How to use Auto Coding and Smart search

Key takeaways

Search across documents for keywords, phrases, or related terms
Automatically code all matching results at once
Use synonyms, Boolean operators, wildcards, and inflected forms to expand searches
Review and refine results before or after coding
Available in ATLAS.ti Windows, Mac, and Web

Who this article is for

This article is for researchers working with text documents in ATLAS.ti who want to speed up coding by searching and coding repeated content automatically.

Use auto coding and smart search in ATLAS.ti Windows and Mac

Open the text search tool:
- In ATLAS.ti Windows: Go to the Search & Code tab and select Text Search
- In ATLAS.ti Mac: Select Code > Search & Code > Text Search
Select the documents or document groups you want to search.
Choose the search scope:
- Paragraphs
- Sentences
- Words
- Exact matches
Enter a search term.
Optionally:
- Add synonyms from the suggestion list
- Combine search terms using AND or OR
- Enable Inflected forms to include variations like plurals or verb tenses
- Search exact phrases using quotation marks, for example "limited liability corporations"
Run the search:
- In Windows, click Show Results
- In Mac, click Continue
Review the matching segments in the results window.
To code all results:
- Select all matches (Ctrl+A on Windows or Cmd+A on Mac)
- Click Apply Codes
- Enter a code name
- Click the plus icon

You can also review and code results individually using the coding icon.

Video tutorials:

Use auto coding and smart search in ATLAS.ti Web

Open a document.
Click the Search with the magnifying glass icon at the top of the document.
Enter the word, phrase, or topic you want to search for.
Optionally click the search term to add matching terms or synonyms.
Choose how results should be quoted:
- Quote exact match
- Quote sentences
- Quote paragraphs
Click Quote results to create quotations for all matches.
Apply a code and optionally a comment to all generated quotations.

You can review the generated quotations afterward and delete any irrelevant ones.

Search tip: You can combine search terms. Just type in a new word and press Enter to add it.

Common issues

Too many irrelevant results. Try:
- Searching exact phrases with quotation marks
- Narrowing the scope to sentences or exact matches
Expected words are missing. Check whether:
- Inflected forms are enabled
- Synonyms are available for your language
- The correct documents were selected
Auto coded quotations are too large. The quotation size depends on the selected scope:
- Paragraphs create larger quotations
- Exact matches create smaller quotations

When to contact support

Contact support if:

Text Search does not return expected results
Synonym suggestions are missing unexpectedly
Auto coding fails or freezes
Search tools are unavailable in your project