Transcripts for ATLAS.ti

Transcribe an interview or a focus group in SonaFact, name the speakers, then export a file that ATLAS.ti imports as a transcript linked to the recording, ready to code by speaker.

There is no live connection between the two programs: you export a file from SonaFact and import it into ATLAS.ti. These exports are included in every plan.

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.

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.

Import into ATLAS.ti, step by step

In SonaFact, export the file named “MAXQDA · ATLAS.ti”.
On Windows, choose Home > Add Documents > Import Transcript; on Mac, Documents > Import Transcript…. Select the file and the recording it belongs to.
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.

The full guide for NVivo, MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti, with tips on speaker names and clean verbatim →

Sources

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

For researchers →
For students →

Other integrations

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