Data ownership and user accounts
An overview of data ownership, SSO entitlement, and account control in Overleaf Commons, explaining why users retain ownership of their academic work.
Overleaf's account and data ownership model is designed to support lifelong academic research and cross-institutional collaboration.
Overleaf accounts are owned by users
Overleaf projects contain a researcher's manuscripts, thesis work, and other LaTeX projects that belong to them.
User-Owned Accounts: Under the Overleaf Commons model, the individual users—not the institution—are the Data Controllers of their accounts and the projects within them.
The Institution's Role: By purchasing an Overleaf Commons subscription, an institution is providing a premium upgrade to these user-owned accounts.
Institutional vs. Personal Data: The Overleaf Commons providing institution acts as the Data Controller for the administrative data (such as the entitlement definition). However, the institution does not own or control the project data (the LaTeX source code and compiled PDFs) created by the users.
Institutional policies and intellectual property
The user-owned account model in Overleaf Commons should not conflict with your institution's legal Intellectual Property (IP) policies. We recognize that universities frequently maintain strict rights regarding the ownership and retention of research developed using institutional resources.
Overleaf is designed to be the active "Manuscript Workspace" where the writing happens, rather than an institutional archive or compliance enforcement tool. To ensure your university retains access to funded research and complies with internal data policies, institutions should continue to capture research outputs using their standard, established mechanisms.
How single sign-on (SSO) works
Many institutions use SSO to strictly control access to corporate environments. In Overleaf Commons, SSO serves a slightly different, more flexible purpose:
SSO as an Entitlement Key: When your users log in via your institution's Identity Provider (IdP), they are proving their active affiliation. This "signal" automatically unlocks the premium features subsidized by your Commons subscription.
Multiple Login Methods: Because researchers own their accounts, they must be able to access their work even if institutional systems go down or if they graduate. Therefore, users can link their institutional SSO alongside other login methods, such as a personal email, a Google account, or their ORCID iD.
No SSO Exclusivity: To preserve this academic portability, Overleaf Commons does not force "SSO exclusivity" or block users from using these alternative login methods to access their own accounts.
What happens when a user leaves the institution?
Because the projects belong to the researcher, it is an intended feature of Overleaf Commons that users keep their data when they leave. Here is what happens when a user graduates or moves to a new organization:
Loss of Premium Features: When the user is removed from your institutional directory, they can no longer authenticate via your SSO. They automatically lose access to the premium features subsidized by your institution.
Data Retention: The user's account safely downgrades to our standard, free personal tier. They retain full access to their existing projects via their alternative login methods.
No Admin Action Required: Your IT Services team does not need to manually delete accounts, back up data, or take any steps to ensure that data is preserved when students graduate.
Advice for users on ensuring a smooth transition out of an Overleaf Commons subscription can be found on the Commons subscriptionpage in Overleaf docs.
Institutional leavers are handled through SSO entitlement settings and through a reconfirmation requirement. In order to remain an entitled member of a commons subscription, a user must reconfirm their institutional affiliation and their entitlement on an ongoing bases. The frequency that a user must reconfirm is set by the reconfirmation period, decided upon by the institution. The reconfirmation period is usually decided on when the subscription is set up, but can be adjusted by request.
Institutional email reconfirmationLast updated
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