This page covers the complete TeamCloud workflow from the team member's perspective: downloading the project, working on it, uploading your work, and picking up a new cycle when the team lead starts one.
You need a registered and verified MAXQDA account to access TeamCloud projects. You do not need a TeamCloud license. See Before you start for account setup instructions.
Step 1: Accept your invitation and download the project
When the team lead invites you to a project, you will receive an invitation email. Click the confirmation button in the email to accept the invitation and join the project.
To download and open the project in MAXQDA:
- Open MAXQDA and log in to your MAXQDA account. You can do this from the Team Projects tab in the welcome screen or from the TeamCloud menu.
- Go to the Team Projects tab in the welcome screen, where all TeamCloud projects you belong to are listed, whether you are the team lead or a team member.
- Double-click the project name to download and open it immediately.
Do not open them by double-clicking a file in your file system. Opening the wrong file type (.mqda instead of .mqtc) means working outside TeamCloud, which prevents you from uploading your work to the team lead. See Recovering work done outside TeamCloud if this has already happened.
Reading the project list
The text below each project name tells you its current status. The text color shows whether a download is needed:
Grey text: A local copy of this project already exists on your computer.
- Cycle and start time shown: your local copy is current.
- "Data uploaded" and a date shown: you have already uploaded your work for this cycle.
- "# No access #": you are offline, have been removed from the project, or the team lead has deleted it.
Blue text: A new download is available.
- Download icon (arrow pointing down): no local copy was found. This is normal the first time you join a project.
- Sync icon: your local copy is out of date. The team lead has started a new cycle and you need to download the updated file.
If you are offline, the list shows the state from your last online session. You can only open projects that are already downloaded.
Step 2: Work on the project
Once the project is open, work on it as you would any MAXQDA project: add codes, write memos, code segments, add paraphrases, import new documents, and so on. You can close MAXQDA and continue later, and you can work offline.
Work on a TeamCloud project from one computer only during a cycle. If you need to switch computers, ask your team lead to start a new cycle first. You can then download the new cycle on your new computer.
Keep in mind the following permissions that apply to team members:
- You can add new codes, but avoid moving, renaming, or deleting existing ones. You can make these changes technically, but they will not transfer to the main project as expected — renamed or moved codes will appear as duplicates, and deletions will be ignored.
- You can add new documents and edit them, but you cannot edit documents that already existed in the project before your download.
For a full overview of role permissions, see Before you start and the subsection "How import works: the four key rules" on Your Project Cycle: Team Lead.
Step 3: Upload your work
When you have finished your work for this cycle, upload your project so the team lead can import it into the main project.
- In the TeamCloud tab, click Upload Project for Team Lead.
- Optionally add a comment for the team lead, for example, noting which documents you worked on or flagging anything they should review.
- Confirm the upload.
After uploading, your work for this cycle is complete. MAXQDA closes the project automatically, and the project list on the welcome screen shows "Data uploaded" for this project.
The team lead receives an email and a notification in MAXQDA when you upload.
In exceptional cases, you can upload more than once in a cycle, for example, if you need to add something after your initial upload. Each new upload overwrites the previous one. Coordinate with the team lead before doing this, and note that it is only possible until the team lead ends the current cycle.
The current cycle number and start date are always shown at the top of the TeamCloud menu, so you can confirm which cycle you are working in.
Picking up a new cycle
After the team lead imports all members' work and starts a new cycle, you will receive a notification in MAXQDA. The notification appears both when you open the project and while the project is already open.
Click Download to download the updated project file. Your local copy is automatically replaced with the new version.
If you have unsaved local work
If you made changes to your local copy after uploading, for instance, you added codes, those changes will be overwritten when you download the new cycle file. If you want to keep them, click Cancel in the notification and save your work first:
- From the welcome screen: hover over the project name, click the More menu (three dots), and select Export as Local Project.
- From within the open project: go to TeamCloud > Export as Local Project.
This saves a copy of your current state as a regular .mqda file. You can then download the new cycle and, if needed, manually transfer any work from your saved copy. See Recovering work done outside TeamCloud for guidance on reintegrating work done outside the normal workflow.
