How to Convert Google Docs to LaTeX (Overleaf-Ready)

Google Docs is a good place to draft and collect comments; LaTeX is better for the final typesetting. One download and one Pandoc command bridge the two.

What you’ll learn

• Convert via Word (.docx) and Pandoc (recommended)
• Convert via Markdown and Pandoc for text-only documents
• Use the HTML export as a fallback
• Clean up the result in Overleaf

Note: Going the other way? See how to render LaTeX in Google Docs.

Convert Google Docs to LaTeX via Word (.docx)

Use this when your Doc has equations, images or tables. It keeps the most structure.

1. In Google Docs, select File > Download > Microsoft Word (.docx). For tips on this step, see how to download Google Docs as Word without losing formatting.

   

2. Install Pandoc if you don’t have it.

3. Open a terminal in the folder that holds the .docx and run:

   pandoc mydoc.docx -s -o mydoc.tex --extract-media=.

4. Open mydoc.tex and check it, or upload it to Overleaf with the media folder.

Result: a complete .tex file with sections, lists, tables, \includegraphics lines for every image and equations as LaTeX maths.

What the options do:

• -s writes a standalone document with a preamble, so it compiles on its own.
• -o mydoc.tex sets the output file and tells Pandoc to write LaTeX.
• --extract-media=. saves the images into a media folder next to the .tex and points \includegraphics at them. Without it, the image paths point to files that don’t exist.

Pandoc converts Word equations in the .docx into LaTeX maths. Check that equations from the Google Docs equation editor came through, and compare complex ones with the original.

Convert Google Docs to LaTeX via Markdown

Use this when the Doc is mostly headings, paragraphs, lists and links.

Google Docs has had a native Markdown export since July 2024, as announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

1. Select File > Download > Markdown (.md). If your content is spread over several files, merge the Markdown files into one first.

2. Run:

   pandoc mydoc.md -s -o mydoc.tex

3. Check that images, tables and any equations came through. If they didn’t, use the .docx route instead.

Result: a clean, lightweight .tex file, ideal for text-heavy chapters.

You can also select text, right-click and choose Copy as Markdown to convert just one section.

If you start from a .md file instead, Google Docs can now open and edit Markdown files directly. Google’s help page on using Markdown in Google Docs covers both options.

Convert Google Docs to LaTeX via HTML

Use this only as a fallback, for example on an older workflow that already uses HTML.

1. Select File > Download > Web Page (.html, zipped).

2. Unzip the file. The HTML file is named after your document, and images sit in an images folder.

3. In that folder, run:

   pandoc MyDocument.html -s -o mydoc.tex

Result: a .tex file, but often with extra spacing and styling noise, because Google’s HTML carries many inline styles. Equations usually come through as plain text or images, not LaTeX maths.

Tip: If you regularly need clean HTML or Markdown, the Docs to Markdown Pro add-on exports tidier files and converts several Docs at once.

Which route should you use?

All three need Pandoc, which runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The downloads work the same in any desktop browser.

Clean up the LaTeX in Overleaf

Pandoc’s output compiles, but you’ll want it to match your template.

1. In Overleaf, create a project and upload mydoc.tex and the media folder, keeping the folder name.
2. Compile. If you get Unicode errors (curly quotes, emoji, non-Latin text), switch the compiler to XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX through the gear icon or the File menu, then Compiler.
3. Move the body (between \begin{document} and \end{document}) into your journal or university template.
4. Replace Pandoc’s tables with tabularx or booktabs versions if they need fixed widths.
5. Replace any hard-coded figure numbers with \label and \ref.

For image sizing and placement, see how to insert images in LaTeX.

Converting a multi-chapter thesis

Use this when each chapter is a separate Google Doc.

• Merge first, convert once: merge chapters into one Google Doc first, then download one .docx. Merge Docs Pro combines many Docs in one merge and can flatten or preserve document tabs.
• Convert each, combine the .tex: convert chapters one by one, then combine several .tex files into one document.

Batch-convert a folder of .docx files

Download each Doc as .docx into one folder. On macOS or Linux (or Git Bash and WSL on Windows), run:

for f in *.docx; do pandoc "$f" -s -o "${f%.docx}.tex" --extract-media="${f%.docx}"; done

Each file gets its own .tex and its own image folder, so images with the same name don’t overwrite each other.

Troubleshooting

• Images missing in Overleaf: you didn’t use --extract-media, or the media folder wasn’t uploaded next to the .tex.
• ! LaTeX Error: Unicode character … not set up for use with LaTeX: compile with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX.
• Equations appear as plain text: you used the HTML route, or the “equation” was typed as normal text. Use .docx and the Docs equation editor; see how to insert equations in Google Docs.
• Headings became bold paragraphs: the Doc used bold text instead of Heading 1–3 styles. Apply heading styles in Docs and download again.

Ready to go the other way later? You can convert LaTeX to Word with the same tool. More guides are in the LaTeX guides.