Does Confluence have an equation editor? How to insert a formula in Confluence Cloud

The short answer

No. Confluence Cloud has no equation editor and no equation macro of its own. Typed math stays plain text: x^2 shows as x^2. What you can do without installing anything: format simple formulas with the editor’s subscript and superscript, type Unicode symbols, or make the equation elsewhere and insert it as an image. For equations people read and edit on the page, a Marketplace app adds a formula macro.

One thing to rule out first: if you mean a calculation, a column in a Confluence database that adds up other columns, that is a different request (Atlassian: CONFCLOUD-78459, under consideration). This page is about showing mathematics.

Option 1: what the editor can do by itself

For chemistry, units and simple powers you may not need anything else.

• Subscript and superscript. Select the characters, open the (…) more formatting menu in the toolbar and choose Subscript or Superscript. Shortcuts: Ctrl+Shift+, for subscript and Ctrl+Shift+. for superscript (Cmd on a Mac) (Atlassian: Format text). That gives H₂O, E = mc², 10^-6, CO₂.
• Symbols. Characters such as ± × ÷ ≤ ≥ ≠ √ π ∑ ∞ ° µ are ordinary text. Type them with your keyboard’s symbol input, or copy them from any character table and paste. They survive export and search.
• Monospace for code-like formulas. A code block (type /code) keeps spacing, so a formula written on several lines with aligned terms stays aligned.

Where it stops. Fractions, square roots over an expression, sums with limits, matrices and anything with two levels of sub- or superscript. The editor has no way to stack things vertically.

Option 2: make the equation elsewhere and insert an image

Use the equation editor you already have: Word (Insert → Equation), Google Docs (Insert → Equation), PowerPoint, or a free online LaTeX editor that previews as you type. Then take a picture of it: a screenshot, or the editor’s PNG or SVG export if it has one. Drag the image into the Confluence page or type /image.

• What you get. A proper equation, typeset correctly, in every browser and in exports. No app, no admin.
• What it loses. Nobody can edit it on the page; to change one symbol someone has to find the original file. Confluence search and screen readers see only an image, unless you add alt text. Twenty equations means twenty images to keep in sync.

If you go this way, keep the source: paste the Word file or the LaTeX code in a code block under the image, or into the image’s alt text, so the next person can redraw it.

Option 3: a formula macro from the Marketplace

Apps on the Atlassian Marketplace add a math macro to Confluence Cloud. Nearly all of them use LaTeX, the notation mathematicians have used for forty years and the one Word’s own editor can show you (switch an equation to LaTeX mode on the Equation tab). The good news for people who do not know LaTeX: you rarely need more than a handful of commands, the apps come with examples to start from, and ChatGPT or Claude write correct LaTeX from a description. Points worth comparing: a live preview while you type, a clear message when something is wrong, inline formulas inside a sentence, where the formula is drawn (in your browser or on the vendor’s servers), and how it exports to PDF and Word.

Full disclosure: Dortus makes Math for Confluence, submitted to the Atlassian Marketplace on 30 October 2026 and waiting for approval, so you cannot install it yet. What it does: two macros, Math block (LaTeX) for an equation on its own line and Math inline (LaTeX) for a formula inside a sentence. Type /math, pick an example (fraction, quadratic formula, sum, integral, limit, matrix, aligned equations, cases, chemistry, probability) or type LaTeX, and the equation is drawn as you type. A mistake is explained in plain words with its line and column. A formula pasted with $$ or \[ \] around it is cleaned up. It draws with KaTeX in the reader’s browser, writes MathML for screen readers, follows light and dark mode, keeps up to 20 versions per formula, and sends nothing outside Atlassian. Until it is approved, Option 1 or 2 is the way.

Five formulas you can copy

For any LaTeX app, without dollar signs. \frac{top}{bottom} is a fraction, \sqrt{} a root, ^ a power and _ a subscript.

\frac{a}{b}
\sqrt{x^2 + y^2}
x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}
\sum_{i=1}^{n} x_i
\ce{CH4 + 2 O2 -> CO2 + 2 H2O}

The last one is chemistry with the mhchem commands, which Math for Confluence supports. More examples, shown as they render: How to write LaTeX math in Confluence Cloud.

Which option fits

Chemical formulas, units and squares in running text: the editor’s subscript and superscript. A few equations that will not change: images, with the source kept next to them. Equations that people read at a glance and keep editing, or more than a handful of them: a LaTeX macro from the Marketplace.

FAQ

Questions

Spotted something wrong on this page, or a way we missed? Email support@dortus.com.

See also: How to write LaTeX math in Confluence Cloud and How to add Mermaid diagrams to Confluence Cloud