Overleaf (Online Collaborative LaTeX Editor)


Overleaf.com is an easy to use, online, collaborative LaTeX editor. This article explains how to create an Overleaf account linked to your University login details, which staff and students are eligible for a free upgrade to a Professional Subscription and gives answers to some other frequently asked questions.

If you have any questions which are not answered by the information below, then please contact Overleaf via https://www.overleaf.com/contact rather than the IT Service Desk.

What is it?

How do I login to Overleaf?

How can I get a Professional Subscription?

Can I still use Overleaf if I am not eligible for a free upgrade to Overleaf Professional?

I already have a paid Overleaf subscription. Do I need to cancel this?

Do I have to link my existing account to my University login?

Can I use Overleaf to create highly confidential documents?

I'm new to Overleaf, how should I get started?

What do I need to do when I leave the University?

Is my school / department eligible for a free upgrade to Overleaf Professional?

How do I pronounce LaTeX?

Do I still need to reconfirm my e-mail address after linking my account?

I still have questions. How can I get help?

What is it?

LaTeX is a document typesetting system, used extensively for the production of technical and scientific documents. The information is entered as plain text using markup tags to provide information such as author, date etc., to format the text and include scientific notation.

Overleaf.com is an easy to use LaTeX editor that is accessed via a web browser without the need to install any additional software. It has many additional features which make collaborating on a document with other authors very easy.

Overleaf supports the packages listed here.

How do I login to Overleaf?

To login to Overleaf using your University username and password, go to https://www.overleaf.com/edu/leeds and click the green "Log in through your institution" button at the bottom of the page.

Overleaf University of Leeds portal page

You can also go to https://overleaf.com/login and click "Login through your institution"

Overleaf Login Screen showing institutional login option

Linking existing @leeds.ac.uk accounts

If you already have an Overleaf account linked to your University e-mail address, then you will need to link your account to your University of Leeds login details (which Overleaf refer to as Institutional Single Sign On or Institutional SSO) when you first login in this way.

You can find more information on logging into Overleaf with your University account here.

How can I get a Professional Subscription?

Staff and Students in the Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences and the Faculty of Environment are eligible for a free Professional Subscription to Overleaf whilst they are employed by / studying at the University. This provides many additional features including the ability to:

Your account will automatically be upgraded to a Professional Subscription when you login for the first time. You can find a full list of which schools / departments are in the the Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences and the Faculty of Environment here

Can I still use Overleaf if I am not eligible for a free upgrade to Overleaf Professional?

Yes. Student and staff in other faculties / services can still login to Overleaf using their University username and password and will get a free account by default. You can still purchase a paid subscription to access other features.

I already have a paid Overleaf subscription. Do I need to cancel this?

Yes. If you are eligible for a free upgrade to Overleaf Professional and already have a paid subscription, then you must cancel this or you will continue to be charged

If you have been charged for a personal subscription after linking your account to your University login, then please send an email to accounts@sharelatex.com explaining the situation.

If you have an existing account that has been registered with an @leeds.ac.uk e-mail address, then you will need to link this to your University login details. If you want to keep your account completely separate, then you will need to change the e-mail address associated with the account to a non @leeds.ac.uk address.

https://www.overleaf.com/learn/how-to/Changing_email_address_associated_with_an_account

Can I use Overleaf to create highly confidential documents?

No. Overleaf must not be used for the sharing or storing of highly confidential data. Further guidance on managing and classifying data can be found here: Managing Electronic Data.

I'm new to Overleaf, how should I get started?

There is a short How do I use Overleaf help page to help get you started. You can also check for upcoming and on-demand webinars

What do I need to do when I leave the University?

If you wish to continue using your Overleaf account after you leave the University, then you will need to change the e-mail address associated with the account to a non @leeds.ac.uk address. You will also lose access to any free upgrades at this point.

Is my school / department eligible for a free upgrade to Overleaf Professional?

Below is the full list of schools and departments that are eligible for a free upgrade to Overleaf Professional. For students studying on joint honours programmes or staff working across more than one area, your eligibility is based on your primary / parent department. To find out which department your user account is linked to, you can do the following:

  1. Go to https://office365.leeds.ac.uk
  2. Click on the "Outlook" icon
  3. Click on "New Message"
  4. Type your name into the "To" field
  5. Click on your name to select it
  6. Click on your name again to show your user information which will show your primary / parent department

Faculty Engineering & Physical Sciences (FEP)

Faculty of Engineering (EER)
EPS Faculty Services (EFS)
Faculty Services Engineering (FEO)
EPS Online Distance Learning (EPD)
Faculty of Maths & Physical Sciences (MAP)
MAPS Faculty Offices (MPO)

School of Civil Engineering (CEN)

School of Chemical & Process Engineering (PRE)

School of Chemistry (CHM)

School of Computing (SCS)

School of Electronic & Electrical Eng (EEN)

School of Mathematics (MAT)

Applied Mathematical (AMT)
Pure Mathematics (PMT)
Statistics (STA)

School of Mechanical Engineering (MEN)

School of Physics and Astronomy (PHY)

SWJTU Joint School (SJU)

Faculty of Environment (EAE)

Faculty of Environment Office (FEE)

Earth and Biosphere Institute (EBI)

Earth Energy and Environment (EEE)

Institute for Transport Studies (TRA)

School of Earth and Environment (EAR)

School of Geography (GEO)

School of Food Science & Nutrition (PRC)

Do I still need to reconfirm my e-mail address after linking my account?

No. Overleaf requires all users with e-mail accounts linked to institutions such as Universities to re-confirm their e-mail address from time to time. However, when you login using your University username and password, then this is done automatically for you. For more information, see:

https://www.overleaf.com/learn/how-to/Institutional_Email_Reconfirmation

How do I pronounce LaTeX?

The most commonly used way to say LaTeX is "Lay-Tech". Some people prefer to say "Lah-Tech" (rhyming with car).

Note that it both forms, it is "Tech" and not "Tex" at the end. There is a more in-depth discussion about the rights and wrongs of the different pronunciations here.

I still have questions. How can I get help?

Overleaf have lots of information on their help pages here:

https://www.overleaf.com/learn

If you still can't find the answer to your question, then please contact Overleaf support via https://www.overleaf.com/contact

Please note that the University of Leeds IT Service Desk does not provide any support for Overleaf other than checking that your University account is active.