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 at least 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.

  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.

  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 node. 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 node 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 all 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.

And that’s it!

Technique: Qualitative Data Analysis | Tools: NVivo

First created: November 20, 2023
Last updated: May 12, 2026

Tutorial maintained by Kelly Schultz.

Tutorial created by Kelly Schultz.

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