[ARCHIVED] Record/Upload Media vs. File Upload

[bwaters]

I have noticed something peculiar. When I upload a media file by dragging it to the Files area in my course the file shows up in the directory as one would expect. However, when I upload the same file into a page via the Record/Upload Media the file does not show up in the files directory. I think I read somewhere that files uploaded into a page via the second method do not count toward the storage limit set for a course. Can anyone tell me if this is correct, or perhaps explain why the file seems to act differently depending on how it is uploaded?

Thanks!

[kblack · Accepted solution]

Hi  @bwaters  - You are correct, sir! The recorded files do not count against your file space quota in Canvas, which by default is set to 500MB and can be seen at the bottom of your Files listing in a course site.  This question has come up a few times in this Community in the past, and a nice overview actually appears in this user blog post: Course Storage Report and Quotas .  There are, however, two "official" Canvas documents that I can think of that spell this out:

• A PDF that is linked from this page: Canvas File Quotas PDF  
• More specifically to your question, the Canvas Media Comparison PDF that is linked at the top of this page: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10668-421254356 

The latter spells out the information on the media files that you ask about, though looking at it again just now I got a laugh out of the File Saved column for what you are asking about, which states that the files are saved "Nowhere"!  Well, clearly they're somewhere or else we couldn't be viewing them!  (Perhaps that's all on a "need to know" basis and, well.....we don't need to know! Either that or it will make a great topic at a philosophy round table.)  

But hopefully those links will help dispel at least some of the mystery, Bill!