Export Data

  1. We’ve already discussed how you can export the results of your queries, but you can also export your codes as a list or its references. To export your full list of codes, first open up your Codes list and select one code. Go to the Share menu, and from the Export drop-down menu, select Export List. This will save ALL of your codes in a spreadsheet. It will include the number of files coded with that code, and the number of references.

    In the top Ribbon, under the Share tab, a red box around Export and Export List.

  2. Browse to your workshop folder, name your file or keep the default and click on Save.

    Save As window with the File name field completed and a red box around Save.

    Here is what the resulting file looks like:

    Excel file displaying the code list with file and reference counts.

  3. You can also export your codebook, which lists your codes and their descriptions to understand when a code is normally used. Again, go to the Share menu, and from the Export drop-down menu, select Export Codebook.

    In the top Ribbon, under the Share tab, a red box around Export Codebook.

  4. Select Include number of files and references. This creates a Word document with this information. Keep the defaults and click on OK.

    Export Codebook window with a red box around OK.

    Here is what the Codebook file looks like:

    Codebook displayed as a word file with code name, description, and counts in a table.

  5. Finally, you can also export all the references for a particular set of codes. To do this, first select your subset of codes. For example, select Balance and Community Change.

    In Codes, a red box around Balance and Community change.

  6. Then right-click on the codes and select Export, and then Export Codes…

    In the code pop-up menu, export is selected and highlighted. Export codes is also highlighted.

  7. From this window, you have three options. You can select Entire Content, which creates a local website where you can navigate through all the references; however, I would recommend either Reference View or Summary View. Reference View creates a list of each reference, similar to what you would see if you double clicked on the code. You can save this list as a Word document, text file or PDF. Summary View provides a table that shows you how many times that code was coded by project item. You can save this list as an Excel file, Word document, text file or PDF. Try saving both the reference view and summary view formats. Open up the files you have exported to see their contents.

    Export Options window with a red box around the export options and with Summary View selected.

    Here is the resulting file from the Reference View selection: Word document showing some of the references to the code Balance

    Here is the resulting file from the Summary View selection: Excel file showing the project items associated with the code Balance.

And that’s it!

Technique: Qualitative Data Analysis | Tools: NVivo

First created: November 20, 2023
Last updated: June 09, 2026

Tutorial maintained by Kelly Schultz.

Tutorial created by Kelly Schultz.

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