Whether you are working on a project in a team or alone: Copies of the project files should be created and archived regularly.

On the one hand, the copies serve the purpose of transparency, as they represent snapshots at different points in time, via which the progress of the project can be traced. On the other hand, the copies serve as data backups. They can be reverted to, for example, if an unintentional change can no longer be automatically undone, e.g. because MAXQDA has been closed in the meantime.

Automatic backup of project data

Automatic backups in defined time interval

If you have activated automatic project backups in the global MAXQDA preferences, these settings also apply to your TeamCloud projects. This means that MAXQDA creates a backup in the local TeamCloud workspace in the defined time interval when opening a TeamCloud project.

Action based automatic backups

In addition to the periodic backups, other additional backups are created for TeamCloud projects as soon as you perform certain actions. The backups are stored in the TeamCloud Workspace backup folder for the current project cycle.

The following actions trigger the automatic creation of a backup, with the current state of the project being saved before the selected action is performed:

• Team lead: Start of a new project cycle
• Team member: Downloading the new project file after a new project cycle was started
  (applies to download from the MAXQDA welcome screen, from the TeamCloud ribbon, or from the notification about the start of a new cycle within the open project)
• All: Before opening a backup from the current project cycle

Manual backup of project data

We recommend creating a backup immediately before or after major changes in the project - e.g. a far-reaching revision of the code system.

To create manual backups of your TeamCloud project, you need to be logged into TeamCloud.

Backup of the TeamCloud project

1. In the TeamCloud ribbon click Backups > Create Backup.
2. Specify a meaningful name for your backup and click OK.

Export as local project

To save a manual backup of your TeamCloud project outside the cloud, export it as a local project. This will create a "standard" MAXQDA2022 project file with the file extension .mx22, which can be opened with any MAXQDA2022 installation. You can find the option to do this either in the MAXQDA welcome screen or in the open project in the TeamCloud ribbon.

MAXQDA welcome screen:

1. Select the Team Projects tab.
2. Hover with your mouse over the name of the desired project and then click on the More menu (three dots).
3. Click Export as Local Project.
4. Select a saving location for the project you want to export and click OK.

Open TeamCloud project:

1. In the TeamCloud ribbon click Export as Local Project.
2. Select a saving location for the project you want to export and click OK.

Open backups

If necessary, you can open an automatically or manually created backup file of your TeamCloud project to return to a previous version. Note, however, that this is only possible for backups created during the current project cycle.

1. In the TeamCloud ribbon, click Backups > Open Backup.
2. Select the backup file you want to open from the list.
3. Click Open backup.

MAXQDA automatically creates an additional backup of the current project status before the selected backup file is opened.

Manual backup of the logbook

The project logbook of a TeamCloud project is stored online on the cloud server (in contrast to local projects where the logbook is stored locally). Therefore, it can only be viewed on the MAXQDA TeamCloud website and can only be exported and saved from there.

1. On the TeamCloud website, from the dashboard, navigate to the desired project and open the Project Logbook tab.
2. Use the Print function of your browser by right-clicking on the page or by selecting the particular print command in the browser's application menu.
3. Save the web page as PDF.

This way, along with the logbook, you also save the Recent Activity history of your TeamCloud project.