[ARCHIVED] "496% used of 52.4MB" - Why 496% vs. 0%-100%?

[wbutterly]

I could not upload any content of any kind and found out that my account "Files" was full. I was hoping to get clarity on what is up with the "496% used of 52.4 MB", and another instructor was having the same issue, his said "552% used of 52.4MB", again what is up with a high percentage number instead of 0%-100%?

[James · Accepted solution]

@wbutterly 

I'm not sure of the question you're wanting an answer to, so I'll try to answer both.

You might be asking why 496% is more than 100%. The answer is that you have used 496% of the available quota. It's simple math: Usage / Quota * 100%. As for why it got so much bigger than 100% and didn't stop at 100%, Canvas allows you to upload certain types of files that count against the quota but they can be uploaded anyway. Then, when you go to upload a file that counts against the quota but doesn't get the free pass, it won't let you do it.

The question might be why it's more than 100% and what you can do about it. In that case, look at what Chris @Chris_Hofer wrote, but if you want to do some troubleshooting yourself without involving local support, you can look at the files yourself.

Since the quota is 52.4MB, it's likely that you're using the user storage within Canvas rather than the course storage. This can happen when you send lots of attachments as messages or do media comments. I have seen faculty who like to large powerpoint or pdf files to their students via message rather than putting them in the course. This caused problems for faculty and it caused problems for the students back when we had an email system with a relatively small quota (150MB) because it didn't take much to fill up their quotas (people are bad about cleaning out their email).

If you go to Account > Files > My Files, look through the different folders for either lots of files or large files. You can sort any column by clicking on the name at the top. It's the size column that will do you the most good. If you find the cause, then you can delete most of the files.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello there, @wbutterly ...

Without being able to see your folders/files in your Canvas account, this might be a little hard to troubleshoot here in the Community.  Have you tried reaching out to the Help Desk staff at Instruture?  They would be able to log in and see exactly what might be going on and why those percentages are well beyond the 100%.  You can contact the Help Desk staff by clicking on the "Help" icon on the left-hand side global navigation.  More information here: How do I contact Canvas Support? - Canvas Community.  Please come back to this topic to provide and update for us so that we know how this issue was resolved...thanks!  Take care...be well.

[wbutterly · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your reply! :0)

[James · Accepted solution]

@wbutterly 

I'm not sure of the question you're wanting an answer to, so I'll try to answer both.

You might be asking why 496% is more than 100%. The answer is that you have used 496% of the available quota. It's simple math: Usage / Quota * 100%. As for why it got so much bigger than 100% and didn't stop at 100%, Canvas allows you to upload certain types of files that count against the quota but they can be uploaded anyway. Then, when you go to upload a file that counts against the quota but doesn't get the free pass, it won't let you do it.

The question might be why it's more than 100% and what you can do about it. In that case, look at what Chris @Chris_Hofer wrote, but if you want to do some troubleshooting yourself without involving local support, you can look at the files yourself.

Since the quota is 52.4MB, it's likely that you're using the user storage within Canvas rather than the course storage. This can happen when you send lots of attachments as messages or do media comments. I have seen faculty who like to large powerpoint or pdf files to their students via message rather than putting them in the course. This caused problems for faculty and it caused problems for the students back when we had an email system with a relatively small quota (150MB) because it didn't take much to fill up their quotas (people are bad about cleaning out their email).

If you go to Account > Files > My Files, look through the different folders for either lots of files or large files. You can sort any column by clicking on the name at the top. It's the size column that will do you the most good. If you find the cause, then you can delete most of the files.

[wbutterly]

I appreciate the replay!! I also received this reply from Canvas support:

Hi Wanda,

Thank you for contacting Canvas support. I'm sorry you've been having trouble with these files. The percentage you see is how full your account storage has reached. If you've uploaded a single file that puts you over the storage limit, you'll see the storage pass 100%. So if the storage showed as 0% and then you upload a file larger than 52.4MB, then the percentage would show as more than 100%

The storage under your own account can be edited so you can delete the items. If these files are shared with your students, you'll actually have more storage in the Course Files than your account files. You can upload files to your course storage and choose to embed those files into the pages or modules for your students.

Hunter - L1 Canvas Support
support@instructure.com