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New Open source · Free forever

The desktop LaTeX editor
that gets out of your way.

LaTeX Studio is a modern, native editor for writing and compiling LaTeX on Windows, macOS and Linux — with auto-save, live PDF preview, SyncTeX, a one-click formatting toolbar, polished light & dark themes, and one-click Tectonic install. Local-first, no accounts, no telemetry.

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Free & open source · MIT licensed · No telemetry · Created by Bipul Raman

Screenshot of LaTeX Studio showing the outline pane, source editor, and live PDF preview
Compatible with Tectonic latexmk pdflatex xelatex lualatex MiKTeX TeX Live

Features

Built for focused, modern LaTeX writing.

Everything you need to draft, build and preview a LaTeX document — and nothing you don't. Designed to feel as fast and quiet as a text editor, with the power of a full build pipeline behind it.

Modern CodeMirror 6 editor

Syntax highlighting, snippets, autocomplete, bracket matching, search, and LaTeX-aware editing built on the latest CodeMirror.

Live PDF preview

A native PDF.js viewer sits next to your source. Zoom, fit-width and page indicator built in — and the page reloads automatically after every build. Click any .pdf in the sidebar to open it directly in the viewer.

Two-way SyncTeX

Jump from a position in the source to the matching PDF location and back. Ctrl+Alt+J jumps forward; shift-click in the PDF jumps back.

Document outline

Parts, chapters, sections, beamer frame titles and custom CV-style sections appear in a navigable sidebar — click to jump.

One-click Tectonic install

No TeX install? Click Install Tectonic and we'll fetch the ~20 MB self-contained engine. latexmk, pdflatex, xelatex and lualatex are also supported.

Hunspell spellcheck

Spellcheck respects LaTeX syntax (commands, math, comments) so it only flags real prose typos. Bring your own dictionary.

Command palette

Ctrl+Shift+P opens a fuzzy palette over every action — build, open, switch engine, change theme, jump to file.

File-system watcher

External edits to your source folder are picked up instantly, so generated PDFs and content changed by other tools refresh without a manual reload.

Local-first & private

Your documents never leave your machine. No analytics, no accounts, no network calls — except when you ask for Tectonic.

Auto-save & live build

Edits are persisted to disk a second after you stop typing, and the PDF rebuilds shortly after. A smart debounce cancels in-flight builds and skips re-runs when the saved content hasn't changed.

Formatting toolbar

One-click buttons for bold, italic, sections, lists, math, links, images and tables — with a snippet picker for parameterised inserts. Tooltips show the LaTeX each button emits, so non-experts can ship a clean document on day one.

Polished light & dark themes

First-class light and dark modes with theme-aware syntax highlighting — saturated, high-contrast on white; soft pastels on a dark background. Follow the OS, or pin one from View → Theme.

Workflow

From zero to a compiled PDF in three steps.

No project files, no configuration. Open a .tex file or a folder and start writing.

  1. Step 01

    Open

    Ctrl + O to open a single file, or Ctrl + Shift + O to open a folder. The sidebar appears only when there's something to show.

  2. Step 02

    Write

    Auto-save keeps your work persisted in the background and the PDF rebuilds on its own shortly after you stop typing. Hit F5 any time to force a build; errors and warnings appear inline with line numbers and the run is cancellable.

  3. Step 03

    Preview & sync

    The PDF refreshes automatically. Ctrl + Alt + J jumps forward to the cursor; shift-click in the PDF jumps back to the source.

Why LaTeX Studio

Native speed. Modern UI. Local files.

Cloud editors are great for collaboration but slow, opinionated and tied to an account. Classic desktop editors are powerful but feel stuck in the 2000s. LaTeX Studio sits in the middle.

LaTeX Studio
Native & local
  • Files stay on your machine
  • Native window, instant startup
  • Bring any engine: Tectonic, latexmk, MiKTeX, TeX Live
  • MIT licensed, no telemetry, no account
  • Polished dark + light themes
  • Auto-save & live preview built in
Cloud editors
Web-only collaboration tools
  • Files stored on a vendor server
  • Slower compiles, queueing, network latency
  • Subscription required for advanced features
  • Needs internet to write
Classic desktop editors
Powerful but dated
  • Files stay local
  • Dense, dated UI; steep config
  • Requires a full TeX install before first build
  • Java / Qt overhead, slower startup

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a TeX distribution installed?

No. On first launch, if no engine is found on your system, LaTeX Studio will prompt you to install Tectonic — a ~20 MB self-contained TeX engine that lives in the app data folder. If you prefer, you can install MiKTeX or TeX Live and pick latexmk / pdflatex / xelatex / lualatex from Build → Engine.

Where does the compiled PDF go?

Right next to your .tex source — along with the usual side files (.aux, .log, .synctex.gz). Easy to share, easy to version-control.

Is it really free?

Yes. LaTeX Studio is MIT-licensed open source. No paywall, no upgrade tier, no telemetry, no account. If you like it, star it on GitHub.

Which platforms are supported?

Windows 10 / 11 (x64), macOS 12+ on both Apple Silicon and Intel, and modern Linux distributions (x86_64; .deb and .AppImage). All built automatically by GitHub Actions from every tagged commit.

How do I report a bug or request a feature?

Open an issue on GitHub. PRs welcome.

Download

Get LaTeX Studio

Pre-built binaries for Windows, macOS and Linux. Every release is built automatically from a tagged commit.

Windows
10 / 11
macOS
11 Big Sur or newer
Linux
x86_64

Source available under the MIT license on GitHub.