Make math inclusive for everyone with Microsoft 365

Hi, Insiders! I’m Peter Wu, a Principal Software Engineer on the PowerPoint team. Last fall, I shared many improvements to math in Microsoft 365, and I’m back this semester with even more.

Make math inclusive for everyone with Microsoft 365

Whether you are an economist forecasting the outlook for the next quarter, an engineer designing prosthetic limbs, a researcher studying new medical treatments, or a student pursuing your dreams in one of these fields, math is essential. It’s extremely important for math to be accessible so that everyone has the opportunity to learn, create, and explore. That’s why I’m so excited about the recent improvements in Microsoft 365 for inclusively communicating and collaborating with math, which we made in collaboration with DAISY Consortium, researchers, educators, instructional designers, and others who use math. 

Reading and writing math is more accessible

Keyboard shortcuts

PowerPoint now has keyboard shortcuts that make it faster and easier to insert and edit native Office Math similar to the ones available in Word. This is especially helpful for people who can’t easily use a mouse or other pointing device. This is also useful for people who use LaTeX because conversion to and from professionally formatted math isn’t done automatically as you type.

Feedback with sound

The Microsoft 365 apps for Windows now provides feedback with sound when you enter and exit native Office Math. This prevents you from accidentally inserting content inside the math zone that you intended to insert outside the math zone, and vice versa.

Go to File > Options > Accessibility and check Provide feedback with sound to turn it on.

 

Editing math with a screen reader

When editing native Office Math while using a screen reader such as Narrator, it reads the content to the right of the insertion point, as well as context information, that lets you know precisely where you are. For example, as you press Right Arrow to navigate through the equation for the area of a circle, it reads:

cap A

equals

pi

r squared

start base, r

end base

start superscript, 2

end superscript

Want to insert text at the end of the base but not in the superscript? Just listen to it read as you navigate to find the right spot.

Reading math with a screen reader

Narrator in Windows 11 25H2 Build 26200.7623 and later has improved the reading of native Office Math in PowerPoint Slide Show and Word using MathCAT, the industry-leading technology for math reading. PowerPoint and Word for Windows provide MathML in the accessibility tree that all screen readers and assistive technologies can use for a better experience.

Exporting PDFs with math

When you save or export your file as a PDF, PowerPoint and Word now include MathML in the PDF for the native Office Math. When reading the PDF with Adobe Reader and JAWS or NVDA with MathCAT, you can read the math part-by-part so you don’t miss anything.

 

Easily work with math across apps and webpages

Pasting math into OneNote

Now when you copy content that contains math in MathML format from webpages such as Microsoft 365 Copilot or Wikipedia and paste into OneNote, the math is preserved as native Office Math. It was recently added to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel (in shapes and SmartArt) and now it is available in OneNote as well. Gathering math content from the web has never been easier!

You can also copy MathML code from a text editor such as Notepad and paste into OneNote to insert it as native Office Math. You can even copy MathML from the xFormula keyboard on iOS into OneNote to easily enter math on the go.

Pasting math into Word and PowerPoint

In Word and PowerPoint, MathML is now listed as one of the formats in the Paste Special dialog if the app that you copied from supports it, giving you more control over how math is imported into your documents. When you choose MathML, it is inserted as native Office Math.

Improved MathML support

Recent versions also include many improvements to importing and exporting MathML for great compatibility across apps and webpages.

Convert Equation Editor and MathType objects to native Office Math

If you or your organization have been using the Microsoft 365 apps for many years, you may have Equation Editor objects in your documents and presentations. Equation Editor was included with the Microsoft 365 apps from 1991 up until it was retired in 2018. You can convert Equation Editor objects to native Office Math so that you can edit and format them and experience the improved accessibility described above.

In Word and PowerPoint, Convert to Office Math is now available on Mac as well as Windows. And there is also a Convert All to Office Math command in Word and PowerPoint for Windows and Mac to convert all Equation Editor objects in the document or presentation to native Office Math at once. You can access both commands on the context menu for an Equation Editor object that appears when you right-click or press Shift + F10 (on Windows) or Control + Return (on macOS 15 or later).

Conversion also works on MathType for Windows objects.

Please share your experiences

What are you creating with math in Microsoft 365? Whether you are a student working on a science project, a data scientist publishing a report, or an engineering professor preparing slides for a course, please share your experiences and creations with this community to inspire others. Save your documents to OneDrive, create a sharing link, and promote it on social media with #Microsoft365Math.

Availability

• Keyboard shortcuts for entering and editing math are generally available in Word for Windows and Mac. They are available in PowerPoint for Windows in Version 2512 (Build 19530.20000) or later and in PowerPoint for Mac in Version 16.104 (Build 25120915) or later.
• Feedback with sound and the improved screen reader experience when editing math are available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote for Windows in Version 2601 (Build 19628.20000) or later.
• Improved reading of math with Narrator is available in Windows 11 25H2 Build 26200.7623 or later in Slide Show in PowerPoint for Windows in Version 2511 (Build 16.0.19426) or later and is generally available in Word for Windows.
• Improved accessibility of exported PDFs with math is generally available in Word on all platforms. It is also available in PowerPoint for Windows in Version 2602 (Build 16.0.19623.20000) or later.
• Paste MathML from webpages and other apps is available in OneNote for Windows in Version 2601 (Build 19628.20000) or later and in OneNote for Mac in Version 16.105 (Build 26010535) or later.
• Paste Special as MathML and Convert All to Office Math are available in Word and PowerPoint for Windows in Version 2602 (Build 19711.20000) or later and in Word and PowerPoint for Mac to Beta Channel users running Version 16.106 (Build 26011120) or later. 

Don’t have it yet? It’s probably us, not you.

Features are released over some time to ensure things are working smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as an Insider, have had the opportunity to try it.

Feedback

Please click Help > Feedback in the app you are using to submit your thoughts about these features. We’re excited to hear from you!

We’re thrilled by the feedback we’ve received from users about recent math enhancements to Microsoft 365:

• From Patrick Binning, Department Chair, Johns Hopkins University Space Systems Engineering Program: on creating accessible math in PowerPoint: "Get me LaTeX input!". On seeing a demo of LaTeX input in PowerPoint from Sara Shunkwiler: “Oh S%$T that's cool and will be a massive time saver.... next time I build a course! 😉“.
• From Sara Shunkwiler, disabled engineer, STEM educator, and Instructional Designer at the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering: “Patrick's class on the Physics of Space Security has been widely discussed in popular and space news media. The recent Office Math and general accessibility updates enabled my team to retrofit an entire companion course in early January, taking it from 0% accessible to 99% in a matter of weeks - just in time for term launch. These accessibility updates are life changing for neurodivergent and disabled students, faculty, and staff - yet benefit everyone else, as well. An inclusive engineering future begins with an inclusive education today.”
• From Baiyun Chen, Senior Instructional Designer and Program Director of Personalized Adaptive Learning at the Center for Distributed Learning, University of Central Florida: “It’s great to see Microsoft 365’s continued commitment to improving math accessibility. As a Microsoft campus, we're excited to see how these new features will support instructors and instructional designers in creating more inclusive course materials. These enhanced accessibility features reduce barriers for learners and give instructors more confidence that their content aligns with accessibility standards.”

 

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