Remove coding

If you change your mind about something you have coded, you can uncode it. This can be done either from the reference—the data file with the coded content (or an entire coded file)—or from the code.

Remove coding from the currently selected code

When you work with a code it becomes the 'currently selected code' and is displayed on the Quick Coding bar at the bottom of Detail View.

If you are coding a file or its content and would like to uncode from the currently selected code:

1. Select the content or file you want to uncode.
2. In the Quick Coding bar, click the Uncode from current codes button on the right.

NOTE   To indicate that uncoding is successful, a confirmation message is briefly displayed in the NVivo status bar.

Uncode content from a data file

To remove coding from selected content within a data file:

1. Open the file in the Detail View and click in it to give it the focus. In the Detail View toolbar, turn on the appropriate Highlight and/or Coding Stripes option , to show coded content.
2. Select the content you want to uncode.
3. In the ribbon, click Uncode.
   If it is there, click the code you want to remove in Recent Codes—otherwise, click Uncode in the menu to select the code or codes you want to remove.

Uncode a file from the file

To remove coding from a file that has been coded in its entirety:

1. Select the file in List View.
2. On the Home tab click Uncode.
   If it is there, click the code you want to remove in Recent Codes—otherwise, click Uncode in the menu to select the code or codes you want to remove.

Remove a reference or part of a reference from a code

1. Open the code.
2. Select the content you want to remove from the code.
3. On the Code tab, click Uncode From This Code.

Remove coding from intersecting content

Where content has been coded to more than one code, you can remove one of the codes (just where the coding overlaps) across your whole project. For example, early in a project you might have coded content to Alternative energy. Later, you code these references on to finer themes Wind power and Solar power, and now want to remove the coding to Alternative energy (wherever it overlaps with Wind power and Solar power).

1. In the List View, select the code you want to remove (call it code 1—this would be Alternative energy in the example above).

2. On the Home tab, in the Uncode menu, click Uncode Intersecting Content.
   The Select source project items dialog box opens.

3. Select the codes and/or cases (call them codes 2 & 3) for which you want to remove intersecting coding to code 1.
   In our example, you would select Wind power and Solar power.

4. Optionally refine code removal so it only applies to coding that you did—Current User—or that selected users did. Otherwise, leave at All Users.

5. Click OK.
   Content coded to both code 1 and code 2 or code 3 has the coding to code 1 removed.
   (In the example, content coded to both Alternative energy and Wind power, or Alternative energy and Solar power, has the coding to Alternative energy removed. Content coded to Alternative energy that is not also coded to Wind power or Solar power is not affected.)

Remove coding using coding stripes

When coding stripes are displayed for an item in the Detail View, you can uncode from the coding stripes.

1. Open the item.
2. Turn on coding stripes—on the item's tab in the ribbon, click Coding Stripes and select a coding stripe option.
3. Select the stripe for the reference you want to uncode and open the context menu—click Uncode.