A Guide to the New Math Input Panel in Windows 7

Math Input Panel is a new feature that has been introduced in the Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. It can assist you when using input devices like touch-screens, digital pens or even an ordinary mouse to write formulas and math equations. Also works with tools like Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org and mathematical software products that support Mathematical Markup Language (MathML).

The tool can recognize American high school and college-level math in your written text, including numbers and letters, arithmetic, calculus, functions, sets, algebra and more. You can find the Math Input Panel shortcut by going to “All Programs -> Accessories -> Math Input Panel” path in the start menu.

Click on it and the Math Input Panel appears with the “Write math here” prompt. Use it to write, in fact draw mathematical formulas. The result can be previewed on the top left of the window. You can always use Undo and Redo function to revise the work just like you do in any other text editor.

If you make a mistake in the written text, don’t hesitate to use the tools on the right side of the application. Click on “Erase” button and you can wipe out the sketches that resulted from accidental strokes. Once you are done, click “Write” to re-write what you were supposed to write.

Erasing the unrecognized written letter is not the only way to fix the issue. You could also use the “Select and Correct” button. Hold on the left mouse button, drag and drop the character you want to correct on the “Select and Correct” box on the right and a drop-down menu will appear. Now, you can select the correct interpretation and continue your writing.

When you are done, you can simply click “Insert” at the bottom to paste the element to your desired document.

Note: By default, Math Input Panel saves its work on the clipboard. Hence you can manually paste the element by using “Paste” in context menu or CTRL + V shortcut key if the formula is not automatically inserted.

Let’s focus on the top menu bar a bit. Click on “History” tab and you can go back to any of formulas that you have written in the current window.

In the “Options” menu, you can set preferences like “Clear writing area after insertion” and “Show on-screen keyboard buttons”, which may be useful to you.

So, if your work involves using math formulas and you don’t want to install additional software for creating mathematical equations, you could use the Windows 7 Math Input Panel to get things done.