Overleaf's editing experience, running entirely on your own machine.
A live LaTeX editor, a real compiler, and a real terminal — one window, no cloud, no account, no multi-gigabyte TeX Live install.
Docs · Install · Features · Uninstall · Contributing
Overleaf is great until you need it offline, want your files to actually live on your disk, or just don't want to pay for compile priority on your own laptop. LocalTeX gives you that same editor-plus-preview workflow, backed by a real filesystem and a real shell, with nothing running outside your machine.
| 🏠 Multi-project dashboard | An Overleaf-style home screen listing every project under ~/LocalTeX-Projects, with search, new/delete, and .zip export/import (drop a project straight into Overleaf's "Upload Project", or pull one back out). |
| 📝 Live editor | CodeMirror 6 with LaTeX syntax highlighting, autosave, undo/redo, find/replace, a symbol toolbar, and a document outline that jumps the cursor to any section. |
| ⚙️ Real compiler | Tectonic — a self-contained LaTeX engine, so there's no multi-gigabyte TeX Live install. Errors surface inline; the log only pops up when a compile actually fails. |
| 🔗 SyncTeX | Click "Sync" to jump the PDF to your cursor's position; double-click the PDF to jump the editor back — both directions, pixel-accurate. |
| 💻 Real terminal | A genuine PTY-backed shell (node-pty), not a simulation. Dockable to the bottom or side, resizable, closable without killing the session. |
| 📄 PDF preview | Rendered with pdf.js at supersampled resolution for crisp text. Foldable, resizable split view, plus Ctrl+scroll / touchpad-pinch zoom. |
| 🔍 Project-wide search | A VS Code-style search panel — find text across every file in a project, not just the open one. |
| 🗂️ File tree | Overleaf-style sidebar — create, rename, drag-and-drop move, and delete via right-click or empty-space click. Foldable and resizable. |
| 🎨 Themes | VS Code Dark, Dracula, GNOME, and Light — covers the editor, terminal, and app chrome. |
| 🌐 Multilingual documents | A bundled Bengali font plus a XeLaTeX + polyglossia starter template for mixing non-Latin scripts (Bengali, Arabic, Hindi, ...) with regular Latin text in the same document. |
| 🧭 Menu bar | File / Edit / Insert / View / Theme, with only commands that actually do something — no dead menu items. |
Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux (apt-based), Windows 10/11, and macOS are supported.
Grab the latest .deb from Releases
and install it:
curl -fSLO https://github.com/sayedshaun/localtex/releases/latest/download/localtex.deb
sudo apt install ./localtex.debYou'll also need Tectonic
on PATH to actually compile documents, if you don't have it already:
curl -fsSL https://drop-sh.fullyjustified.net | sh # installs tectonic to ~/.local/binGrab localtex-setup.exe from Releases
and run it.
You'll also need Tectonic
on PATH to actually compile documents — grab the Windows binary from their
install page and
make sure it's on your PATH.
Grab localtex.dmg from Releases,
open it, and drag LocalTeX into your Applications folder.
The app isn't notarized/signed with an Apple Developer certificate, so Gatekeeper will refuse to open it on first launch. Right-click the app in Applications and choose Open (instead of double-clicking) to bypass that once, or clear the quarantine flag from a terminal:
xattr -cr /Applications/LocalTeX.appYou'll also need Tectonic
on PATH to actually compile documents:
brew install tectonic
# or
curl -fsSL https://drop-sh.fullyjustified.net | sh # installs tectonic to ~/.local/bin(Every tagged release's .deb, .exe, and .dmg are built and attached
automatically by .github/workflows/release.yml.)
Linux
sudo apt remove localtexThis only removes the localtex package. It won't touch your
~/LocalTeX-Projects project files or the standalone tectonic binary —
remove those yourself if you no longer need them:
rm -rf ~/LocalTeX-Projects
rm -f ~/.local/bin/tectonicWindows
Uninstall LocalTeX from Windows Settings → Apps, same as any other app. It
won't touch your LocalTeX-Projects folder or your Tectonic install —
remove those yourself if you no longer need them.
macOS
Drag LocalTeX from Applications to the Trash. It won't touch your
~/LocalTeX-Projects files or your Tectonic install — remove those
yourself if you no longer need them:
rm -rf ~/LocalTeX-Projects
brew uninstall tectonic # or: rm -f ~/.local/bin/tectonicThis is an open-source project — issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the development setup, build instructions, and project layout.
PolyForm Shield 1.0.0 © 2026 Sayed Shaun — free to use and modify, but no one may sell it or offer a competing product/service built on it. See LICENSE for the full text.