Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

How do I copy a Canvas course into a new course shell?

If you are allowed to create Canvas courses, you can copy a course and create a new course shell. Copied courses are added to the same subaccount as the course that is copied.

Courses should be copied when you want to use or repurpose previously created content including course settings, syllabus, assignments, modules, files, pages, discussions, quizzes, and question banks. You can also copy or adjust events and due dates as well as bulk migrate quizzes from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes. You can also copy or adjust events and due dates. Not all content can be copied as part of a course.

When you copy a Canvas course using the Copy this Course button, you will be added to the course as an instructor automatically.

For more information, visit our guide about Course Import Tool.

Notes:

Course imports may not include all content. For more details, please see the import content section of the Canvas Basics Guide.
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 the Copy this Course button does not appear in Course Settings, this feature has been restricted by your institution. However, if you already have access to a course shell, you can copy a course through the Course Import Tool.
Copies of existing Canvas courses and course files reference the original Canvas course file quota and do not count against course file quotas.
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.
If you are unable to find your course, it may be located under Courses in the Global Navigation.
When a course is copied that includes a new quiz with an item bank, the item bank is shared with the new course automatically.
To prevent 0s (zero grades) from being automatically entered into the Gradebook when importing content into a course with a late/missing policy set up, it is recommended that you temporarily disable your late/missing policy before importing the content. You can re-enable it once the import is complete.

00:00: How do I copy a Canvas course into a new course shell?

00:04: In Global Navigation, click the Courses link, then click the name of the

00:08: course.

00:10: In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.

00:13: Click the Copy this Course link.

00:16: Enter the name and course code for the new course, the name displays

00:20: on the course homepage. And in conversations the course code displays

00:24: at the top of the course navigation menu and in the course card in the dashboard

00:29: course, code is also referred to as the reference code

00:33: or short name.

00:35: Select a Term. When a term is selected, the Start date and End date

00:39: fields automatically default to the dates of the selected term. To modify

00:43: the term dates, contact your institution's admin.

00:47: If an instructor is time zone, differs from the courses time zone, both the local

00:51: time zone and the course, time zone display.

00:55: To import all content from the course, select the All Content radio button.

00:59: If you want to select specific content, click the Select specific

01:03: content radio button

01:06: If allowed by your institution, you can bulk migrate existing quizzes into

01:10: New Quizzes by clicking the Convert content to New Quizzes checkbox.

01:15: If your institution enables the quiz migration feature, question banks

01:20: linked via a question group in Classic Quizzes will migrate to New Quizzes.

01:23: If the quiz migration feature is not enabled by your institution, questions

01:28: from question banks must be individually added before migrating to New Quizzes.

01:33: After the copy or import is complete, all Question Banks converted to Item

01:38: Banks appear on the Item Banks page of the new course, filtered under This

01:42: Course. The Convert content to New Quizzes

01:45: checkbox Tooltip text is updated.

01:48: If you want to adjust the due dates associated with the course events and assignments,

01:52: click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox.

01:56: You can copy settings from a blueprint

01:59: course into another blueprint course. Copying blueprint settings

02:03: applies the same lock preferences to objects as the original blueprint course.

02:07: To copy settings from a blueprint

02:09: course, click the Import Blueprint Course settings checkbox.

02:14: Click the Create Course button.

02:17: The Content imports section displays the status of your import. Running

02:22: reports display a progress bar indicating the time remaining to complete

02:26: the import.

02:28: If you chose to select specific content in your course, the current

02:32: job will show as Waiting for Select, which means you must select the content

02:36: you want to import. The import may also display other

02:40: status indicators as part of the import process.

02:45: View the content from any completed imports by accessing any link

02:49: in Course Navigation.

02:51: This guide covered how to copy a Canvas course into a new course

02:56: shell.

Open Course

Open Course

In Global Navigation, click the Courses link [1], then click the name of the course [2].

Open Settings

Open Settings

In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.

Copy Course Content

Copy Course Content

Click the Copythis Course link.

Create Course Details

Create Course Details

Enter the Name [1] and Course Code [2] for the new course. The name displays on the Course Home Page and in Conversations. The course code displays at the top of the Course Navigation menu and in the course card in the dashboard. Course code is also referred to as the reference code or short name.

Select a Term [3]. When a term is selected, the Start date [4] and End date fields [5] automatically default to the dates of the selected term. To modify the term dates, contact your institution's admin.

If an instructor’s time zone differs from the course’s time zone, both the local time zone and the course time zone display [6].

Note: If the current course includes course override dates in Course Settings, the Start and End date fields populate with those dates.

Select Migration Content

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; this action cannot be cancelled.

Bulk Migrate Existing Quizzes as New Quizzes

If allowed by your institution, you can bulk migrate existing quizzes into New Quizzes by clicking the Convert content to New Quizzes checkbox.

If your institution enables the quiz migration feature, question banks linked via a question group in Classic Quizzes will migrate to New Quizzes. If the quiz migration feature is not enabled by your institution, questions from question banks must be individually added before migrating to New Quizzes.

Convert Quizzes

After the copy or import is complete, all Question Banks converted to Item Banks appear on the Item Banks page of the new course, filtered under This Course. The Convert content to New Quizzes checkbox Tooltip text is updated.

Notes:

New Quizzes does not include a survey feature. Therefore, surveys migrated from Classic Quizzes come over as standard quizzes in New Quizzes.
After migration to New Quizzes, multiple dropdown questions display as matching questions.
Text No Question questions migrate to New Quizzes as Stimulus questions. An instructor must add a question in order for it to display in a quiz.
Question groups with manually created questions will migrate as item banks in New Quizzes.
If a quiz is migrated multiple times, Canvas uses smart merging to decipher the question bank content that should be retained. This process helps ensure all content is retained, such as in cases where multiple users may be making edits to a quiz at the same time.
Practice quizzes from Classic Quizzes can be migrated to New Quizzes. Once migrated, by default, the practice quizzes are displayed as zero points possible and are hidden from the Gradebook and Grades page.

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.

Copy Blueprint Course Settings

You can copy settings from a blueprint course into another blueprint course. Copying blueprint settings applies the same lock preferences to objects as the original blueprint course. To copy settings from a blueprint course, click the Import Blueprint Course settings checkbox.

Create Course

Click the Create Course button.

View Content Imports

View Current Jobs

The Content imports 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.

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

Canvas LMS Instructor Guide

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