TeX Side Preview

Overleaf-style LaTeX editing inside VS Code. Your source is on the left and the PDF on the right. Save the file and the PDF re-renders in place. Double-click the PDF to jump to the source, links work, text can be copied, and the project can sync both ways with Overleaf.

Contents

• Features at a glance
• Installation
• Opening the preview
• Features
  • Live preview on save
  • Errors and warnings
  • PDF → source: double-click to jump
  • Source → PDF: jump to location
  • Clickable links
  • Selecting and copying text
  • Zoom
  • Multi-file projects
• Overleaf sync
• Commands and keyboard shortcuts
• Settings
• Troubleshooting
• Building from source

Features at a glance

Installation

1. Install a LaTeX compiler

The extension runs your local LaTeX installation and uses the first compiler it finds:

On Linux, sudo apt install texlive-full latexmk works. On Windows, install MiKTeX or TeX Live. The extension also looks in the usual install folders (/Library/TeX/texbin, /opt/homebrew/bin, /usr/local/texlive/*/bin/*, …), so it works even when VS Code is started from the Dock.

2. Install the extension

In VS Code, open the Extensions view (⇧⌘X / Ctrl+Shift+X), search for TeX Side Preview, and click Install.

Other ways to install:

• Quick Open: press ⌘P (Ctrl+P), paste ext install HemantBanke.tex-side-preview and press Enter.

• Command line: run code --install-extension HemantBanke.tex-side-preview.

• Cursor, VSCodium, Windsurf: search for TeX Side Preview in their Extensions view; it's published on Open VSX.

• From a .vsix file: in the Extensions view, open the ··· menu → Install from VSIX… and pick the file.

  

Opening the preview

Open any .tex file, then use whichever way suits you.

Editor title bar. Click the T_EX button at the top right of the editor, next to Split Editor:

Right-click the file in the Explorer. Choose Open TeX Preview to the Side:

Right-click inside the editor. The menu offers Open TeX Preview to the Side and Jump to Location in PDF:

Right-click the editor tab. Choose Open TeX Preview to the Side:

Keyboard. Press ⌥⌘V (Ctrl+Alt+V on Windows/Linux), or run TeX: Open TeX Preview to the Side from the Command Palette.

Features

Live preview on save

Edit, press ⌘S, and the PDF recompiles and refreshes in place without losing your scroll position. ⌘↵ (Ctrl+Enter) saves and recompiles in one step, and the Recompile button in the preview does the same. The status line shows how long the compile took and how many warnings it produced. The status bar shows the state too: ✓ TeX, a spinner while compiling, or TeX: errors.

Saving any .tex, .bib, .sty or .cls file in the project triggers a recompile.

Errors and warnings

If a compile fails, the errors are listed above the PDF. Click one to jump to that line. The preview keeps showing the last good PDF until the error is fixed. Errors and warnings also appear in the Problems panel and as squiggles in the editor. Show full log opens the complete compiler output.

PDF → source: double-click to jump

Double-click any word in the PDF. The editor jumps to the line that produced it and selects that word, the same as Overleaf. This uses SyncTeX, so it works for paragraphs, headings, captions and math.

Source → PDF: jump to location

Put the cursor on a line and press ⌥⌘J (Ctrl+Alt+J), or right-click → Jump to Location in PDF. The preview scrolls to that spot and then highlights the typeset line for a couple of seconds:

Clickable links

Hyperlinks in the PDF work like in a PDF viewer. \ref, \eqref, \cite, table-of-contents and footnote links scroll to their target inside the preview, and \url/\href links open in your browser. Hovering a link outlines it.

Selecting and copying text

Drag across text in the PDF to select it, then press ⌘C (Ctrl+C) to copy it, line breaks included.

Zoom

Use − and + in the preview's toolbar, or hold ⌘/Ctrl and scroll the mouse wheel. Fit (or the percentage label) fits the page to the panel width and follows the panel as you resize it.

Multi-file projects

For projects split across files with \input or \include, add a magic comment at the top of each included file pointing to the main file:

% !TEX root = ../main.tex

Opening the preview from any of those files then shows the main document, and saving any file in the project recompiles it.

Overleaf sync

TeX Side Preview can keep a local folder and an Overleaf project in sync in both directions, with no manual pull or push. It uses Overleaf's official Git integration, which needs an Overleaf plan that includes Git (premium or institutional).

Setting it up

1. On overleaf.com, open Account Settings → Git Integration and click Create token.

2. In VS Code, run Overleaf: Clone Project… from the Command Palette (⇧⌘P):

   

3. Paste the project's URL from your browser, then your token. The token is asked for only once. Then choose a folder:

   

4. Open the cloned folder. From now on everything syncs automatically.

A folder you cloned yourself with git clone https://git.overleaf.com/<project-id> is detected and synced as well.

How syncing works

Below, a collaborator's sentence ("Stochastic variants are left for future work.") arrived from Overleaf; the editor and the PDF both updated, and the sync log shows the pull:

Status bar and actions

The Overleaf item in the status bar shows the sync state: synced, syncing, waiting, conflict or an error. Hover it for details:

Click it for Sync Now, Pause/Resume Auto-Sync, Open Project on Overleaf, Set Overleaf Git Token… and Show Sync Log:

Resolving conflicts

If you and a collaborator change the same line, the status bar turns to ⚠ Overleaf: conflict and a notification explains what happened. The file shows the two versions with VS Code's usual Accept Current / Accept Incoming / Accept Both buttons. Pick one (or edit by hand) and save. The merge is then pushed and syncing continues.

Privacy and safety

• The token is stored in VS Code's encrypted secret storage. It's passed to git only through environment variables, so it's never written into .git/config or shown on a command line, and it's only sent to git.overleaf.com.
• Build output (.texbuild/) is excluded through .git/info/exclude, so it never reaches Overleaf, and none of your project's files are changed to arrange that.
• Git never prompts. It's run non-interactively, so a bad or expired token produces a clear "Set Token" message rather than a hanging password prompt.

Commands and keyboard shortcuts

In the PDF: double-click jumps to the source, ⌘C copies the selection, and ⌘/Ctrl + mouse wheel zooms.

Settings

Troubleshooting

"No LaTeX compiler found." Install one of the compilers listed under Installation and click Recompile. If it's installed somewhere unusual, add its folder to texPreview.extraPath.

The first compile with tectonic is slow. Tectonic downloads the packages your document uses the first time; later compiles take seconds.

A missing image or .bib file stops the build. Check that every file the document references is in the project folder. Click the error above the PDF to go to the line that references it.

Overleaf says the token was rejected. Create a new token on overleaf.com and run Overleaf: Set Git Token…. Overleaf's Git integration requires a plan that includes it.

Something else. TeX: Show Compile Log and the Overleaf menu's Show Sync Log show exactly what was run.

Building from source

npm install
npm run package          # → tex-side-preview-<version>.vsix
code --install-extension tex-side-preview-<version>.vsix

Or open this folder in VS Code and press F5 to start an Extension Development Host.