How do I create hyperlinks to user, group, or course files in the Rich Content Editor?

[#1]

You can use the Rich Content Editor to insert hyperlinks to document, image, and media files stored in your course, group, or user files. If you are using the Rich Content Editor in a group, you can access files in the Group Files and User Files folders. If you are using the Rich Content Editor in a course, you can access files in the Course Files and User Files folders.

Notes: 

• To create hyperlinks to group files, you must open the Rich Content Editor within a group.
• If you set a file as restricted and link to that file in the Rich Content Editor in a group, other group members will be able to view that file using the link in the Rich Content Editor.
• If you set a file as not visible to students in Course Files and link to that file in the Rich Content Editor, students will be able to view that file using the link in the Rich Content Editor.

00:07: How do I create hyperlinks to user, course, or group files in the Rich Content Editor? 00:13: You can use the Rich Content Editor, or RCE, to insert hyperlinks to document, image, and media files stored in Canvas. 00:22: Click the text or image that you want to turn into a hyperlink. 00:26: Select Link icon from the toolbar and then either "Course Link" or "Group Link".. 00:31: The Add menu displays links by default. To view available course, group, or user files, select "Files" from the dropdown. 00:40: Select the folder for the type of file you want to link. When using the RCE in a course, "Course files" will display. If using the RCE in a group, "Group files" will be listed instead. 00:54: Click on subfolders to see their contents. 00:57: Select the file you want to link to from the list. 01:01: The text will briefly flash before becoming a hyperlink. 01:05: To search for a file, enter the file name in the Search field. 01:09: To insert a link displaying the name of the file, place the cursor where you want the link to appear. 01:15: Select the file you want to link to from the Add menu. 01:19: The file name will appear as a hyperlink in the cursor location. 01:23: Click the X to close the Add menu. Click the Save button when you have finished editing. 01:29: This guide covered how to create hyperlinks to user, course, or group files in the Rich Content Editor.

Open Rich Content Editor

Open the Rich Content Editor when using one of the Canvas features which support the Editor.

Note: The Rich Content Editor supports keyboard shortcuts. To view the Keyboard Shortcuts menu, click the Keyboard icon or press ALT+F8 (PC keyboard) or Option+F8 (Mac keyboard).

Select Link Location

To insert a hyperlink to a user or group content item, select the text for your hyperlink [1].

If you want to insert a link to a document and display the name of the file, click to place your cursor in the location in the Rich Content Editor where you want the link to appear [2]. This method only applies when inserting a user or group document and will not work for images or multimedia files.

Open User Links

To link to an image, media, or document in your User Files, click either the Images icon [1], Record/Upload Media icon [2], or the Documents icon [3] and select the User option for the desired file type [4]. The option name will display as User Images, User Media, or User Documents.

Note: To view these icons, you may have to click the Options icon [5].

Open Links Menu

To view all links and files available in course and user files, click the Link Options icon [1] and select the Course Links option [2].

If you are accessing the Rich Content Editor from within a group, select the Group Links option [3].

Note: To view the Links icon, you may have to click the Options icon [4].

Open Insert Menu

In the menubar, click the Insert link [1]. You can navigate to view the Link, Image, Media, and Document options [2].

View and Sort Files

By default, the Add menu displays all files in your selected file source [1].

To sort the displayed files by image, document, or media file type, click the Type drop-down menu [2].

To sort the displayed files by date added, date published, or alphabetically, click the Sort by drop-down menu [3].

To search for a file, enter the file name in the Search field [4]. You must enter at least three characters for search results to display.

Select File

Click the name of the file you want to link in the Rich Content Editor.

Note: The text will flash before turning into a hyperlink.

View Link

View the link displaying the hyperlinked text [1] or the name of the file [2].

Save Changes

Click the Save button.

Note: When using the Rich Content Editor in Discussions, the Save button may appear as the Reply button.

View Content

View the content. To view the linked file, click the link [1].

To download the file, click the Download icon [2].

Note: Links to external URLs display an Open icon [3].