How to download all course files and media on Canvas

[dlukas1]

Hello everyone,

I need to find a way to download all of my course files and media to my computer for offline use. Previously, I used access tokens to run an application for downloading the files, but my school has recently removed that feature. Can anyone suggest another efficient way for me to obtain all these files quickly? I cannot go to each assignment or post to download everything, as that is very time-consuming. Please let me know!

[Jeff_F · Accepted solution]

Hello @dlukas1  - First, I recommend creating a folder structure local to your computer (or your online storage) and save 'homework' files to that ahead of posting assignment submissions to Canvas. 

And here is a one method of downloading the documents files you uploaded as submissions:  https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-download-assignment-submissions-from-all-m...

In addition, students can also access file submissions by going to their account > Files > My Files > Submissions > select the course > and then select the course > hover the mouse over the desired file to reveal the three dots ('pickles') and select download.

As for media files, are we talking about Studio media uploads or is this media added via the rich content editor? Studio videos are downloaded easily from your Studio account. But this is one at a time. And for media uploaded to the rich content editor, please go to your account Files > My Files > Uploaded Media. 

Is this helpful?

[Jeff_F · Accepted solution]

Hello @dlukas1  - First, I recommend creating a folder structure local to your computer (or your online storage) and save 'homework' files to that ahead of posting assignment submissions to Canvas. 

And here is a one method of downloading the documents files you uploaded as submissions:  https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-download-assignment-submissions-from-all-m...

In addition, students can also access file submissions by going to their account > Files > My Files > Submissions > select the course > and then select the course > hover the mouse over the desired file to reveal the three dots ('pickles') and select download.

As for media files, are we talking about Studio media uploads or is this media added via the rich content editor? Studio videos are downloaded easily from your Studio account. But this is one at a time. And for media uploaded to the rich content editor, please go to your account Files > My Files > Uploaded Media. 

Is this helpful?

[JeffCampbell · Accepted solution]

Alongside the tip @Jeff_F gave for downloading submissions, I wondered if you meant the actual files (images, pdfs, docs, etc.) in the course. For that, go to your Files menu for a course, select all of the files/folders you want to download on the right side list, then use the download option in the menu at the top to download everything as a Zip file. 

As for Pages and Assignments, I'm not sure of a quick way off the top of my head. 

[KevinY]

hi Jeff, I do want to know the second part you mentioned here. How do I download all the course files in one go ( not download the course by course)?

[JeffCampbell]

There are two locations you can do this. One is through the Course Files (the Files screen within a given course). The other is to click on your profile image in the upper left corner, then select Files to access your Account Files. Both will take you to a files screen, but the latter allows you to quickly access the files section for each course without having to navigate to each course.

Once in Files, Navigation is on the left, Files/Folders on the right. For the Account Files mentioned above, the left navigation will give a list of courses. Clicking on a course will cause the right side to display the same thing you would see if you are within the Course Files menu. 

Now, once the folders appear on the right, click the top folder, then shift-click the last folder to highlight them all. Above the list, a menu will appear containing some options. One of them is Download. Click that option and it will build a Zip file you can download that will contain all the files for that course.

Download, then repeat for the next desired course. I have not seen an option that will allow you to download all course files from all courses, all in one shot. You will have to do course by course, but that is where accessing your Account Files menu mentioned above will speed things up a bit.