Export Course Data From Canvas

Quick Links: | Prerequisites | Instructions | Troubleshooting |

Canvas allows instructors to export several types of data from a course for offline use, backup, or migration. Exporting the gradebook produces a CSV spreadsheet of student scores that can be archived, analyzed, or used as part of a final grade workflow. Downloading student submissions produces a ZIP file containing the actual files students turned in for a single assignment, which is useful for offline grading or record-keeping. Exporting course content produces an IMS Common Cartridge (.imscc) package containing your assignments, quizzes, pages, files, and modules, which you can keep as a backup or import into another Canvas course or LMS. This article covers all three exports for a Canvas course you teach.

Prerequisites

• An instructor or TA role in the Canvas course you want to export data from.
• Software to open the resulting files: Microsoft Excel (or any spreadsheet/CSV reader) for the gradebook export, and a file archiver such as the built-in Windows or macOS extractor for the submissions ZIP.

Step-by-Step Instructions

There are several ways to export data from a Canvas course, depending on what you need:

• Export the gradebook to download all student scores as a CSV file. Use this when you need a spreadsheet of grades.
• Download student submissions to download the files students turned in for a specific assignment as a ZIP. Use this when you want to grade or review submissions offline.
• Export course content to download a backup of your course materials (assignments, quizzes, pages, files, modules, etc.) as an IMS Common Cartridge (.imscc) file. Use this when you want a backup, want to migrate the course to another Canvas account or LMS, or want to archive the course shell.

Export the Gradebook

To export all student scores as a CSV file, do the following:

1. From the Course Navigation menu, select Grades.
2. From the top of the gradebook, select the Export dropdown.
3. From the dropdown, select Export Entire Gradebook. If you have filters applied and only want the currently visible data, select Export Current Gradebook View instead.
4. Wait for Canvas to finish generating the file. The CSV will download automatically when ready.
5. Open the downloaded .csv file in Microsoft Excel or any CSV-compatible spreadsheet application.

You now have a CSV containing your students and their scores for every assignment in the course, which you can archive or use for offline analysis.

For full reference documentation, see the Canvas Instructor Guide on exporting grades

Download Student Submissions

To download all student submissions for a single assignment as a ZIP file, do the following:

1. From the Course Navigation menu, select Grades.
2. From the gradebook, locate the column for the assignment whose submissions you want to download and hover over the column header.
3. From the column header, select the Options icon (three dots).
4. From the menu, select Download Submissions.
5. Wait for the progress bar to finish. When the file is ready, select Click here to download to save the ZIP file to your computer.
6. Locate the downloaded ZIP file on your computer and extract it. On macOS, double-click the file. On Windows, right-click the file and select Extract All.

You now have a folder containing every student's most recent submission for that assignment, which you can review or grade offline. For individual assignments, each file is named with the student's last name first; for group assignments, each file is named with the group name. If anonymous grading is enabled on the assignment, student names are omitted from the file names.

See the Canvas Instructor Guide on downloading student submissions for more details.

Export Course Content

To export your course materials as an .imscc package, do the following:

1. From the Course Navigation menu, select Settings.
2. From the sidebar on the right, select Export Course Content.
3. Under Export Type, select Course. To export only quizzes, select Quizzes instead.
4. Select Create Export.
5. Wait for Canvas to package the course. Larger courses can take several minutes; you can leave the page and return later.
6. When the export finishes, select the New Export link to download the .imscc file to your computer.

You now have a portable backup of your course content. To inspect the contents without re-importing, you can drag the file into the Common Cartridge Viewer. To restore the content into a Canvas course, see the Canvas guide on importing a Canvas course export package.

Troubleshooting

• The gradebook CSV shows points instead of percentages for individual assignments. This is by design in Canvas. Only the Total column reflects the gradebook's display setting; individual assignment columns always export as raw points.
• A student is missing from the submissions ZIP. Students with concluded enrollments are not included in submission downloads. Submission types other than file uploads, text entries, website URLs, and Google Docs are also not included in the ZIP.
• Only one submission appears for a student who submitted multiple times. Canvas only includes the most recent submission in the bulk ZIP. To review previous attempts, open the assignment in SpeedGrader.
• The download is slow or appears stuck. Large courses or assignments with many file uploads can take several minutes to package. Leave the page open until the download link or progress bar completes.
• I can't open the .imscc file. IMS Common Cartridge files are not designed to be opened like a normal document; they are ZIP archives of XML and course assets meant to be imported back into an LMS. To browse the contents in your web browser, use the Common Cartridge Viewer. To use the content in another course, import the file into Canvas.