Less Than or Equal Symbol
The ≤ sign is Unicode U+2264, officially named LESS-THAN OR EQUAL TO. It expresses “at most” in inequalities and typeset text. Choose any tile to copy the character; the reference below also gives Unicode code points, HTML entities and LaTeX commands for common comparison symbols.
How to copy and use the ≤ symbol
-
1
Click the symbol to copy
The selected tile copies the character itself to your clipboard.
-
2
Paste into Word, Google Docs or Notion
Modern editors support the Unicode character when the selected font contains the glyph.
-
3
Use the HTML entity on websites
Paste the raw ≤ character or write the HTML entity ≤; both display the same sign.
-
4
Use \leq in LaTeX
In Markdown + KaTeX or a LaTeX document, write $a \leq b$ and it typesets correctly.
Every comparison symbol, with encodings
These commonly used symbols cover equality, order and set membership. Copy the character itself from the tool, or use the encoding that matches your document type.
| Symbol | Name | Unicode | HTML entity | LaTeX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ | Less-than or equal to | U+2264 |
≤ |
\leq |
| ≥ | Greater-than or equal to | U+2265 |
≥ |
\geq |
| < | Less-than | U+003C |
< |
< |
| > | Greater-than | U+003E |
> |
> |
| ≠ | Not equal to | U+2260 |
≠ |
\neq |
| ≈ | Approximately equal | U+2248 |
≈ |
\approx |
| ≡ | Identical to / equivalent | U+2261 |
≡ |
\equiv |
| ≪ | Much less than | U+226A |
≪ |
\ll |
| ≫ | Much greater than | U+226B |
≫ |
\gg |
| ∈ | Element of | U+2208 |
∈ |
\in |
| ∉ | Not an element of | U+2209 |
∉ |
\notin |
| ⊂ | Subset of | U+2282 |
⊂ |
\subset |
| ⊆ | Subset or equal | U+2286 |
⊆ |
\subseteq |
Keyboard shortcuts
- macOS: on a common US layout, Option + comma types ≤. Keyboard layouts differ, so Character Viewer (Control + Command + Space) is the reliable fallback.
- Windows: in Word, type
2264and press Alt + X. In other apps, use Character Map or the app’s symbol picker. - Linux: Ctrl + Shift + U, type
2264, press Space. - iOS / Android: long-press
<on the numeric keyboard; ≤ is usually a pop-up option.
In spreadsheets
- Excel and Google Sheets accept
<=in formulas, no need for the Unicode character.=IF(A1<=10, "ok", "too big"). - For display in a cell, paste the ≤ character directly. It doesn’t interfere with formula parsing.
- When exporting to CSV, ensure UTF-8 encoding or the symbol will arrive as
≤on the other side.
In code
- Comments in any language accept the Unicode character as long as the file is UTF-8.
- Most programming languages use
<=for the operator; a few (APL, J) use the single character. - For documentation (Markdown, AsciiDoc, reStructuredText), paste the character or use the HTML entity, both render identically.
Typography tips
- Mathematical typesetting systems add operator spacing automatically. In plain text, add spaces around ≤ when that improves readability.
- In a research paper, follow the journal or house style and use one form consistently.
- The slanted variant ⩽ is a distinct Unicode character, U+2A7D. In LaTeX packages that provide it, use
\leqslant; use\leqfor ≤.
Frequently Asked Questions
They mean the same thing. ≤ is a single Unicode glyph for typeset documents; <= is the two-character ASCII form used by almost every programming language. Use the first in prose and the second in code.
⩽ is a separate Unicode character, U+2A7D, rather than a font variation of ≤. Both can express the same relation, but you should follow the notation required by your document or publisher.
Avoid it. Most filesystems accept the character, but it breaks unpredictably when shared across operating systems or URL-encoded. Use ‘le’ or ‘lte’ for safe filenames.
No, copy events stay in your browser and no clipboard data is logged.
Related Tools
Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs with reading time, speaking time, keyword density and a Flesch readability score for essays, posts, captions and meta descriptions.
Business Name Generator
Generate business name ideas from industry keywords and style choices, then use the checklist to verify domains, registries and trademarks.
Emoji Kitchen
Try verified Google Emoji Kitchen sticker pairs, download PNGs, and get supported suggestions when a pair is not in the curated set.
Character Counter
Count characters, words, lines, sentences and paragraphs in any text. See totals with and without spaces plus a character breakdown.
Password Generator
Generate strong random passwords with adjustable length, symbols, numbers and mixed case using cryptographic randomness.
Anagram Solver
Enter up to 10 letters and see every unique arrangement of them, with duplicate permutations removed and the list capped at 200 results.