TeXShop for Mac
TeX front-end.
Free
In English
Version 5.51When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission
TeXShop overview
TeXShop is a TeX previewer for OS X, written in Cocoa. Since PDF is a native file format on OS X, TeXShop uses "pdftex" and "pdflatex"; rather than "tex" and "latex" to typeset; these programs in the standard teTeX distribution of TeX produce PDF output instead of DVI output.
TeXShop uses TeX Live, a standard distribution of Tex programs maintained by the TeX Users Group (TUG) for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, and various other Unix machines. The distribution includes tex, latex, dvips, tex fonts, cyrillic fonts, and virtually all other programs and supporting files commonly used in the TeX world. The most recent version of this distribution is maintained for the Mac by the MacTeX TeXnical Working Group of the TeX Users Group and available under the "Obtaining" tab.
The latest TeXShop release, version 3, requires System 10.7 (Lion). An earlier version of TeXShop, version 2, is also maintained and requires System 10.4 (Tiger), although System 10.5 (Leopard) is strongly recommended because it fixes several important bugs in Apple's PDFKit code, extensively used in TeXShop. Users with systems 10.2 or 10.3 should use TeXShop 1.43, and users with systems 10.0 and 10.1 should use TeXShop 1.19. Both of these versions are available on this site.
TeXShop is distributed under the GPL public license, and thus free.
What’s new in version 5.51
- The Preview Window has a selection tool, used by authors to select a portion of the screen. This portion is automatically converted to png, pdf, jpeg, or tiff and the image can be dragged to another program like Mail or Keynote. This facility is also in LaTeXiT, and for serious work the LaTeXiT version is better because the image contains the LaTeX source and thus can be edited later. But the TeXShop tool is useful for quick and dirty work.
- TeXShop's Settings Panel under the Typeset tab has an item titled "After Typesetting" which allows users to determine the active window after typesetting is complete. Originally TeXShop activated the preview window because users wanted to inspect the typesetting result. But some users wanted the source window to become active so they could glance at the preview result and immediately continue writing. TeXShop now offers a third mode as well, called ``Stay in Current Window.'' Since typesetting can be initiated by typing command-T in any document window, the new mode activates that window when typesetting ends. Typesetting can be initiated in the Source, Preview, Console, or Log windows. This change only affects multiple-window mode; it wouldn't make sense in single-window mode, where in some sense both windows are active at once.
- The contents of ~/Library/TeXShop/Engines/Inactive/Typst changed to reflect the new Typst release of March 7, 2025.
Full list of changes available here
TeXShop for Mac
Free
In English
Version 5.51
Write a detailed review about TeXShop
(64 Reviews of TeXShop)
Comments
User Ratings
Nov 4 2023
Version: 5.21
In 2021 a user (pigman41 in the reviews) wrote "I cannot typeset any tex file. The console box says "I can't write on file 'math.log'". Can anyone help please?" This is 2023, and I am trying to use TeXShop again after last using it in 2022, and I find I have the same problem. A TeX doc that worked before now produces "I can't write on file 'filename.log'" and then adds "Please type another transcript file name." But no matter what name I try, the response is still the same.
Nov 4 2022
Version: 5.03
I have OS 10.15.7 on an Intel Mac. The version prior to 5.03, however, initially worked and then did not. TeXShop just simply would not open. I updated to 5.03 and still the same issue. TeXShop will still not open. I believe I have removed most or all of the older version but even so a fresh install did not work either. Is there an uninstall app for TeXShop or do you have suggestions for what files might still linger and that need to be removed? In the meantime I will go back to the latest version 4.
Thanks!
Nov 12 2021
Version: 4.68
I don't know what happened. TeXShop stops working today. It was fine yesterday and I did not change anything on my computer. The preview panel does not show the pdf files. And I cannot typeset any tex file. The console box says "I can't write on file 'math.log'". Can anyone help please?
Sep 22 2019
Version: 4.41
Forgot the ***** in my previous comment...
How come the files of the best available Latex front-hand application still lack a TexShop icon of their own?... Blaming Apple's policy is not the answer... It is time to do something about it. Note: My previous complain on this very issue is already two years old. Still patiently waiting... And yes, TexShop is irreplaceable!
