New Feature: Transfer Project Ownership on Overleaf

We’re delighted to present a new feature on Overleaf that enables project owners to transfer the ownership of projects to a collaborator.

So if you have to take a step back from a particular project, for whatever reason—perhaps you started a project but are no longer involved, or you’re heading out on holiday and would like a collaborator to manage it whilst you’re away—you can now do so in a few simple clicks.

This feature is available to everyone, and you can find out how it works below.

How Can I Transfer the Ownership of a Project?

See our step-by-step guide below for full details, but in summary:

• You can transfer project ownership using the Share menu.
• The new owner must already be a collaborator on the project.
• The ownership change is immediate. Owner-only capabilities, such as the ability to add collaborators and turn link sharing on/off, are disabled immediately for the previous owner, and enabled immediately for the new owner.
• Both users will be notified by email of the ownership changes to the project.
• You, the previous owner, will automatically remain a member of the project as a collaborator.
• Project ownership transfer won’t transfer capabilities, e.g., if the original owner has premium features and the new owner doesn’t, they will not gain premium features for that project.
• However, it doesn’t reset sharing preferences, so all existing collaborators will still have access, regardless of what plan the new owner is on.

Step by Step Guide

Step 1: As the owner, when you’re in the Overleaf platform, click ‘Share’ on the Menu pane.

Step 2: This will open the Share Project box, which will list any collaborators on the project (if none show you will have to invite them first.)

Step 3: Click on the share permissions with the contributor you want to transfer project ownership to and choose ‘Owner.’

Step 4: You will then be prompted to change or cancel the ownership. If you’re sure you wish to continue with the transfer ownership, select ‘Change.’

Step 5: You will then get a final warning to ensure you wish to transfer project ownership and will relinquish ownership privileges.

Step 6: Once you’ve selected ‘Change Owner,’ you will get an email to your designated email address informing you of the change.

Step 7: The new owner will also receive an email informing them of the change and will be able to click through and open the project on Overleaf.

Get in Touch

We hope you like this new feature! If you have any feedback on this or on any part of Overleaf, we’d love to hear from you. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and helps us continue to refine and improve Overleaf. If you'd like to share your ideas with us, get in touch here.