Importing your course from a past semester
This documentation is also available via a How to Quickstart video:
How to use course material in multiple courses
There is currently not a way to share one set of materials between multiple courses, but you can easily copy content from one course to another. You must have access to the courses you want to copy to and from.
How to copy content from one Canvas course to another
From within the course you want to copy content to, click Settings in the course navigation sidebar.
2. Click Import Content into this Course in the sidebar to the right.
3. From the Content Type drop-down, select Copy a Canvas Course.
4. Select the course you would like to copy content from in the Search for a course drop-down or type the name into the text field. Note, that you will only be able to transfer from courses in which you are enrolled as a "Teacher" or "Designer".
5. If you want to import all of the content from the course, click the All content radio button [1].
If you want to select specific content, such as only assignments or quizzes, click the Select specific content radio button [2].
6. If you want to adjust the due dates associated with the course events and assignments, click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox. You have two options to choose from: Shift dates and Remove dates.
Click the calendar icon and select the beginning date of the course you are importing [1]. Select the new date you want the course to begin [2]. Then select the end date of the course you are importing [3], as well as the new date you want the course to end [4].
You can also choose to remove dates from your course.
Dates will be removed from the following features:
- Assignments (due, availability, and peer-review dates)
- Announcements (post delay dates)
- Quizzes (due, availability, and show correct answers dates)
- Calendar events (start and end dates)
- Modules (unlock dates)
7. Click the Import button. The Current Jobs menu will display the status of your import.
8. Import statuses include pre-processing, queued, running, completed, and failed.
- If you imported the course and did not select specific content, Canvas will show any issues that occurred with the import. Click the issues link [1] to view them.
- If you imported the course and selected specific content, Canvas will ask you to select the content you want to import. Click the Select Content button [2
9. To import all content for a content type, click the checkbox next to the content name. If the content type is a group containing multiple items, Canvas will automatically select all items within the group.
10. Click Select Content to begin the import process.
11. While your content is being imported, you will see a status of Running and a progress bar.
Once the import is complete, the content will appear in the course.
How to copy files/folders from one Canvas course to another
In addition to copying files using the method above, you can also copy files and folders from the Files section of any course. Just as above, you must have access to the courses you want to copy to and from.
Click Files in the course navigation menu on the left.
2. Click see files for all your courses/groups in the bottom right corner.
3. You will now see folders for each of your courses. Including your personal files folder at the top named the same as your name.
4. To copy files, drag them from the right panel to the folder in the left panel.
