The not equal sign is used to indicate inequality, when two things are not equal to one another. For example, 0 is not equal to 1, which we express as 1 ≠ 0. The not equal sign takes the form of the equal sign with a slash through it. If you can't find the not equal sign on your keyboard, you can copy it using the button above.
To type the not equal sign on a Windows computer, hold down the Alt key and type 8800 on your number pad (ensure that the Numlock is turned on). If you don't have a number pad you can copy the sign at the top of this page, or use the character map in Windows.
On a Mac, you can type the not equal sign by holding down the option key (â¥) and pressing the equal key (=).
To display the not equal sign in Latex, use the code \neq.
In programming, the not equal sign is usually expressed as != or <> or ~=, which are the inverse of the equality operator (==). For instance, a != true will test whether the variable a is not equal to true. A great overview of different inequality operators used in programming is provided here.
The not equal sign (also called the inequality sign) is part of a family of symbols used to indicate inequality between values. The most common of these are less than (<) and greater than (>) symbol, which indicate that the value before the sign is less than or greater than the value after the sign, respectively.
The not-equal sign specifically indicates that two values are not equal to one another. For instance, the following statement shows that x cannot be equal to 5. It can also be seen as x is equal to everything but 5:
x ≠ 5
