≤ ≥

How to Type ≤ and ≥

The less-than-or-equal-to (≤) and greater-than-or-equal-to (≥) signs are one character each. On a Mac they sit right on the comma and period keys; on Windows there are a few options.

Last reviewed on October 3, 2026.

Quick Reference

Mac

Option + , gives ≤ and Option + . gives ≥ — the keys that carry < and >.

Option + , → ≤ Option + . → ≥

Windows

Hold Alt and type on the numeric keypad: 243 for ≤, 242 for ≥ (OEM code page 437 codes, no leading zero).

Alt + 243 → ≤ Alt + 242 → ≥

Microsoft Word

Type 2264 or 2265, then press Alt + X. In an equation, \le and \ge followed by a space also work.

2264, Alt + X / 2265, Alt + X

Linux

Press Ctrl + Shift + U, then 2264 (≤) or 2265 (≥), then Enter.

Ctrl + Shift + U, 2264, Enter

HTML

Use &le; and &ge; (or &#8804; and &#8805;).

&le; &ge;

Comparison Symbols at a Glance

SymbolMeaningUnicodeHTMLIn code
≤less than or equal toU+2264&le;<=
≥greater than or equal toU+2265&ge;>=
≠not equal toU+2260&ne;!=
≈approximately equal toU+2248&asymp;—
⩽ ⩾slanted variantsU+2A7D / U+2A7E&les; / &ges;—

On a Mac, ≈ is Option + X and ≠ is Option + =. On Windows, ≈ is Alt + 247.

Reading ≤ and ≥

The opening of the angle always faces the larger value: in 3 ≤ x, x is at least 3. A quick way to read them is "the small end points at the small number".

  • x ≤ 10 — x is at most 10 (10 is allowed)
  • x < 10 — x is strictly less than 10 (10 is not allowed)
  • age ≥ 18 — 18 or older

In Code, Spreadsheets & on Phones

  • Programming languages and spreadsheet formulas use the two-character operators <= and >=. Typing ≤ in an Excel formula or in source code is a syntax error (or a plain-text character inside a string).
  • Coding fonts with ligatures (Fira Code, JetBrains Mono, Cascadia Code) display <= as a single ≤-like glyph, but the file still contains two characters.
  • LaTeX: \leq / \le and \geq / \ge; \leqslant (amssymb) for the slanted form.
  • Phones: most mobile keyboards don't offer ≤ and ≥ directly — create a Text Replacement (iOS: Settings → General → Keyboard; Android: Gboard → Dictionary) such as <= → ≤.

Technical Details

Unicode: U+2264 (≤), U+2265 (≥)

HTML Entity: &le; / &ge;

HTML Decimal: &#8804; / &#8805;

Alt Code (Windows): Alt + 243 / Alt + 242

Unicode block: Mathematical Operators

Names: LESS-THAN OR EQUAL TO, GREATER-THAN OR EQUAL TO

Related Symbols

≠ Not Equal ± Plus-Minus ∞ Infinity View All →