You can’t find or open your NVivo project or your project data is missing? You try to open a project file from the NVivo recent projects list, but receive the error that the file "no longer exists"?
The below information applies to NVivo 15, NVivo 14, NVivo R1, NVivo 12 and NVivo 11 (Windows and Mac).
NVivo project files
NVivo project files are stored in the Documents folder (by default) of the computer where NVivo is installed. NVivo - Windows project files have .nvp extension and NVivo – Mac project files have a .nvpx extension. These project files are external to the NVivo application which means that even if NVivo application is removed/uninstalled from your computer, the project files (.nvp or .nvpx files) are unaffected. NVivo project files are similar to .docx or .doc MS Word files, where the actual files themselves are external to the application and the files can be transferred or sent to other computers/users.
If you are using NVivo on Windows, and NVivo is crashing when opening the project file (.nvp file), or crashing when opening a certain project item such as a Code or a Source, we will suggest you ‘compact and repair’ the project.
NVivo project files
NVivo project files are stored in the Documents folder (by default) of the computer where NVivo is installed. NVivo - Windows project files have .nvp extension and NVivo – Mac project files have a .nvpx extension. These project files are external to the NVivo application which means that even if NVivo application is removed/uninstalled from your computer, the project files (.nvp or .nvpx files) are unaffected. NVivo project files are similar to .docx or .doc MS Word files, where the actual files themselves are external to the application and the files can be transferred or sent to other computers/users.
If you are using NVivo on Windows, and NVivo is crashing when opening the project file (.nvp file), or crashing when opening a certain project item such as a Code or a Source, we will suggest you ‘compact and repair’ the project.
Recent Projects List
When you open NVivo and click on the ‘Recent Projects List’ to open projects that you have recently worked on, NVivo opens the nvpx/nvp file from where it was last stored and accessed. If the file is no longer present in the location where it was last opened/saved, NVivo will not be able to open the file as NVivo can no longer “see” that file.
NVivo is unable to delete or move the project file from its location. Occasionally, a project file can be overwritten when another project with the same name is saved over an existing project file. NVivo displays a warning that you are about to overwrite the file and if the user inadvertently accepts the warning and choses to overwrite the file, the file will be overwritten and consequently, any previous work in that file will be lost irrecoverably. There can be other reasons where a file can be overwritten by another version of that file for example when Cloud storage application such as Google Drive, OneDrive etc. sync another version of the file and overwrite the file.
Recovery
If you are unable to find your project file, we would suggest you search your computer for all nvp/nvpx files to see if you are able to find any. You may also search your external backups for project files.
Since all project files are stored locally where the user choses to save them, the NVivo Support Team doesn’t have access to any user projects. The NVivo Support Team is also unable to recover a project that no longer exists or has been overwritten by an older/newer or a different copy irrespective of how the project file was overwritten.
NVivo Windows Recovery File
If you are using NVivo 15 Windows, NVivo 14 Windows, NVivo R1 Windows, NVivo 12 Windows or NVivo 11 Windows, you may have a recovery file that may be helpful in retrieving your work. Refer to the below for more information: