Git Commands Cheatsheet: Renaming Overleaf Projects

Overview

When you sync an Overleaf project with Git, Overleaf uses its internal project ID as the default folder name - something like Project_ID. This creates an unorganized workspace that’s difficult to navigate. This cheatsheet provides quick commands to rename and reorganize your Overleaf Git repositories into a clean, logical structure.

Key Benefits:

• Meaningful project names instead of cryptic IDs
• Organized folder structure for multiple projects
• No disruption to Git synchronization
• Better integration with VS Code and LaTeX Workshop

---

The Problem

After cloning Overleaf projects, you end up with:

Issue	Example	Impact
Cryptic folder names	Project_ID/	Can’t identify projects at a glance
Nested in parent folder	overleaf-projects/Project_ID/	Extra navigation steps
No logical organization	All projects in one folder	Difficult to manage multiple papers
Hard to track in terminal	Long, meaningless paths	Slower workflow

Before:

Documents/
└── overleaf-projects/
    ├── Project_ID_1/
    ├── Project_ID_2/
    └── Project_ID_3/

After:

Documents/Research/
├── journal-papers/
│   └── signal-processing-2025/
├── conference-papers/
│   └── ieee-icc-2025/
└── thesis-chapters/
    └── chapter-01-introduction/

---

Quick Commands

Basic Rename

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv Project_ID my-research-paper

Move to Parent Directory

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv my-research-paper ..

Rename + Move (One Command)

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv Project_ID ~/Documents/my-research-paper

Verify Git Connection

# Current location: ~/Documents/my-research-paper
$ git status
$ git remote -v
$ git pull
$ git push

---

Complete Workflow

Step 1: Navigate to Projects Folder

# Current location: ~
$ cd ~/Documents/overleaf-projects

Step 2: Check Current Projects

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ ls
Project_ID/

Step 3: Rename the Project

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv Project_ID ai-applications-paper

Step 4: Move to Research Folder

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv ai-applications-paper ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/

Step 5: Navigate to New Location

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ cd ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/ai-applications-paper

Step 6: Verify Git Works

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/ai-applications-paper
$ git status
$ git remote -v

Expected output:

On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

nothing to commit, working tree clean

origin  https://git.overleaf.com/Project_ID (fetch)
origin  https://git.overleaf.com/Project_ID (push)

---

Organizing Multiple Projects

Create Folder Structure

# Current location: ~
$ mkdir -p ~/Documents/Research/{journal-papers,conference-papers,thesis-chapters}

Move Projects to Categories

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv Project_ID_1 ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/signal-processing-paper
$ mv Project_ID_2 ~/Documents/Research/conference-papers/deep-learning-study
$ mv Project_ID_3 ~/Documents/Research/thesis-chapters/chapter-01

Verify Organization

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ cd ~/Documents/Research

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research
$ ls -la
drwxr-xr-x journal-papers/
drwxr-xr-x conference-papers/
drwxr-xr-x thesis-chapters/

Check Individual Projects

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research
$ cd journal-papers/signal-processing-paper

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/signal-processing-paper
$ git status

---

Naming Conventions

Good vs Bad Names

✅ Good	❌ Bad	Reason
ieee-conference-2025	project1	Descriptive and specific
nature-paper-2025	my project	No spaces, includes year
thesis-chapter-03	New Folder (1)	Follows pattern, no special chars
acm-submission-jan	finalFINALv2	Professional naming
deep-learning-survey	Untitled	Topic-based identification

Recommended Pattern

Format: [venue/journal]-[topic]-[year]

Examples:

• ieee-transactions-signal-processing-2025
• nature-communications-ai-2025
• icml-reinforcement-learning-2024
• phd-thesis-chapter-02-methodology
• grant-proposal-nsf-2025

---

Recommended Folder Structure

~/Documents/Research/
├── journal-papers/
│   ├── ieee-transactions-2025/
│   ├── nature-communications-2025/
│   ├── elsevier-applied-science-2024/
│   └── springer-jmlr-2025/
├── conference-papers/
│   ├── icc-2025-submission/
│   ├── globecom-2025-paper/
│   ├── wcnc-2024-published/
│   └── cvpr-2025-workshop/
├── thesis-chapters/
│   ├── chapter-01-introduction/
│   ├── chapter-02-literature-review/
│   ├── chapter-03-methodology/
│   ├── chapter-04-experiments/
│   └── chapter-05-conclusion/
├── grant-proposals/
│   ├── nsf-proposal-2025/
│   └── research-foundation-grant/
└── technical-reports/
    ├── quarterly-report-q1-2025/
    └── annual-review-2024/

---

Batch Operations

Rename Multiple Projects

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ ls
Project_ID_1/
Project_ID_2/
Project_ID_3/

$ mv Project_ID_1 medical-imaging-analysis
$ mv Project_ID_2 network-optimization-study
$ mv Project_ID_3 machine-learning-survey

Automated Loop (Advanced)

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ for dir in */; do
    echo "Found project: $dir"
    # Add your renaming logic here
done

---

VS Code Integration

Open Project in VS Code

# Current location: ~
$ cd ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/ai-applications-paper

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/ai-applications-paper
$ code .

Result: VS Code opens with full Git support and LaTeX Workshop integration

Add to Workspace

After renaming, add the project to your VS Code workspace:

1. Open VS Code
2. File → Add Folder to Workspace
3. Navigate to renamed project folder
4. LaTeX Workshop automatically detects configuration

---

Troubleshooting

Issue: Permission Denied

Problem:

# Current location: ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv Project_ID my-paper
mv: cannot move 'Project_ID': Permission denied

Solution:

1. Close VS Code or any editor accessing the folder
2. Close File Explorer windows showing the folder
3. Close any terminal windows in that directory
4. Try the command again

Check what’s using the folder:

# On Linux/Mac
$ lsof +D ~/Documents/overleaf-projects/Project_ID

# On Windows Git Bash
$ tasklist | grep -i "code\|explorer"

Issue: Directory Not Empty

Problem:

# Current location: ~/Documents
$ mv overleaf-projects/my-paper .
mv: cannot move 'overleaf-projects/my-paper' to './my-paper': Directory not empty

Solution:

# Current location: ~/Documents
$ mv -f overleaf-projects/my-paper .

Or remove the existing directory first:

# Current location: ~/Documents
$ rm -rf my-paper
$ mv overleaf-projects/my-paper .

Issue: Git Remote URL Verification

Check configuration:

# Current location: ~/Documents/my-research-paper
$ cat .git/config

Look for:

[remote "origin"]
    url = https://git.overleaf.com/Project_ID
    fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*

The URL should still point to your Overleaf project - it doesn’t change when you rename the local folder.

Issue: Changes Not Syncing

Verify remote connection:

# Current location: ~/Documents/my-research-paper
$ git remote -v
origin  https://git.overleaf.com/Project_ID (fetch)
origin  https://git.overleaf.com/Project_ID (push)

$ git fetch
$ git status

If fetch fails:

# Check network connection
$ ping google.com

# Check Git configuration
$ git config --list

# Re-authenticate if needed
$ git config credential.helper store
$ git pull

---

Command Reference

Essential Git Commands

Command	Purpose	Usage Example
git status	Check repository status	git status
git remote -v	View remote URLs	git remote -v
git pull	Sync from Overleaf	git pull origin master
git push	Push to Overleaf	git push origin master
git log	View commit history	git log --oneline
git branch	List branches	git branch -a

Navigation Commands

Command	Purpose	Usage Example
cd	Change directory	cd ~/Documents
pwd	Print working directory	pwd
ls	List contents	ls -la
mkdir	Create directory	mkdir -p path/to/folder
mv	Move/rename	mv old new
cp	Copy files	cp -r source dest

File Management Commands

Command	Purpose	Usage Example
ls -la	Detailed listing	ls -la ~/Documents
tree	Show tree structure	tree -L 2
find	Find files	find . -name "*.tex"
du -sh	Directory size	du -sh ~/Documents/Research

---

One-Line Solutions

Rename Only

$ cd ~/Documents/overleaf-projects && mv Project_ID my-research-paper

Rename + Move to Documents

$ mv ~/Documents/overleaf-projects/Project_ID ~/Documents/my-research-paper

Rename + Move to Research Folder

$ mv ~/Documents/overleaf-projects/Project_ID ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/my-paper-2025

Create Structure + Move

$ mkdir -p ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers && mv ~/Documents/overleaf-projects/Project_ID ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/signal-processing-2025

---

Verification Checklist

After renaming/moving, verify:

• Navigate to new location successfully
• git status shows no errors
• git remote -v shows correct Overleaf URL
• git pull works without issues
• git push works without issues
• VS Code/LaTeX Workshop recognizes the project
• All .tex, .bib, and figure files are present
• LaTeX compilation works as expected

Quick verification script:

# Current location: ~/Documents/my-research-paper
$ git status && git remote -v && echo "✓ Git OK"

---

Advanced Tips

Create Alias for Quick Navigation

Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile:

alias research='cd ~/Documents/Research'
alias journals='cd ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers'
alias conferences='cd ~/Documents/Research/conference-papers'

Usage:

$ research
$ journals
$ ls
ieee-transactions-2025/  nature-communications-2025/

Git Bash Prompt Customization

Show current directory in prompt:

# Add to ~/.bashrc
export PS1='\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[00m\]:\[\033[01;34m\]\w\[\033[00m\]\$ '

Tab Completion

Enable bash completion for faster navigation:

# On Ubuntu/Debian
$ sudo apt install bash-completion

# On macOS
$ brew install bash-completion

---

Performance Tips

For Large Projects

Use shallow clone to save space:

$ git clone --depth=1 https://git.overleaf.com/Project_ID

Compress .git folder:

# Current location: ~/Documents/my-research-paper
$ git gc --aggressive --prune=now

For Multiple Projects

Batch verify all repositories:

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research
$ find . -name ".git" -type d -execdir git status \;

Batch pull updates:

# Current location: ~/Documents/Research
$ find . -name ".git" -type d -execdir git pull \;

---

Key Takeaways

✅ Git configuration is independent of folder name
✅ Remote URL stays unchanged after renaming
✅ Always verify with git status after moving
✅ Close all programs accessing the folder before renaming
✅ Use meaningful names for better organization
✅ Create logical folder structure for multiple projects
✅ Folder structure doesn’t affect Git synchronization
✅ VS Code automatically recognizes renamed Git repositories

---

Real-World Case Study

Initial State

PhD student with 15 Overleaf projects:

~/Documents/overleaf-projects/
├── Project_ID_1/
├── Project_ID_2/
├── Project_ID_3/
├── Project_ID_4/
├── Project_ID_5/
├── Project_ID_6/
... (9 more)

Problem: Wasted 5-10 minutes daily searching for the right project

Actions Taken

# 1. Create structure
$ mkdir -p ~/Documents/Research/{journal-papers,conference-papers,thesis-chapters,coursework}

# 2. Rename and categorize
$ cd ~/Documents/overleaf-projects
$ mv Project_ID_1 ~/Documents/Research/thesis-chapters/chapter-01-introduction
$ mv Project_ID_2 ~/Documents/Research/journal-papers/ieee-transactions-2024
$ mv Project_ID_3 ~/Documents/Research/conference-papers/icml-2024
# ... continue for all projects

# 3. Remove old folder
$ cd ..
$ rmdir overleaf-projects

Final State

~/Documents/Research/
├── journal-papers/
│   ├── ieee-transactions-2024/
│   └── nature-communications-2025/
├── conference-papers/
│   ├── icml-2024-published/
│   ├── neurips-2024-submission/
│   └── cvpr-2025-workshop/
├── thesis-chapters/
│   ├── chapter-01-introduction/
│   ├── chapter-02-literature/
│   ├── chapter-03-methodology/
│   └── chapter-04-experiments/
└── coursework/
    ├── machine-learning-final/
    └── optimization-project/

Time saved: 5 minutes/day × 250 working days = ~21 hours/year
Outcome: Instant project identification, faster workflow, reduced stress

---

Related Resources

• Overleaf Git Integration Documentation
• Git Basics - Working with Remotes
• Pro Git Book (Free)
• LaTeX Workshop VS Code Extension

---

License

MIT License - Free to use, modify, and distribute.

---

Citation

If you find this cheatsheet useful in your research workflow:

@misc{git_overleaf_cheatsheet_2025,
  title={Git Commands Cheatsheet: Renaming Overleaf Projects},
  author={Scholarsnote},
  year={2026},
  url={https://www.scholarsnote.org/git-overleaf-rename-cheatsheet/},
  note={Accessed: 2026-01-04}
}

---

Last updated: January 4, 2025
Tested on: Ubuntu 20.04+, macOS 12+, Git Bash (Windows)
Author: Dr. Abdus Samad
Website: scholarsnote.org

---

This guide is part of our LaTeX productivity series. Follow for more tips on academic writing workflows.