You can copy course content such as assignments, modules, pages, and discussions from previous Canvas courses and/or sandboxes into your existing courses. You only have access to copy content from courses in which you are enrolled as a Teacher, TA, or Designer.

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. Additionally, imported assignments will retain their assignment posting policy from the original course.

There are two ways to find the 'Import Content' wizard - on the Home Page and under Settings.

Home Page

Import Existing Content from Home page

Click Import Existing Content .

If you do not see 'Import Existing Content' on the right side of the Home page, open Settings:

Course copy from Settings > Import Course Content

Click Settings [1] from left course navigation and then click Import Course Content [2] from right side of Course Details page.

Select Content Type

In the Content Type drop-down menu, select the Copy a Canvas Course option.

Note: If you have a Canvas course export package from someone else that you want to use in Canvas, or you have previously exported a course , you can import the course as a Canvas course export package. An export package is imported as an IMSCC file.

Search for a Course

In the Search for a course drop-down menu [1], select the course you would like to access. Courses are ordered alphabetically by most recent term. You can also choose to include completed courses by selecting the completed courses checkbox [2]. The Include completed courses checkbox is selected by default.

To search for a course by name, enter the name in the Course Name field [3]. Click the name of the course when it appears.

Note: If you have access to more than 100 courses, the search page only displays the Course Name field.

Select Migration Content

To import all content from the course, select the All Content radio button [1].

If you want to select specific content, click the Select specific content radio button [2].

Note: If you select the specific content option, you are 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.

Adjust Events and Due Dates

If you want to adjust the due dates associated with the course events and assignments, click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox. You can Shift dates or Remove dates.

Shift Dates

If you want to shift dates in the course, select the Shift dates radio button.

Set Beginning and End Dates

In the Beginning Date field [1], enter the starting date of the course you are importing. You can also click the Calendar icon to select a date. In the Change to field [2], enter the new date when you want the course to begin, or click the Calendar icon.

In the Ending Date field [3], enter the end date of the course you are importing, or click the Calendar icon to select a date. In the Change to field [4], enter the new date when you want the course to end.

Canvas will take the new start and end dates for the course and distribute all assignments with due dates as evenly as possible across the course dates. If the imported course and the new course vary in course length, assignments will be assigned proportionally. Once the course is imported, you can easily confirm and adjust any assignment dates using the Calendar.

Notes:

If the course where you are importing the content contains course override dates in Course Settings, those dates will be automatically pre-populated in the Change to fields.
The course participation start and end dates will be automatically set to the dates set in the Change to fields when adjusting dates in a course import. However, if course participation start and end dates have already been set for the course, course participation start and end dates will not be changed.

Create Substitution Dates

You can also explicitly define day substitutions to adjust for changing class schedules, such as moving all assignments on Mondays to Tuesdays. To create a date substitution, click the Substitution button [1].

In the Move from field [2], select the day of the week; in the To field [3], select the new day of the week for the substitution.

To remove a substitution, click the Remove icon [4].

You can create as many substitution dates as necessary. Canvas will take the date substitutions and adjust assignments with due dates appropriately across the course dates.

Remove Dates

If you want to remove all associated due dates in the course, select the Remove dates radio button.

Dates will be removed from the following features:

Assignments (due, availability, and peer-review dates)
Announcements (delayed post dates)
Quizzes (due, availability, and show correct answers dates)
Calendar events (start and end dates)
Modules (unlock dates)
Files (availability dates)

Import Course

Click the Import button.

View Current Jobs

The Current Jobs section displays the status of your import. Running reports display a progress bar indicating the time remaining to complete the import [1].

If you chose to select specific content in your course, the current job will show as Waiting for Select [2], which means you must select the content you want to import.

The import may also display other status indicators as part of the import process. Learn more about course import statuses.

View the content from any completed imports by accessing any link in Course Navigation.