LaTeX Cheat Sheet: Essential Commands and Syntax Reference

February 2, 2026

$LaTeX Cheat Sheet: Essential Commands and Syntax Reference$

A quick reference for the LaTeX commands you actually use. Bookmark this page for when you forget a command mid-paper.

Document Structure

Command	What It Does
`\documentclass{article}`	Set document type (article, report, book, beamer)
`\usepackage{name}`	Load a package
`\begin{document}`	Start document content
`\title{} \author{} \date{}`	Set title page info
`\maketitle`	Render the title
`\section{}`	Create a section heading
`\subsection{}`	Create a subsection
`\subsubsection{}`	Create a sub-subsection
`\tableofcontents`	Generate table of contents
`\newpage`	Force a page break

Command	Result
`\textbf{text}`	Bold text
`\textit{text}`	Italic text
`\underline{text}`	Underlined text
`\texttt{text}`	Monospace/typewriter text
`\emph{text}`	Emphasized text (usually italic)
`\\`	Line break
`\par` or blank line	New paragraph
`\footnote{text}`	Add a footnote

Syntax	What It Does
$...$	Inline math
`$$...$$` or `\[...\]`	Display math (centered, own line)
`\frac{a}{b}`	Fraction a/b
`x^{2}`	Superscript (x squared)
`x_{i}`	Subscript
`\sqrt{x}`	Square root
`\sqrt[n]{x}`	nth root
`\sum_{i=1}^{n}`	Summation with limits
`\int_{a}^{b}`	Integral with limits
`\lim_{x \to \infty}`	Limit notation
`\vec{v}`	Vector arrow notation
`\mathbf{v}`	Bold vector notation
`\left( ... \right)`	Auto-scaling parentheses

For a deeper dive, see our guides on fractions, vectors, and subscripts/superscripts.

Command	Letter	Command	Letter
`\alpha`	α	`\beta`	β
`\gamma`	γ	`\delta`	δ
`\epsilon`	ε	`\theta`	θ
`\lambda`	λ	`\mu`	μ
`\pi`	π	`\sigma`	σ
`\phi`	φ	`\omega`	ω
`\Gamma`	Γ	`\Delta`	Δ
`\Sigma`	Σ	`\Omega`	Ω

Command	Symbol	Command	Symbol
`\times`	×	`\div`	÷
`\pm`	±	`\cdot`	·
`\leq`	≤	`\geq`	≥
`\neq`	≠	`\approx`	≈
`\infty`	∞	`\partial`	∂
`\nabla`	∇	`\rightarrow`	→
`\in`	∈	`\notin`	∉
`\subset`	⊂	`\forall`	∀

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Command	What It Does
`\begin{tabular}{l c r}`	Create table (left, center, right columns)
`&`	Column separator
`\\`	Row separator
`\hline`	Horizontal line
`\toprule \midrule \bottomrule`	Professional rules (requires booktabs)
`\begin{table}[h]`	Float wrapper with placement hint
`\caption{}`	Table caption
`\label{tab:name}`	Label for cross-referencing

Command	What It Does
`\begin{figure}[h]`	Float wrapper for figures
`\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{file}`	Insert image (requires graphicx)
`\caption{}`	Figure caption
`\label{fig:name}`	Label for cross-referencing
`\centering`	Center the figure

Command	What It Does
`\label{key}`	Mark a location for referencing
`\ref{key}`	Reference a label (number)
`\eqref{key}`	Reference an equation (with parentheses)
`\cite{key}`	Cite a reference
`\bibliography{refs}`	Include bibliography file
`\bibliographystyle{plain}`	Set citation style

Package	What It Does
`amsmath`	Extended math environments (align, gather, etc.)
`amssymb`	Additional math symbols
`graphicx`	Image inclusion
`booktabs`	Professional table formatting
`hyperref`	Clickable links and cross-references
`geometry`	Page margin control
`natbib`	Flexible citation formatting
`tikz`	Diagrams and graphics
`listings` or `minted`	Code syntax highlighting
`algorithm2e`	Algorithm pseudocode

Our Learn Hub has 55+ in-depth tutorials on LaTeX, TikZ, and PGFPlots with interactive examples.

Option	Meaning
`h`	Here (approximately)
`t`	Top of page
`b`	Bottom of page
`p`	Separate float page
`!`	Override LaTeX's placement rules
`H`	Exactly here (requires float package)

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