Copying Course Content in Canvas

There are multiple ways to copy course content in Canvas.

Using the Import Existing Content function is helpful for:

• Selecting specific content you want while leaving old, unused files behind
• Changing all of your course due dates at one time. 

To Import Existing Content into your Canvas Course:

1. Access Canvas from the Chico State portal. From your Global Navigation menu, select Courses, then locate the course that says Fall 2023 for the Term.

• Your Fall 2023 course is shown with Fall 2023 under the term. See Anatomy of a Canvas Course ID for more information. 
• If you are having trouble seeing all your courses, and want to create shortcuts on your dashboard, refer to instructions for organize your courses on your Canvas dashboard. 

2. From your course menu, select Home. 

3. From the right-sidebar, select Import Course Content.  

4. On the next page, select the drop-down menu and select Copy a Canvas Course.  

5. In the Search for a Course box type the name of the course containing the content you want to copy.
   This will pull up only your courses. Once you begin typing, it will display a list of courses that fit your search criteria. Select the course from this list.  

6. Under Content, select All Content or choose Select specific content. 

7. From Options, select Adjust Events and Due Dates. 
   At minimum, consider setting the due dates to be the first week of your semester. Then you can fine tune and adjust dates using Canvas's Assignment Date editing tool.  

8. Select Import. (Don't worry. You are not actually performing the import yet.) 
   
   

8. From the Current Jobs area, choose Select Content. 

9. From the Select Content window, select each thing you want to copy. You can expand your modules (by selecting Modules) and select individual modules. 

 As a general guideline,  TLP recommends selecting everything EXCEPT Files. 
Leaving Files behind helps keep the junk behind.  

10. Reset your Home page (if needed) 

• If you copied a custom Home page from a prior term, and want to use that custom Home page in your Fall 2023 class, (instead of the default Homepage that comes with the Chico State template) you will need to set your custom home page as the Front page after the course copy.  
  • For a video tutorial - Setting Your Canvas Home Page (1 min).
• If you want to use the default Home page that comes with the Chico State template, there is nothing you need to do, other than your standard editing to include your own name, email, photo, etc. Refer to the article Editing the your Canvas Course Home Page for helpful tips.