Cross-References in LaTeX

Use \label and \ref to create automatically-updated cross-references to sections, figures, and equations.

Quick Answer

latex

\section{Methods}\label{sec:methods}

% Later:
As described in Section~\ref{sec:methods}, ...

Labeling Different Elements

latex

% Sections:
\section{Introduction}\label{sec:intro}
\subsection{Background}\label{sec:background}

% Equations:
\begin{equation}
  E = mc^2 \label{eq:einstein}
\end{equation}

% Figures:
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{plot.pdf}
  \caption{Results}\label{fig:results}
\end{figure}

% Tables:
\begin{table}[htbp]
  \caption{Summary}\label{tab:summary}
  ...
\end{table}

Referencing

latex

% Basic ref (number only):
see Section~\ref{sec:intro}         % → "see Section 1"
see Figure~\ref{fig:results}         % → "see Figure 3"
see Equation~\eqref{eq:einstein}     % → "see Equation (1)"
see Table~\ref{tab:summary}          % → "see Table 2"

% Page reference:
see page~\pageref{sec:intro}

% Note: ~ is a non-breaking space — keeps "Figure" and "3" together

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autoref (Smart References)

With hyperref, use \autoref to automatically include the element type name.

latex

\usepackage{hyperref}

\autoref{sec:intro}      % → "Section 1"
\autoref{fig:results}    % → "Figure 3"
\autoref{eq:einstein}    % → "Equation (1)"
\autoref{tab:summary}    % → "Table 2"

% Customize the type names:
\renewcommand{\sectionautorefname}{Section}
\renewcommand{\figureautorefname}{Figure}

Label Naming Conventions

Use prefixes to keep labels organized. There's no enforced convention — choose one and be consistent.

Element	Convention	Example
Section	sec:	sec:intro
Figure	fig:	fig:results
Table	tab:	tab:summary
Equation	eq:	eq:einstein
Chapter	ch:	ch:methods
Appendix	app:	app:data

Compile Twice

Labels are written to a .aux file on the first compile and read on the second. Always compile twice (or use latexmk) to resolve all references. ?? in the output means unresolved references.

Cross-References in LaTeX

Labeling Different Elements

Referencing

autoref (Smart References)

Label Naming Conventions

Compile Twice

Related Topics