Import Previous Canvas Course

You can copy previously used Canvas course content such as assignments, modules, pages, and discussions into a new course. You can only copy course content from previous courses where you are listed as the Teacher role in the course.

Things to know about importing previous Canvas course content

  • Importing a course more than once may have unintended consequences. If you import content into a new course, edit the content in the new course, and later import the previous content again, the imported content will override the existing content.
  • If you copy all content or include course settings in selected content, the grade posting policy from the original course will override the grade posting policy in the new course. The participation dates from the original course will override the participation dates in the new course. Additionally, imported assignments will retain their assignment posting policy and participation dates from the original course.
  • When a course is copied that includes a new quiz with an item bank, the item bank is shared with the new course automatically.
  • Course imports may not actually import all content. 

How to import a previous Canvas course

  1. Navigate to the newly created Canvas Course.
  2. In the Canvas course Home page, click Import Existing Content.
  3. In the Search for a course drop-down menu, select the course you would like to import. 
    • Courses are ordered alphabetically by most recent term. 
    • If the search page only displays the Course Name field, enter the name of the previous Canvas course or the enter the course ID number. Select the name of the course when it appears.
  4. Select the All content or the Select specific content radio button.
  5. Select the Adjust events and due dates checkbox to adjust the due dates to help avoid assignments being flagged late in your gradebook.
    • Select Shift dates option. You will then enter dates from old course term to match the new term dates as best as possible.
    • Select Remove dates option. This will remove all associated due dates from assignments in the course.
  6. Click Import to begin the import process. You can leave the page while Canvas is importing the course material.
Note: If you selected the specific content option, you will be required to select the content you want to import after you review the remaining page options. After you start importing the content, the import selection cannot be canceled.  
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