How to Collaborate on Overleaf Step by Step (2026): Share, Track Changes & Merge

Your thesis supervisor is in Edinburgh, your co-author is in Toronto, and your LaTeX source files are sitting in a folder on your laptop — this is the situation that makes knowing how to collaborate on Overleaf genuinely essential. Overleaf, the cloud-based LaTeX editor used by millions of researchers worldwide, solves this distributed writing problem with a suite of collaboration tools: project sharing, real-time co-editing, track changes, inline comments, and synchronisation with Git and Dropbox. This guide walks through each feature in sequence so you can set up a fully functional collaborative workflow before your next writing session.

Before diving in, one clarification on plan access. Basic sharing (one collaborator per project) is available on the free tier. Track changes, Git integration, Dropbox sync, and additional collaborators all require an Overleaf premium plan — either a paid individual subscription, a group subscription, or institutional access through Overleaf Commons. Many universities have site licences, so check your institution’s IT or library portal first.

Step 1 — Prepare Your Project for Collaboration

Before inviting anyone, organise your project so collaborators can navigate it without confusion. A well-structured Overleaf project reduces the chance of accidental file overwrites and makes review faster.

1. Use a main file. Keep main.tex as the root document. Place each chapter in a separate .tex file and include them with input{} commands. This limits the scope of simultaneous edits: your supervisor edits Chapter 3 while you work in Chapter 5 without touching the same file.
2. Add a README.txt. A plain-text file at the project root explaining the compilation order, any custom packages, and how to interpret file names saves collaborators from guessing.
3. Compile once before sharing. Verify the project compiles cleanly in Overleaf before opening it to others. Sharing a project that already has a compilation error will confuse reviewers who do not know LaTeX.
4. Use Overleaf’s built-in bibliography integration. If you store references in a .bib file inside the project, collaborators can see and edit citations directly. If you use Zotero, link it via Overleaf’s Zotero integration under the project menu (premium feature). For a full comparison of reference tools, see Best Reference Management Software Compared 2026: Zotero vs Mendeley vs EndNote.

Step 2 — Share via Email Invite vs. Link Sharing

Overleaf provides two distinct sharing mechanisms, each suited to a different situation. Understanding which to use prevents accidental open access to a draft you may not want widely circulated.

Email Invite

In your project, click Share at the top right. Enter the collaborator’s email address in the invite field. Then choose their permission level:

The collaborator receives an email with an invitation link. Once they accept and log in, they appear in the Share panel. According to Overleaf’s sharing documentation, free plan projects support one named collaborator; premium plans raise this limit.

Link Sharing

Still in the Share panel, toggle Link sharing on. Overleaf generates two separate URLs:

• View link — anyone with the URL can read the project. They do not count toward your collaborator limit.
• Edit link — anyone with an Overleaf account who opens this link can make direct edits. They do count toward the collaborator limit.

Use a view link to share a compiled draft for feedback without granting editing rights. Use an edit link for short-term collaborative sprints where you trust everyone with the URL. Revoke either link at any time by toggling the option off.

Video: Effective Collaboration with Overleaf — Tom Hejda (Overleaf team), presented at Learn LaTeX Group LLRO-2020. Covers sharing, reviewer permissions, track changes, and Git sync.

Step 3 — Enable and Use Track Changes

Track changes is Overleaf’s equivalent of Word’s revision mode. It is a premium feature: the project owner (or any collaborator with an eligible plan) must have a plan that includes it for anyone in the project to use it.

1. Open the project in the Overleaf editor.
2. Click the review icon (a speech bubble with a tick) at the top right of the editing toolbar. This opens the Review panel on the right side.
3. At the top of the Review panel, find the Track Changes toggle. You can enable it for yourself only, or — if you are the project owner — for all collaborators simultaneously.
4. With track changes on, any text you delete appears in strikethrough and is highlighted in your assigned colour. Any text you add appears underlined in that colour. Each collaborator is assigned a different colour automatically.

The Review panel shows a chronological list of every tracked change across the document, with the author name, timestamp, and a snippet of the affected text. This gives you a full audit trail of who changed what, which is particularly valuable during thesis revision rounds with a supervisor. See Overleaf’s track changes documentation for the most current interface details.

Step 4 — Add and Manage Inline Comments

Comments are distinct from tracked changes. A comment attaches a note to a selected passage without altering the source text — useful for questions, suggestions, or flagging a section for discussion.

1. Select the passage you want to comment on in the editor.
2. Click the comment bubble icon that appears in the margin, or use the comment button in the Review panel toolbar.
3. Type your comment and press Submit (or hit Cmd/Ctrl + Enter).
4. The selected text is highlighted in your collaborator colour, and the comment appears as a thread in the Review panel.

Collaborators can reply to a comment thread, creating a conversation anchored to the relevant sentence. Once a discussion is resolved, click Resolve to archive the thread — it disappears from the main view but can be retrieved. Permanently deleting a comment removes it from history. According to Overleaf’s reviewing documentation, both the comment author and the project owner can resolve or delete threads.

Step 5 — Accept or Reject Tracked Changes

After your supervisor or co-author has left tracked suggestions, you need to review and action each one before the document is clean again.

1. Open the Review panel.
2. Click on any tracked change bubble — the editor scrolls to the corresponding position in the document and highlights the suggested edit.
3. To accept the change: click the tick icon (✓). The suggested text is incorporated directly and the bubble disappears.
4. To reject the change: click the cross icon (✗). The text reverts to its pre-suggestion state.
5. For bulk decisions, use the Accept All or Reject All buttons at the top of the Review panel to process every tracked change at once. Use this cautiously — review individually when changes come from multiple authors who may have conflicting edits.

Overleaf also preserves version history (accessible via the History menu) so you can compare the document at any point before and after accepting changes, or even restore an earlier version if a bulk accept went wrong.

Step 6 — Sync with Git and GitHub

Overleaf’s Git integration (premium) lets you treat your Overleaf project as a remote Git repository. This means you can clone it locally, work in any LaTeX editor, and push changes back to Overleaf — exactly the workflow preferred by researchers who use VS Code, Vim, or a local TeX installation.

Setting up Git integration

1. In your Overleaf project, click the Menu button at the top left.
2. Under Sync, click Git. Overleaf displays a clone URL in the format https://git.overleaf.com/<project-id>.
3. In your terminal: git clone https://git.overleaf.com/<project-id>. Enter your Overleaf email and password (or an Overleaf token) when prompted.
4. Work locally. When ready, git add . && git commit -m "your message" && git push to push back to Overleaf.
5. To pull changes made in Overleaf by collaborators: git pull.

Setting up GitHub synchronisation

GitHub sync (also premium) links your Overleaf project to a GitHub repository, giving you a full branching history visible on GitHub. Setup steps according to the Overleaf GitHub synchronisation documentation:

1. Under Menu > Sync > GitHub, click Link to a GitHub repository.
2. Authorise Overleaf to access your GitHub account.
3. Either create a new GitHub repository or link to an existing one.
4. Push and pull between Overleaf and GitHub using the Sync buttons in the menu — no command line required.

Step 7 — Sync with Dropbox

Dropbox sync (premium) is the lowest-friction option for collaborators who are not comfortable with Git. It creates a two-way sync between your Overleaf project and a folder in your Dropbox.

1. Go to your Overleaf Account Settings and click Link Dropbox.
2. Authorise Overleaf on the Dropbox authorisation page.
3. Once linked, open your project and click Menu > Dropbox to see the linked folder path and trigger a manual sync.
4. Overleaf creates a folder at Dropbox/Apps/Overleaf/<project-name>. All source files appear there automatically.
5. Edit the .tex files in Dropbox (in any local editor), and changes sync back to Overleaf. Edits made in Overleaf sync to Dropbox.

Step 8 — Resolve Merge Conflicts

Merge conflicts occur when two people edit the same part of the same file between syncs. Overleaf’s real-time editor handles simultaneous edits gracefully within the platform — it merges changes character by character in real time. Conflicts arise primarily at the Git/GitHub layer.

Conflicts with GitHub sync

When Overleaf and GitHub both have changes on the same line and Git cannot auto-merge them, Overleaf pushes a new conflict branch to your GitHub repository (named something like overleaf-conflict-<timestamp>) rather than breaking your main branch. To resolve:

1. On GitHub, open a Pull Request from the conflict branch into main.
2. GitHub shows the conflicting sections marked with <<<<<<<, =======, and >>>>>>> markers.
3. Edit the file to remove the markers and keep the correct version of the text.
4. Commit the resolution and merge the PR into main.
5. Back in Overleaf, click Menu > GitHub > Pull from GitHub to update the Overleaf project with the resolved version.

Conflicts with Git integration

If a git push is rejected because the remote has diverged, run git pull --rebase locally, resolve any conflicts in your editor, then push again. The Overleaf Git integration documentation covers the full pull/push workflow.

The simplest way to avoid conflicts entirely is to assign each collaborator clear ownership of specific chapters or files, so simultaneous edits in the same location are rare.

Step 9 — Set Up a Supervisor Review Workflow

Working with a supervisor on Overleaf requires a structured protocol. Without one, you will likely end up with a mixture of direct edits, tracked changes, email comments, and verbal feedback — a recipe for confusion during thesis revision. Here is a workflow that keeps the review loop clean.

1. Invite the supervisor as a Reviewer. In the Share panel, enter their email and select Reviewer permission. All their edits will automatically be tracked, regardless of whether they toggle it themselves.
2. Share a view link for interim reads. Between formal revision rounds, send a view-only link so your supervisor can check progress without the temptation to edit directly.
3. Agree on a review cycle. Decide upfront whether you want chapter-by-chapter feedback or a full-draft review. For a structured approach to the overall supervision relationship, see How to Manage Your Supervisor Relationship Through Your Thesis (2026).
4. Process all tracked changes before the next draft. Accept or reject every suggestion before sending the supervisor a new version. A document with accumulated layers of overlapping tracked changes from multiple rounds is very difficult to read.
5. Use comments for structural questions. Rather than asking “is this right?” by email, add an inline comment in the document at the relevant paragraph. The supervisor replies in the comment thread, keeping context attached to the text.
6. Archive resolved comment threads. Click Resolve on each thread once the issue is addressed. This keeps the Review panel clean and gives both parties a visible record that issues have been dealt with.

If your supervisor is not an Overleaf user, you can still share a compiled PDF via Overleaf’s PDF sharing feature, collect feedback by email, then make the revisions yourself and track your own changes for transparency. For a broader look at academic writing tools that complement Overleaf, see 30 Free Research Tools for PhD Students in 2026.

Overleaf collaboration pairs naturally with good note-taking and prose drafting tools. If you find yourself wrestling with getting a chapter’s argument into shape before formatting it in LaTeX, From Messy Notes to a Structured Thesis Chapter with AI in 2026 covers a practical workflow for that earlier stage.

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