Importing Content in Canvas using the Course Import Tool

Importing Content in Canvas

As you set up your course(s) for a new semester, you may want to import (copy) course content from a prior term. Importing a previous course is a great option for faculty who have already taught the course before and wish to migrate their existing course content over to the next semester. You will want to ensure your course is empty before importing an entire course. Imports are additive, which means new content is added onto existing content.

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What if I want to copy content from a different course I did not teach previously?

Courses cannot be copied by faculty who do not own the course content. If you need a course copy that is not your original content, you must seek permission from the owner first, and then submit an Ed Tech Support Ticket to have the content copied into your course.

To get started, log in to your course where you will be importing content into. This is the course that you will wipe clean (Canvas refers to this as resetting a course).

Resetting Course Content

  1. In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.
  2. In the sidebar located on the right side of your screen, click the Reset Course Content link. A pop-up window with additional information will appear.
  3. Read through the information displayed, and click the red Reset Course Content button.
The "Reset Course Content" screen will clean out a Canvas course so that instructors can start with a new, fresh course to build content.
Within your course Settings screen, click on the (2) Reset Course Content link, and then click on the red (3) Reset Course Content button.

Your course will be reset, and the CCS Template will be copied into your course automatically.

Importing a Previous Course into a Current Course

  1. In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.
  2. In the sidebar located on the right side of your screen, click on Import Course Content.
  3. In the Content Type drop-down list, select Copy a Canvas Course.
Select "Copy a Canvas Course" from the "Content Type" drop-down menu. You will then be prompted to search for the course you want to copy into your current course.
Use the Copy a Canvas Course function to import (copy) content from one course to another.
  1. In the Search for a course area, use the drop-down list to Select a course or the Course name text box to type in a course name, a course number, or a CourseID number.  Select a course from a past semester to copy into the course that you are currently logged into.
    • Some users may not see the Select a course drop-down list.  This is because the user has access to over 100 courses in Canvas.
    • The CourseID number can be found in the URL of a Canvas course. Example: https://collegeforcreativestudies.instructure.com/courses/#### where #### is the CourseID number
  2. Either:
    • Choose the All Content radio button to import (copy) all content.
    • Choose the Select specific content radio button if you only want to import (copy) parts of a past course into your current course.
  3. If you want to adjust dates, select the Adjust events and due dates checkbox.
  4. Click the Import button.
    • If you chose to Select specific content, you will be able to pick which content to import (copy).

Your course import will be added under the heading Current Jobs. You may leave this screen while the course import is running. Return to the Import Course Content screen to check on the status. Depending on the size of your course, your import may take several minutes to process.

Reviewing Your Course Content

After importing your course content, you will need to check your course for accuracy. Check the following:

  • Course Homepage is correct
  • Assignments have imported
  • Assignment Groups add up to 100%
  • Modules imported correctly
  • Adjust any Assignment due dates using the Canvas Bulk Update tool.

Additional Resources