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You are currently working with NVivo and experience anything from slow performance, crashing, or error messages? Here are our three tips to investigate and hopefully solve the most common support problems in NVivo:
1) Look for updates or reinstall
In case you suddenly experience problems, make sure that you are running the latest version of NVivo and install available updates. Here´s where you can find the version number in Mac and here in Windows.
If you have just installed NVivo and it´s not running smoothly, chances are that something went wrong during the installation. So just try again. Deinstall/move to trash and install again (no worries, this will not affect any of your project files): NVivo installation file download
For Mac, you might also have to check your system preferences for NVivo before it runs smoothly. NVivo and MacOS Mojave
2) Identify where your project file is located - and store it on a local drive!
Some users don´t pay attention to where they store their NVivo (.nvp/ .nvpx) files and simply open them from the recent project list on the NVivo start screen. This can lead to confusion, especially if you have created back-up copies before, as those appear in that list, too. But more importantly, storing your file in a "random" place can lead to problems in the long run.
To avoid slow performance and risking that your project file gets corrupted during the work process, make sure to store it on a local drive in a non-synchronizing folder. Why? Because when you open your file from a thumb drive, external hard drive, cloud server, temporary folder or similar location (OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox, etc.), you risk that NVivo
a) loses connection to that location and
b) can´t save changes correctly (e.g. due to constant synchronization).
We clearly don´t want that to happen.
Why should I store my NVivo project on a local drive? Can I store it in a Dropbox or on a network?
3) Create a copy of the Sample Project
To rule out whether the problem you experience is connected to the NVivo application or whether it is project specific, go ahead and create a copy of the Sample Project. If everything looks fine in the Sample Project and you can´t replicate the same error/crash there, it´s likely that the problem is only connected to your specific NVivo project file and not the application. Here´s how you can access the Sample Project in Windows and in Mac.
If it doesn't happen in the Sample Project, please go to File->Help-> Compact and Repair project and try to fix the project file.
If you still can't open your corrupted project, please create a copy of your project file and save in on your desktop. Then create a new blank project and import the desktop copy of your project into it. This will attempt to fix any database indexing issues that may exist.
If NVivo crashes while opening the Sample Project, try reinstalling NVivo with your antivirus software disabled.
If steps 1) and 2) didn´t solve the problem and step 3) helped you to identify where the problem is located, please submit a support request and provide a screenshot of the error message(s) that you receive.