Getting the error "Missing $ inserted" in LaTeX

Question

I try to write the following in latex:

\begin{itemize}
    \item \textbf{insert(element|text)} inserts the element or text passed at the start of the selection.
    \item \textbf{insert_after(element|text)} inserts the element or text passed at the end of the selection.
    \item \textbf{replace(element|text)} replaces the selection with the passed text/element.
    \item \textbf{delete()} deletes the selected text.
    \item \textbf{annotate(name,value)} annotates the selected text with the passed name and value-pair. This can either be a hidden meta-data about the selection, or can alter the visible appearance.
    \item \textbf{clear_annotation()} removes any annotation for this specific selection.
    \item \textbf{update_element(value)} performs an update of the element at the selection with the passed value.
\end{itemize}

For some reason, I get a bunch of errors. I think there is something with the use of the word "insert". I get errors like "Missing $ inserted", so it seems like the parses tries to fix some "errors" on my parts. Do I need to escape words like "insert", how do I do that?

Will Vousden · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-30T14:03:21.353

388

The "Missing $ inserted" is probably caused by the underscores and bars. These characters in LaTeX have special meaning in math mode (which is delimited by $ characters). Try escaping them; e.g. update\_element instead of update_element.

However, if you're trying to display code, a better solution would be to use the \verb command, which will typeset the text in a monospaced font and will automatically handle underscores and bars correctly (no need to escape them with \).

edited Jul 30 '15 at 14:03

answered Mar 19 '10 at 11:41

Will Vousden

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I had this error because there was `$` symbol in one of the titles in my bibliography. Using `\$` helped. – azet52 Feb 01 '19 at 21:54

score 52 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 19 '10 at 11:42

52

It's actually the underscores. Use \_ instead, or include the underscore package.

answered Mar 19 '10 at 11:42

Nietzche-jou

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texlive-latex-recommended has the underscore package. I had to also add the usepackage underscore to my sphinx.sty file – zerocog Jul 22 '16 at 22:59
Using the 'underscore" package also solved an issue I encountered when trying to generate pdf out from a knitr document in RStudio by using the function "semTable" (before it resulted in the 'Missing $' error. – Will Aug 04 '18 at 08:08

score 19 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 21 '12 at 09:03

19

I had this problem too. I solved it by removing the unnecessary blank line between equation tags. This gives the error:

\begin{equation}
P(\underline{\hat{X}} | \underline{Y}) = ...

\end{equation}

while this code compiles succesfully:

\begin{equation}
P(\underline{\hat{X}} | \underline{Y}) = ...
\end{equation}

answered Dec 21 '12 at 09:03

Utku Özdemir

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This solved my problem. I was using a \label inside the equation and I had left a blank line after it. – jpmorin Jan 10 '13 at 06:35

score 8 · Answer 4 · edited May 11 '16 at 22:34

8

I had the same problem - and I have read all these answers, but unfortunately none of them worked for me. Eventually I tried removing this line

%\usepackage[latin1]{inputenc}

and all errors disappeared.

edited May 11 '16 at 22:34

gariepy

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answered May 11 '16 at 22:16

Matrix Software

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and replacing it with `\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}` is not a bad idea – Dorian Jul 07 '21 at 21:37

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 21 '11 at 16:38

8

also, I had this problem but the bib file wouldn't recompile. I removed the problem, which was an underscore in the note field, and compiled the tex file again, but kept getting the same errors. In the end I del'd the compiled bib file (.bbl I think) and it worked fine. I had to escape the _ using a backslash.

answered Jul 21 '11 at 16:38

Adrian

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I to had an underscore in a note field. Thanks so much for suggesting this! – Richard Jun 20 '12 at 18:22

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 19 '10 at 11:41

3

My first guess is that LaTeX chokes on | outside a math environment. Missing $ inserted is usually a symptom of something like that.

answered Mar 19 '10 at 11:41

High Performance Mark

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As @Will points out, LaTeX doesn't like _ . Looks like a better explanation than mine too. – High Performance Mark Mar 19 '10 at 11:43

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Jan 21 '18 at 22:43

2

You can also get this error if you use special character greek letters like \alpha \beta and so on outside of math mode. After i wrapped them in $...$ the error was gone.

answered Jan 21 '18 at 22:43

Alphacoder

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This worked for me. Any idea why this works and how to make it work without wrapping it? – Octane Jul 06 '18 at 14:06
it's an escape character. – Brndn Feb 09 '20 at 02:52
Thank you so much!!! I had this error with using `\rightarrow` outside math mode and after replacing it with `$\rightarrow$` the errors are gone. – Ax M May 11 '22 at 13:21

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 22 '17 at 11:48

0

I think it gives the error because of the underscore symbol.

Note : underscore symbol should not be written directly, you have to write like as \_.

So fix these kind special symbol errors.

edited Dec 22 '17 at 11:48

Mark Rotteveel

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answered Dec 22 '17 at 11:16

Achilles Ram Nakirekanti

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jun 07 '18 at 12:28

In my code, when I got the error, I checked the possible source, In a line, I had typed a beginning \[ and an ending \] due to which the error of missing $ appeared though I tried using $ for both the brackets. Removing the brackets or using $[$ instead of $\[$ solved my problem. If you've something like that, try altering.

score -1 · Answer 10 · answered Feb 20 '18 at 22:31

-1

I had this symbol _ in the head of one table and the code didn't run, so I had to delete.

answered Feb 20 '18 at 22:31

Edwin Torres

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score -1 · Answer 11 · answered Dec 03 '22 at 17:29

My case was similar to Adrian's. It was an incorrectly written online bib source.

I had

 @online{some_pretty_website, 
    title={Pretty Website}, 
    url={https://www.prettywebsite.com/foo_bar.pdf}
 }

I had to escape the "_" symbol in the url

 @online{some_pretty_website, 
    title={Pretty Website}, 
    url={https://www.prettywebsite.com/foo\_bar.pdf}
 }

Getting the error "Missing $ inserted" in LaTeX

11 Answers11