M I G RA TI N G COU RS E F I L ES FRO M B L A C KB O A RD TO C A N VA S – FO R M A C

The steps presented in this document illustrate the recommended process for exporting course files

from Blackboard and importing course files into your Canvas course. This recommended process is not

for copying entire Blackboard courses into Canvas. Additionally, take note that storage and file upload

quotas for Canvas are as follows: (1) total course file storage is 500 MB and (2) maximum upload file

size is 50 MB. Here is a quick list of what the following steps will focus on in this process.

Steps 1 through 9 focus on exporting course files from Blackboard to your local desktop.

Step 10 simply recommends that you take an opportunity to create a logical folder structure to

reorganize your files for easy access.

Steps 11 through 20 focus on importing course files from the desktop to your Canvas course.

1. Log into Blackboard and navigate to the course from which you wish to export the course files.

2. From the main course menu under the Course Management section, expand the Files option and

click on the link provided as illustrated below.

3. With your files displayed, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Show All button. If the

Show All button does not appear, then you are currently viewing all of your Blackboard course files.

4. Place a check mark in the “select all” box (A), then click on the Download Package button (B).

5. Choose the Save File option, then OK.

6. From the Dock Menu at the bottom of the screen, click on the Finder icon, click on the Downloads

folder (A), and then right-click on the imported zip file (B).

7. From the sub-menu select Open With (A), and then select Archive Utility (B).

8. You will notice that a new folder with the same name as the .zip file has been added to your

Downloads folder. This contains all of the exported Blackboard files from the .zip file. Drag and drop

this folder to the Desktop.

9. As a result, you now have a folder on your local computer with the files exported from your

Blackboard course as shown below.

10. If necessary, take some time to:

Delete or remove any files that you no longer need for you course. Older versions of the

syllabus, course schedule, outlines, and images are common examples.

Consider creating folders and place files inside these folders. For example, folders can be

created to organize files by document type, instructional units/modules, or other categories

of your choosing.

11. When done organizing, right-click on folder (A) containing your course files from Blackboard, select

the Compress “Name of Folder” option (B).

12. As a result, a zip file has been created in the same location as the folder (i.e. on the desktop in this

example).

13. Log into Canvas and navigate to the course in which you wish to import the course files.

14. From your main course navigation menu on the left side of the screen, click on Settings.

15. On the right side of the screen, click on Import Content into this Course.

16. Select the Unzip .zip file into folder option from the Content Type dropdown menu as shown below.

17. Click on the Browse button and navigate to your desktop and select the zip file created back in Step

#12.

18. In the Upload to dropdown menu, select course files, and then click on Import.

NOTE: The current maximum Canvas course storage quota is 500 MB.

19. In the Current Jobs section, you will notice a File Import item that has the status of Running. After a

few moments, this status may change to Failed. Ignore this Failed status and proceed to the next

step below.

20. From the main course navigation menu, click on Files. You now have your Blackboard files inside

your Canvas course as illustrated below.