Deletion Policy for Old Canvas Courses
Deletion Policy for Old Canvas Courses: Starting Fall 2025:
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On October 1, 2025, regular Canvas course shells from AY 2014-15 will be permanently deleted.
- On the first of each month thereafter, another AY of very old Canvas course shells will be deleted.
- Moving forward, we will save regular Canvas course shells for 5 years.
If you want to, you can save any of your very old Canvas course shells. Learn how by having a one-to-one with Distance Education: submit a ticket
Course Deletion Timeline:
Oct 1, 2025: AY 2014-2015
Nov 1, 2025: AY 2015-2016
Dec 1, 2025: AY 2016-2017
Feb 1, 2025: AY 2017-2018
Mar 1, 2026: AY 2018-2019
Apr 1, 2026: AY 2019-2020
May 1, 2026: AY 2020-2021
How to Export and Download your Course from Canvas:
- Log into Canvas and go to your Course
- In the course dashboard, go to settings
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In settings, look to the right page menu and click on Export Course Content
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Click your Export Type
By default, the system will select "Course". These exports do not include the gradebook by default. If you only want the quizzes and not all the course content, you can select quiz only.
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Please wait while your export file is being generated. Export files are made as a IMSCC File.
Once complete, you will see the "New Export" link, which will be expressed in blue text. Click on the link to download the course materials
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You can now import the course contents into your course or save it into a secure location like a district provided computer, a personal computer or in your Microsoft OneDrive account. IMSCC files do not contain student information.
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To import into Canvas, please go to the course you want to import the course content to.
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When you are on the homepage of the course you want to import your materials to, go to the right side of the page and click on Import Existing Content.
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Once on this page, you want to go to the drop-down menu of Select Content Type and select Canvas Course Export Package.
- By default, all content is selected. You can change to specific content at the bottom, as well as convert to new quizzes and adjust events and due dates.
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Select + Add to Import Queue at the bottom of the page (red button) and the import will start.
- Once the progress port is complete, you will see a green Complete message under progress.
- Presto! Your course is now imported, and you can make corrections and changes as you like for the new term.
For more information, please refer to Canvas's instructor guide here: How do I export a Canvas course? - Instructure Community - 785
* Important Note* Your gradebook and any student submissions will NOT be included in the import. If you want to retain grades, you will need to separately download the gradebook.