---
description: "Jotaid's lightweight markers — super/subscript, footnotes, highlight, abbreviations, keys and emoji — for saying more without interrupting the sentence."
---
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# Insert Annotations

This page collects the ways to **say a little more without breaking the sentence**.

## Superscript and Subscript

| Effect | Syntax |
|--------|--------|
| Superscript | `^text^` or `<sup>text</sup>` |
| Subscript | `~text~` or `<sub>text</sub>` |

```markdown
Water is H~2~O, and area is measured in m^2^.
```

The toolbar has a button for each. For a whole equation rather than a stray symbol or two, [math](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/insert-math) is the better tool.

> **Subscript shares the tilde with strikethrough**
>
> One `~` is a subscript; two `~~` is strikethrough. To write a literal tilde, escape it: `\~`.

## Footnotes

A reference in the body, a definition on its own line, and the two identifiers must match:

```markdown
The conclusion holds under one condition[^1].

[^1]: Only for samples larger than 500.
```

The identifier can be a number or a word (`[^condition]`) as long as it has no spaces. The toolbar's footnote button inserts both halves and picks an identifier that is not already in use.

Footnotes suit the **supporting material** — a source, a caveat, an aside — too important to delete but disruptive in the sentence itself.

## Highlight

```markdown
This part ==matters==, and <mark>this</mark> is the same thing.
```

Shortcut: **⌘⇧H**. The two spellings are equivalent and render as the same vivid yellow in all three themes.

## Abbreviations

Define one once and every occurrence carries its expansion:

```markdown
*[PKM]: Personal Knowledge Management
```

## Keys and Small Text

| Effect | Syntax | For |
|--------|--------|-----|
| Key | `<kbd>⌘K</kbd>` | Naming a keystroke in a set of steps |
| Small | `<small>text</small>` | An aside that should not compete |
| Underline | `<u>text</u>` | Emphasis where bold and italic are wrong |

## Emoji

Type a shortcode such as `:smile:` — no need to switch input methods.

## Next Steps

- [Insert Math](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/insert-math) — Full mathematical typesetting
- [Tags](https://docs.jotaid.com/en/guide/tags) — Better than an inline marker for classifying across notes