Overleaf accounts FAQs

Some frequently asked questions about Overleaf accounts

My subscription is ending—will I be able to access my Overleaf account?

If you are on an individual subscription, standard group, or Overleaf Commons subscription, your account is yours and remains accessible to you whether you have a subscription or not. If your subscription ends, your account will be placed on the "free plan." On the free plan you will continue to be able to access your account, all your projects, and all your current collaborations. You will not be removed from any projects that were shared with you, and your collaborators will not be removed from your shared projects. If your account is a managed account on a professional group plan, your account may be deleted by your account administrator if the subscription is ending. Learn more by reading Understanding Managed Accounts.

I would like to upgrade. Do I need a new account?

In most cases, you do not need to create a new Overleaf account to join a subscription. You can upgrade your existing account by adding a subscription. For institutional subscriptions, you may need to add an institutional email address to your current account and verify it in order to join the subscription. If you are joining a professional group with managed accounts, learn more by reading Understanding Managed Accounts.

I created two Overleaf accounts. Can I merge them?

Although there is not a direct way to merge two Overleaf accounts, you can transfer ownership of your projects from one account to another. Once you transfer all projects to one account, you can delete the other account and add that email address to the remaining account.

However, note that this won't work for projects shared with you. For these, you'll have to ask the project owner to share them again with the other account.

The process is to transfer ownership of all your projects to one account, delete the account that you've emptied, and add the email address of the deleted account to the remaining account.

In the instructions below, Account A is the account you wish to keep, and Account B is the account you will eventually delete.

The steps are:

1. Log in to Account B and share all the projects with Account A (using the email address of Account A). The share button is in the top right in each project's editor window.

2. Log in to Account A and accept the shared projects.

3. Log back in to Account B and transfer ownership of the projects to Account A.

4. Go to the list of projects of Account B and make sure that none of them shows "You" as the owner.

5. Delete Account B.

6. Log in to Account A and add the email address of the deleted account to the remaining account.

I tried to create an account and received a message: "This email is already registered." What should I do?

If you are trying to create an account and receive the message "This email is already registered," it means this email has been used either as a primary or secondary email address on an existing Overleaf account. If it was used as the primary email, you can recover the password for that existing account by requesting that a password reset link be sent to that email address here.

I can't find some of my projects. What should I do?

If you can't find a particular project, first check that the All Projects, Archived Projects, and Trashed Projects areas. Archiving, deleting, and leaving projects

It can sometimes seem that projects are lost when they are actually under a different Overleaf account. Please try logging in using other email addresses that you may have registered under.

Please contact Overleaf support for additional help in locating any projects that seem to be lost.

I am joining a group subscription. Do I need to create a new account or transfer my data?

In most cases, you do not need to create a new Overleaf account to join a group subscription. You can upgrade your existing account by accepting the invitation to join the group. If you are joining a professional group with managed accounts, learn more by reading Understanding managed accounts.

My institution is providing an Overleaf Commons subscription. Do I need to create a new account with my institutional email?

You do not need to create a new Overleaf account to join an Overleaf Commons subscription. You can add your institutional email to your existing Overleaf account. Learn more about joining a Commons subscription.

How do I update my profile information?

You can update your first name, last name, and optionally provide a department and role in your Account Settings. Your first and last name are shown to collaborators in projects when you are editing at the same time and in comments that you leave or respond to. Your role and department information are not shown to collaborators, but may be shown to administrators of subscriptions that you join.