To customize different settings in MAXQDA, click the 
Preferences icon at the bottom left of the MAXQDA window.
The Preferences window is organized into sections, accessible via the sidebar on the left: General, Appearance, Language, Fonts, Word Separation, Automatic Import, Backups, and Proxy Server.
You can customize the following options:
"General" settings
Check for updates automatically
When enabled, MAXQDA will automatically check for updates upon launch. We recommend downloading any available updates to enjoy new features and improvements.
PDF and image documents (does not apply to TeamCloud projects)
Do not embed files larger than [MB]
This value determines the size limit for imported PDF or image files. Files larger than this limit will not be saved directly in the MAXQDA project file; instead, they will be stored externally, with only a reference created in the project. The default size limit is 5 MB, but you can adjust this value as needed.
Folder for external files
Here, you can choose where on your computer to save externally stored files. This includes audio and video files assigned to a document, as well as PDF and image files that are larger than the size limit specified in the previous option.
Folder for new project files
Here, you can specify where MAXQDA will save new project files.
Default weight for coded segments
Each coded segment is given a weight. Newly coded segments have a default weight score of 0. You can change the default weight here.
Autosave documents in Edit Mode and memos [Minutes]
Specify the time interval (in minutes) for when MAXQDA automatically saves edited documents and memos.
Confirm before deleting elements
When enabled, MAXQDA will ask you for confirmation before deleting code assignments, codes, documents, memos, and other data. This feature helps prevent accidental deletions.
When disabled, MAXQDA will delete these items immediately without prompting you to confirm it. If you accidentally delete something, the only way to restore it is by using the Undo function. We recommend keeping this option active to avoid accidental data loss.
"Appearance" settings
Interface theme
MAXQDA offers four distinct themes to personalize your user experience. You can browse through the available themes using the carousel display:
- Dark: This theme features a dark background and is ideal for reducing eye strain, especially during long sessions.
- Light: This theme has a light background with a dark main menu, providing a balanced contrast that enhances readability.
- Light 2: Similar to the Light theme, but with a light main menu, offering a consistent light appearance throughout the interface.
- System: This option automatically adjusts MAXQDA's theme to match your operating system settings, ensuring seamless integration.
Text size
Select Regular or Large to adjust the size of the program interface labels (menus, title bars, dialog boxes, code and document system, etc.).
Reset interface settings
Enable this toggle to reset all your user settings to default values. This can be useful if the interface behaves unexpectedly after configuration changes.
"Language" settings
Interface language
Select the language used in the MAXQDA interface. The interface is available in 13 languages. Choose your preferred language from the dropdown menu.
Spellcheck language
Enable Spellchecking
Use this toggle to enable or disable spellchecking. When enabled, detected spelling mistakes in memos, documents, and summaries in the Summary Grid are underlined in red.
Spellcheck language selection
Select a language for spellchecking from the dropdown menu.
MAXQDA uses the language packs installed in your operating system. The dropdown menu displays all installed languages. To add more languages, click + Add Spellcheck Language to open your operating system's language settings. Spellcheck is available only for languages that use spaces between words.
Restart MAXQDA after installing additional language packs so they become available.
"Fonts" settings
New documents
Set the default font and size for new text documents.
New memos and QTT insights
Set the default font and size for new memos and QTT insights text.
MAXMaps labels
Set the default font for labels in MAXMaps.
"Word Separation" settings
These settings apply to the current project only.
Characters to exclude
Click the button with three dots 
to open a dialog box where you can specify characters to be separated from words and ignored. The selected characters apply to all word-based functions in MAXQDA and MAXDictio. For new projects, common punctuation marks (period, comma, semicolon, exclamation mark, question mark, etc.) as well as some special characters such as quotation marks are excluded by default.
If you notice words starting or ending with unwanted characters in the Word Frequency result table or in the Word Cloud, simply add those characters to the list of excluded characters.
What counts as a word in MAXQDA
In MAXQDA, a word is any sequence of characters between two delimiters. The fixed standard delimiters are:
- Spaces
- Paragraph and line breaks
- Tab characters
All excluded characters also function as delimiters.
Handling hyphens:
By default, hyphens are not treated as separators, so hyphenated compound words (e.g., "AI-generated") are counted as one word. To count compound words as separate words, add the hyphen to the list of excluded characters.
Ignore hyphens at the end of a line (PDF)
When enabled, MAXQDA will try to ignore hyphens inserted at the end of lines for hyphenation in PDF documents wherever technically possible. This allows separated words to be analyzed as one continuous word.
Word Separation – Japanese
Text language is Japanese
Enable this option if you are analyzing Japanese texts. MAXQDA uses a specific method to separate words in Japanese, which is necessary for accurate analysis.
Ignore particles (Japanese)
This option becomes available when "Text language is Japanese" is activated. It ensures that all Japanese particles (such as は, を, and が) are excluded from word-based analyses, such as in the Word Cloud. For details, see Analyzing text in Japanese.
"Automatic Import" settings
Select folders
Files in watched folders will be automatically imported into this MAXQDA project. Click Select folders to choose the folders on your computer that you want MAXQDA to monitor. All files placed in the selected folders that do not exist in the currently open MAXQDA project will be imported automatically.
"Backups" settings
Enable automatic backups
If the option is activated, MAXQDA checks each time a project is opened when it was last saved and, if necessary, creates a backup of the project.
Backup interval [days]
Specify the number of days between automatic project backups. This determines how often MAXQDA will create a backup of your project.
Folder for backup files
Specify the folder where you want MAXQDA to save backup copies of your project.
"Proxy Server" settings
Here you can specify your own proxy server for access from MAXQDA to the cloud services (AI Assist, TeamCloud, Auto-Transcription). MAXQDA uses the system's own proxy server by default if a proxy server is set in the operating system.
Currently used proxy server
Displays which proxy server is currently being used by MAXQDA. If no custom proxy is configured, this shows "No proxy server".
Use custom proxy server
Enable this toggle to configure a custom proxy server. When activated, additional fields appear where you can enter the proxy server address and port.
