Word from the editor here pastes formulas with Greek letters as editable equations.