So, you’ve been working diligently on your NVivo project. Your coding is progressing well and the coding structure is developing. Maybe you’ve even started to build some hierarchy into your codes.
You start to notice that your NVivo project takes longer and longer to open or save. Sometimes it even crashes. (If you have been regularly backing up your project you can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing you have a recently saved version of your work.)
As NVivo projects get bigger, they sometimes get sluggish. Fortunately, there’s an NVivo function that can help: called Compact Project in NVivo for Mac, and called Compact and Repair in NVivo for Windows.
I have found few NVivo users know about this nifty little function, but regularly using it can make a world of difference in the speed of opening, closing, or saving your project. When I am in the throes of active qualitative analysis in NVivo, my habit is to run the Compact function at the start or end of every workday.
It’s quick and easy to do. Check out the short videos I’ve created to show you how.
