Project Export & Import
Export & Download gives you your coded data in a format another tool can read. This page is different: it's a complete snapshot of the project itself — every document, code, coding decision, and analysis result — packaged into one .paidx file you can back up, move between accounts, or hand to someone else to open as their own copy.
.paidx file only opens in Paideias. It is not a QDA interchange format — NVivo, MAXQDA, Atlas.ti, Excel, and Word cannot read it, and there's nothing to double-click or preview outside the app. It's an encrypted backup of your whole project, and the only thing that can unpack it is Paideias' Import project button. If you need a file another tool can open, that's QDPX, CSV, or DOCX, not this.
Export and import, step by step
Two independent walkthroughs, side by side — click through each one yourself, or let them autoplay. Step 1 in each is the real app; step 2 illustrates what happens next on your computer, since a native download and an OS file picker live outside the browser tab and can't be screen-recorded from the page.
What's in the file
A .paidx export is a comprehensive archive — everything needed to reconstruct the project from nothing:
| Component | Included |
|---|---|
| Project metadata | Name, description, conceptual framework, creation date |
| All documents | The original uploaded transcripts and notes, full text |
| Codebook | Every code — names, definitions, and parent/sub-code hierarchy |
| All codings | Every coded passage, at every review status — approved, pending, and rejected |
| Coder attribution | Which coder applied or decided each coding |
| Agreement results | Any inter-coder agreement analyses you've run |
.paidx file is different — it's a full project backup, so it keeps pending and rejected suggestions too, exactly as your workspace has them.
Exporting a project
Make sure the project you want is active
The Current project box in the sidebar shows which project the Export button applies to. Switch projects from the Dashboard if needed.
Click Export
It's the small button next to your doc/code count in the sidebar, under the project name. It briefly reads "Encrypting…" while the file is packaged.
Save the file
Your browser downloads it as <project_name>.paidx. Pick somewhere you'll remember — a research folder or backup drive.
Importing a project
Go to the Workspaces Dashboard
The screen you land on after signing in.
Click Import project, top-right
It sits next to New project. Choose your .paidx file from your computer.
It opens automatically
Paideias unpacks the file and takes you straight into the restored project's Documents screen — fully populated, nothing left to configure.
.paidx file is rejected the same way, with a decryption-failure message instead.
How .paidx protection differs from your live data
Worth understanding precisely — a backup file does not carry the same protection as your working project:
- Your live project (see Your Encryption Key) is encrypted with a key derived from your personal passphrase. Nobody without that passphrase — including us — can read it.
- A
.paidxexport is encrypted with a fixed, app-level key built into Paideias itself, not your personal passphrase. This keeps the file from being plain readable JSON and locks it to genuine Paideias files — the app rejects anything else on import — but it is not end-to-end encryption tied to a secret only you know. Anyone with a copy of the Paideias source code has everything needed to decrypt any.paidxfile.
.paidx file like any other sensitive research file. Store it the way you'd store an unencrypted transcript backup — encrypted disk, access-controlled institutional storage — not a public or casually-shared folder. It's a convenient, portable backup format, not a substitute for keeping your recovery code safe, which is what actually protects your live data.
When to use this
Offline backup
Download periodically so a local copy exists if your connection drops, your account is compromised, or the service has an issue.
Sharing with someone outside your workspace
Send the .paidx file to anyone with a Paideias account — email, cloud drive, USB stick, doesn't matter — without adding them via Team Collaboration. They click Import project, pick the file, and get a full, independent copy immediately: same documents, same codebook, same codings, no waiting on your permission. This works because .paidx decryption doesn't depend on your passphrase or theirs — see how the encryption differs below before you send one anywhere sensitive.
Archiving completed research
Many institutions and funders require archived raw data as part of a data management plan. A .paidx file is a self-contained archive that meets that requirement.
Migrating between accounts
Switching institutions or starting a new account — export from the old one, import into the new one, and everything transfers.