Overleaf projects should be backed up regularly outside of Overleaf. There are two recommended methods.

Note: to use Overleaf premium features, login with SSO → https://www.overleaf.com/edu/ethz.

Option 1: Download projects as ZIP files

For a simple manual backup:

  1. Go to your Overleaf Projects page.
  2. Select the project(s) you want to back up.
  3. Click Download.
  4. Overleaf creates a ZIP archive containing the project source files.

You can also download the source of an individual project from the editor using File → Download as source (.zip).

This is the easiest method for occasional backups. Overleaf also allows multiple projects to be selected and downloaded as a single ZIP containing one ZIP file per project.

Important: A source download contains the project files, but not the complete Overleaf history, comments, collaborators, or project settings.

Option 2: Use Git

For regular backups, Git is recommended. It allows you to keep a local copy of an Overleaf project and update it with:

git pull

Clone an Overleaf project

In the Overleaf project, select Integrations → Git and copy the git clone command shown there.

For example:

git clone https://git.overleaf.com/1234567 project-name-1

When Git asks for credentials:

  • Username: git
  • Password: your Overleaf Git authentication token

Your normal Overleaf/SSO password is not used for Git authentication.

Git authentication tokens can be created in your Overleaf Account Settings. The same token can be used for all Overleaf projects to which you have access.

Once cloned, update the local copy regularly:

cd project-name-1
git pull

The local Git repository can then be included in your normal backup system.

Note: Overleaf’s Git integration does not support branches, Git LFS, or Git submodules.

For important projects, we recommend keeping a local Git clone and including it in your normal backup system. For example:

Overleaf
└── project-name-1/
    ├── .git/
    ├── main.tex
    ├── figures/
    ├── bibliography.bib
    └── ...
└── project-name-2/
    └── ...

For projects where Git integration is not available, use the ZIP download method.

Further information