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Import into NVivo, MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti

SonaFact exports transcripts laid out the way these programs read them: every utterance with its speaker and its time, so the text stays linked to the recording. Here is which file to choose and how to import it, program by program.

Written from the programs' documentation

These steps follow the import help that each program publishes, as we read it on 1 October 2026. We have not yet tried every import in every version of these programs. If something looks different in yours, or an import does not work, write to support@sonafact.com so we can correct the file or this page.

Menu and button names are given as they appear in the English version of each program. In a version in another language they may be translated.

Which file to choose

Open the transcript in SonaFact and click Export. The files for research software are listed separately from the other formats:

MAXQDA · ATLAS.ti

A Word file (.qda.docx) for MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti. Every utterance is its own paragraph: the speaker's name, a colon, the text, and a timestamp at the end.

MAXQDA · ATLAS.ti (VTT)

A WebVTT file (.qda.vtt) for MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti, with the speaker in every cue and exact start and end times.

NVivo (Windows)

A text file (.nvivo.txt) for NVivo on Windows: one line per utterance with the time span, the speaker and the text, separated by tabs.

NVivo (Mac)

A text file (.qda.txt) for NVivo on Mac, with the same paragraphs as the Word file.

These files carry no logo and no SonaFact line, because the programs would read any extra line as part of the conversation.

You will also need the recording: the programs link the transcript to the audio. Use your original file, or download the recording as MP3 with the Audio button next to Export.

MAXQDA

  1. In SonaFact, export the file named “MAXQDA · ATLAS.ti”.
  2. In MAXQDA, choose Import > Focus Group Transcripts and select the file. Every speaker becomes a code; in the dialog that follows you can merge speakers and pick their colours.
  3. MAXQDA recognises the timestamps and asks for the recording. Choose the audio file: the timestamps disappear from the text, and the transcript plays along with the recording.

Don't need the speakers as codes? Use Import > Transcripts instead, and the names stay in the text.

With the VTT file, choose Import > Transcripts > From VTT files. According to MAXQDA's documentation it identifies the speakers and inserts timestamps, but it does not describe how speaker names have to be written in the file. If the speakers are missing, use the Word file.

ATLAS.ti

  1. In SonaFact, export the file named “MAXQDA · ATLAS.ti”.
  2. On Windows, choose Home > Add Documents > Import Transcript; on Mac, Documents > Import Transcript…. Select the file and the recording it belongs to.
  3. To turn the speakers into codes, run Focus Group Coding on the document and choose the pattern name:. Untick any match that is not a speaker, such as a word followed by a colon in the middle of a sentence.

Tip: when the transcript and the recording have the same name and sit in the same folder, ATLAS.ti fills in the recording by itself. Rename the downloaded file to match, for example interview-03.docx next to interview-03.mp3.

With the VTT file, tick Code content with speakers while importing, and ATLAS.ti codes every passage with its speaker. The documentation does not say how speaker names have to be written in the file, so if they are missing, use the Word file.

ATLAS.ti Web: according to ATLAS.ti, the web version does not support transcripts synchronised with audio or video. You can add the Word file as an ordinary text document, without the link to the recording.

NVivo (Windows)

  1. In SonaFact, export the file named “NVivo (Windows)”.
  2. Import the recording into your NVivo project first and open it: the transcript is added to audio that is already in the project.
  3. On the Edit tab, click Import Rows and select the file.
  4. Set Create one transcript row for each to Line (Tab Delimited Line), and untick File includes header row: the file has no header.
  5. Map the fields: Field 1 to Timespan, Field 2 to a new field you name Speaker, and Field 3 to Content. Then import.

If the recording already has a transcript, NVivo adds the imported rows to it rather than replacing it.

NVivo (Mac)

  1. In SonaFact, export the file named “NVivo (Mac)”. NVivo for Mac imports transcripts from .txt files only.
  2. Import the recording into your project first. Then, on the Import tab, choose Files > Transcript Rows and select the file.
  3. NVivo puts the text before “: ” into the Speaker column and reads the timestamp at the end of each paragraph as the moment that passage ends.

This works only while the recording has no transcript yet. NVivo's help also advises against colons in the transcript text: if a passage lands in the wrong column, look for a colon followed by a space in it.

Before you export

Name the speakers first

Rename the speakers in SonaFact to names or participant codes, such as P01. The programs build their speaker codes from these names, and in SonaFact one rename changes the name everywhere.

No colon in a name

The programs find the speaker by the colon after the name, so SonaFact replaces a colon inside a speaker's name with a space.

Clean verbatim, if your method allows it

With clean verbatim switched on, the file leaves out “um”, “uh” and stuttered repeats. Your transcript in SonaFact stays word for word, so you can always export the verbatim version as well.

Sources

The help pages these steps are based on, read on 1 October 2026:

For researchers →
Integrations →

NVivo, MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti are trademarks of their respective owners. SonaFact is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.