Everything you import into MAXQDA is normally stored inside the MAXQDA project file. This keeps your documents, codes, memos, and other project data together in a single file. Media files, large images, and PDFs, however, can make a project slow to save, difficult to back up, and unnecessarily large to transfer. MAXQDA can therefore store these files separately in the folder for external files while keeping them linked to the project. Files stored this way are called external files, or Externals.
This page explains which files are stored externally, where they are stored, how to change their storage location, and how to transfer them with a project to another computer.
What is stored inside the project file, and what outside
Most document types, including text documents and tables, are stored inside the MAXQDA project file. During import, a copy of the original file is placed in the project. You can therefore edit or delete the document in MAXQDA without affecting the original file, and changes to the original file do not affect the data in MAXQDA.
Two kinds of files are stored outside the project file instead:
- PDF and image documents above the size limit. The limit is 5 MB by default, and you can change it.
- All audio and video files. These are always stored outside the project file, regardless of their size.
When you import a PDF or image above the size limit, MAXQDA informs you that the file will be stored outside the project file instead of being embedded in it. The file is copied to the folder for external files, while the original remains in its current location.
Externally stored documents work the same way as documents stored inside the project file. They appear in the Document System with the same icons and can be used in the same way.
Where external files are stored, and how to change it
The size limit and storage folder are defined in MAXQDA's global preferences, which you can open using the preferences icon in the lower-left corner of the MAXQDA main window. In the General section, under PDF and image documents, you can configure the following settings:
- Do not embed files larger than [MB] sets the size above which PDF and image documents are stored outside the project file. The default is 5 MB.
- Folder for external files sets where external files are stored.
The size limit does not apply to TeamCloud projects. For more information about these settings, see the page General Preferences.
Unless you change it, the folder for external files is:
- on Windows: [Documents]\MAXQDA_Externals
- on macOS: [Documents]/MAXQDA/Externals
If you change the folder, MAXQDA asks whether the files already stored in the previous folder should be moved to the new location. The files are moved only if you confirm. Because this is a global setting, the change affects the external files of all your projects, not only the project that is currently open.
Moving a document out of the project file, or back into it
PDF and image documents can be moved in either direction at any time, regardless of their size. This means that you can also store a small PDF externally if you prefer.
Right-click the document in the Document System, select Properties, and go to the Storage section:
- In project stores the file inside the MAXQDA project file.
- In folder for external files stores the file outside the project file.
The Show Folder for External Files button in this section opens the folder for external files.
Text documents and tables do not have a Storage section because they are always stored inside the project file. Audio and video files do not have one because they are always stored outside it.
To move several documents at once, go to the Home tab and select External Files > Store Documents in Folder for External Files. The dialog lists the PDF and image documents that are currently stored inside the project file, together with their file sizes. Select the documents you want to move.
Seeing which files your project stores externally
Go to the Home tab and select External Files > List External Files.
The list shows all files that are stored externally for the current project. For each file, it displays the associated document, file type, full path, file size, and whether the file is stored in the folder for external files or in the project folder.
Click a file path to open its folder on your computer and select the corresponding file.
Relinking missing files
If MAXQDA cannot find an external file, the row is highlighted in red and File not found. Relink the file. appears instead of the file path.
Click the link and select the file in your system's file selection dialog. MAXQDA updates the path in the list.
If you relink a PDF with a different length than the original, MAXQDA warns you that continuing will remove all coded segments from the document.
Opening the folder for external files
To open the folder that MAXQDA uses for external files, select External Files > Show Folder for External Files.
Audio and video files
Audio and video documents appear twice in the list: once for the media file itself and once for the small media data file that MAXQDA creates when you first open the media file. Both are treated as external files.
You can also find the folder of an individual audio or video file in the Media File section of the document properties, together with its file name, size, and duration.
What you can delete, and what you should leave alone
MAXQDA works from its own copy of an imported file. You can therefore move, rename, or delete the original file you imported without affecting the project.
Do not move or rename MAXQDA's copy in the folder for external files. If you do, MAXQDA can no longer find the file and you must relink it, as described in the section Relinking missing files. For PDF and image documents, you can also restore the link from the Storage section of the document properties.
Two files with the same name
You can import multiple documents with the same file name without problems as long as they are stored inside the project file. If two files with the same name are stored externally, however, they cannot both be stored in the same folder for external files. MAXQDA asks for confirmation, and the file stored last replaces the existing file. To avoid this, give the files unique names before importing them.
Taking external files to another computer
A MAXQDA project file does not contain its external files, so moving a project that uses them means transferring both the project file and the external files.
On the computer you are starting from:
- Go to the Home tab and select External Files > Bundle External Data Files. MAXQDA collects all external files belonging to the current project into a ZIP archive named after the project, for example,
Projectname.mqda.zip, and saves it next to the project file. - Transfer both the project file, which has the extension
.mqda, and the ZIP archive.
On the other computer:
- Open the MAXQDA project file.
- Go to the Home tab and select External Files > Unpack Bundled Data Files, then select the ZIP archive in the file dialog. MAXQDA unpacks the archive and copies the files into your folder for external files. If the archive is in the same folder as the project file, MAXQDA finds it automatically and offers to unpack it.
