diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 021a551..c6a0abe 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ All notable changes to Elo are documented here. The format is based on
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+- The editor now renders operators as typographic glyphs in the display layer
+  without changing the underlying text: `*` → `×`, spaced `/` → `÷`, and the
+  ligatures `->` → `→`, `=>` → `⇒`, `!=` → `≠`, `<=` → `≤`, `>=` → `≥`.
 - New app icon: a typed "E" mark resolving to a result row, rendered across
   all platforms (macOS `.icns`, Linux/Windows PNGs and `.ico`, and the iOS
   AppIcon set).
diff --git a/elo-tauri/src/main.ts b/elo-tauri/src/main.ts
index 8d336f5..ab47b56 100644
--- a/elo-tauri/src/main.ts
+++ b/elo-tauri/src/main.ts
@@ -129,14 +129,14 @@ function highlightMarkdown(text: string): string {
     const headerMatch = escaped.match(/^(#{1,3}\s)(.*)/);
     if (headerMatch) {
       result.push(
-        `<span class="md-hash">${headerMatch[1]}</span><span class="md-header">${headerMatch[2]}</span>`,
+        `<span class="md-hash">${headerMatch[1]}</span><span class="md-header">${applyOperators(headerMatch[2])}</span>`,
       );
       continue;
     }
 
     // Comments
     if (trimmed.startsWith("//")) {
-      result.push(`<span class="md-comment">${escaped}</span>`);
+      result.push(`<span class="md-comment">${applyOperators(escaped)}</span>`);
       continue;
     }
 
@@ -165,19 +165,48 @@ function highlightMarkdown(text: string): string {
 }
 
 function applyInlineFormatting(escaped: string): string {
-  // Single-pass regex matching inline code, bold, underline, italic
-  // Order matters: longer delimiters first to avoid partial matches
-  return escaped.replace(
-    /(`[^`]+`)|(\*\*[^*]+\*\*)|(__[^_]+__)|(\*[^*]+\*)|(_[^_]+_)/g,
-    (match, code, bold, underline, italicStar, italicUnderscore) => {
-      if (code) return `<span class="md-inline-code">${match}</span>`;
-      if (bold) return `<span class="md-bold">${match}</span>`;
-      if (underline) return `<span class="md-underline">${match}</span>`;
-      if (italicStar) return `<span class="md-italic">${match}</span>`;
-      if (italicUnderscore) return `<span class="md-italic">${match}</span>`;
-      return match;
-    },
-  );
+  // Walk the markdown matches manually so inline code/bold/italic/underline are
+  // emitted verbatim, while only the plain-text gaps between them receive
+  // operator substitution. This protects a markdown `*` (italic/bold) from
+  // becoming `×` while still converting a math `*` (e.g. `2 * 3`, `(a+b)*c`),
+  // which lives in a gap.
+  // Order matters: longer delimiters first to avoid partial matches.
+  const md = /(`[^`]+`)|(\*\*[^*]+\*\*)|(__[^_]+__)|(\*[^*]+\*)|(_[^_]+_)/g;
+  let out = "";
+  let last = 0;
+  let m: RegExpExecArray | null;
+  while ((m = md.exec(escaped)) !== null) {
+    out += applyOperators(escaped.slice(last, m.index));
+    const [match, code, bold, underline, italicStar] = m;
+    if (code) out += `<span class="md-inline-code">${match}</span>`;
+    else if (bold) out += `<span class="md-bold">${match}</span>`;
+    else if (underline) out += `<span class="md-underline">${match}</span>`;
+    else if (italicStar) out += `<span class="md-italic">${match}</span>`;
+    else out += `<span class="md-italic">${match}</span>`;
+    last = m.index + match.length;
+  }
+  out += applyOperators(escaped.slice(last));
+  return out;
+}
+
+// Display-only operator glyphs. Runs on already-HTML-escaped text (so `<`/`>`
+// are `&lt;`/`&gt;`). The underlying textarea value is never changed, so the
+// Rust parser still receives raw ASCII. Two-char ligatures use a 2ch-wide span
+// so the glyph occupies exactly the same character grid as the source chars,
+// keeping the textarea caret and soft-wrapping aligned with the overlay.
+function applyOperators(s: string): string {
+  return s
+    .replace(/-&gt;/g, `<span class="op-lig">→</span>`)
+    .replace(/=&gt;/g, `<span class="op-lig">⇒</span>`)
+    .replace(/!=/g, `<span class="op-lig">≠</span>`)
+    .replace(/&lt;=/g, `<span class="op-lig">≤</span>`)
+    .replace(/&gt;=/g, `<span class="op-lig">≥</span>`)
+    // Division: only when surrounded by whitespace, so dates (06/28),
+    // rates/units (km/h), and paths stay literal. Single cell.
+    .replace(/(?<=\s)\/(?=\s)/g, `<span class="op-div">÷</span>`)
+    // Multiplication: any remaining `*` (markdown `*` is already consumed on
+    // inline-formatted lines before this runs). Single cell.
+    .replace(/\*/g, `<span class="op-mul">×</span>`);
 }
 
 // Sync scroll between editor, highlight, and results
diff --git a/elo-tauri/src/styles.css b/elo-tauri/src/styles.css
index f0e68d3..4b43215 100644
--- a/elo-tauri/src/styles.css
+++ b/elo-tauri/src/styles.css
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ html, body {
   overflow: hidden;
   pointer-events: none;
   z-index: 0;
+  font-variant-ligatures: none;
 }
 
 #editor {
@@ -149,6 +150,7 @@ html, body {
   user-select: text;
   z-index: 1;
   font-synthesis: none;
+  font-variant-ligatures: none;
 }
 
 #editor::selection {
@@ -190,6 +192,16 @@ html, body {
 .md-code-fence { color: var(--text-muted); }
 .md-code-block { color: var(--text-muted); }
 
+/* Display-only operator glyphs in the overlay. Two-char ligatures occupy
+   exactly two monospace cells so the caret/wrapping stay aligned with the
+   underlying textarea text. */
+.op-lig {
+  display: inline-block;
+  width: 2ch;
+  text-align: center;
+}
+/* op-mul / op-div are single-cell 1:1 swaps; classes kept for theming. */
+
 /* Results gutter */
 #results {
   width: 260px;