How to Import Your Existing Thesis into ThesisForge

One of the most common questions we get from students is: "I already started writing my thesis in Word (or LaTeX, or Google Docs). Can I import it into ThesisForge?" The answer is yes — and the process is designed to be as smooth as possible, preserving as much of your existing work as possible.

ThesisForge supports importing from five file formats: PDF, LaTeX (.tex), Microsoft Word (.docx), Markdown (.md), and plain text (.txt). Each format has its own import engine that extracts text, identifies structural elements like chapters and sections, and maps the content to the appropriate fields in the ThesisForge wizard. The import system uses intelligent content analysis to detect headings, paragraphs, lists, and other document structures automatically.

To import your thesis, simply click the "Import Thesis Files" button on the ThesisForge homepage. You can select a single file or multiple files at once. For multi-file imports, ThesisForge merges the content intelligently — all chapters and references are combined into a single thesis project. After the import is processed, you will see a review modal that shows exactly what was extracted, including the confidence score for each detected field.

The review modal is a key part of the import workflow. It shows you a side-by-side comparison of the original content and the mapped fields, so you can verify that titles, abstracts, authors, and other metadata were extracted correctly. You can edit any field before accepting the import, which means you have full control over the final result. This is especially important for PDF imports, where text extraction can sometimes be less precise due to complex layouts or scanned pages.

Once you accept the import, all your content is loaded into the ThesisForge wizard. You can then continue editing through the step-by-step interface, add more chapters, manage references, and export a clean LaTeX file when you are ready. The import feature means you never lose your existing work — just bring it in, polish it, and export a professional LaTeX thesis.