Project save and backup

By default, NVivo project files are saved in the current Mac user's Documents folder on the computer's Mac drive, but you can save them anywhere on your computer. It is not possible to save projects on network drives.

To help ensure against data loss we recommend that you save work regularly and make backup copies of your projects.

You can save projects manually (File > Save or keyboard shortcut ⌘+S) or use autosave (see below).

It's a good idea to compact projects regularly Compact projects. If a project won't open or performs poorly, try creating a new, clean project and importing the problem project into it Merge/import projects.

See Avoid project file corruption below for tips to help avoid project file corruption.

Autosave

Project autosave is optional in NVivo (release 1) for Mac. Turn on autosave when you first create a project (Create a new project) or at any time that the relevant project is open:

1. Open File > Project Properties.
2. On the General tab, check Autosave project.

Autosave saves projects every 5 minutes. If you close a project with unsaved changes, the changes are automatically saved.

Back up projects

To back up a project, ensure that it is not currently open then locate the .nvpx project file using Mac Finder and copy to a safe location. (If you have just closed the project, wait until it is fully closed before copying the file, to ensure all changes have been saved.)

Avoid project file corruption

To help avoid corrupting project files follow the tips below:

• Set up autosave (see above) or save regularly while working, to avoid file corruption in case the computer shuts down abruptly.
• Always save projects before leaving the computer for any period of time—files can be corrupted when computers go to into power saving mode.
• Always make sure projects are completely closed before shutting down NVivo.
• If a project is saved in a folder that is synched to a cloud storage provider like Dropbox or Google Drive, turn off file synchronization while you are working on the project (or copy the project to a non-synched local folder to work on and copy back when finished).
• Do not work on project files saved on USB sticks or external USB drives—instead, copy the projects to a local drive and work with them there. Copy back to the external drive when finished.
• Check regularly for malware on the computer or drive where the project file is stored.
• Ensure project files are not saved in Windows folders.