Overview
Overleaf Commons is a subscription that provides premium features including more collaborators, real-time change tracking and full document history. These features are delivered to users in participating university academic departments.
Current participants:
- Department of Computer Science (CSCI)
- Department of Mathematics (MATH)
- Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences (AERO)
Academic departments join Overleaf Commons by participating in a cooperative funding agreement. To inquire about joining CU Boulder's Overleaf Commons agreement, please contact Overleaf for details and a quote.
Note: Institutes are not eligible for Overleaf Commons.
Features
Learn about Overleaf premium features.
Cost
CSCI, MATH and AERO are funding CU Boulder's Overleaf Commons agreement and there is no individual cost to faculty, staff and degree-seeking students in these departments.
How to get it
- Log in to your Overleaf account. If you don't have one, create a new account; we recommend selecting Continue with Google and logging in with your CU Boulder Google Workspace account.
- While signed in to Overleaf, visit CU Boulder's Overleaf Commons Portal in the same browser window. This should automatically link your Overleaf account with your University of Colorado identity.
- If successful, the page will say, "You've joined a community of...," followed by several paragraphs of text.
- If unsuccessful, the page will say, "Join a community of...," followed by sign-in and sign-up buttons. To manually connect your account, click Sign In and log in to Overleaf. The page should now display the "You've joined a community of..." message.
On all subsequent logins, eligible users will receive Overleaf Commons licensing and will only need to reauthenticate once every 12 months.
Support
Contact Overleaf support for assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm a member of CSCI, MATH or AERO – what features do I receive?
CSCI, MATH and AERO users receive the Overleaf Professional license. See Overleaf's plans & pricing page for a list of features.
Can I link my personal account to CU Boulder's Common Licensing?
Yes, any existing Overleaf account can be linked with FedAuth SSO, regardless of whether it uses a colorado.edu address (see How to get it). Once linked, qualifying IdentiKeys will have access to Overleaf premium features for 12 months before needing to reauthenticate.
I've linked my account with FedAuth, but I still can't access premium features.
You must be a member of a participating academic department to access premium features. If you believe you're eligible but you aren't receiving premium licensing, please submit a case to Overleaf support.
My existing account using my colorado.edu email does not have premium features.
Users must reauthenticate on an annual basis to retain premium licensing. If you're a member of a participating academic department and you previously had access to premium features, please follow the authentication steps under How to get it. If that doesn't resolve the issue, please submit a case to Overleaf support.
When I click "Log in with SSO," Overleaf still asks me to create an account.
Institutional SSO simply validates any existing Overleaf account for entitlements; you must first create a personal Overleaf account. We recommend selecting Continue with Google and logging in with your CU Boulder Google Workspace account in this case.
After linking my account, Overleaf returns an error that my SSO email address cannot be added to my account as an alias.
This can occur if you have two Overleaf accounts. For example, you may have both an IdentiKey (rabu1234@colorado.edu) account and an alias (ralphie.buffalo@colorado.edu) account. Please contact Overleaf support.
