Canvas (myCourses): Files

There are two different types of file storage in myCourses: Course Files and Personal Files (Word, PDF, etc.)

Course Files

Every file you add to the course -- including documents, images, videos or audio files -- is stored in the course Files area. These files are available to be linked multiple times in different areas of the course. If there are multiple instructors, TAs, or designers accessing the course, they all have access to the files in the course. The default setting is to not allow students to access Files from the course menu link, but rather to access the attached files in the Modules area. The Course Menu link can be changed by going to the Settings > Navigation. 

Note:?Student submissions are not stored under the Files area. Student submissions are only associated with the assessment as an attachment. 

How do I use Files as an instructor? 

Personal Files 

Personal Files is a private files space associated with each individual user and resides under the user’s Account. These files are stored outside of the course. You can add files to your personal files area and link them to the course, but other faculty would not have access to them and the personal files don't copy well when you copy your course content to another course shell. We don't recommend putting course files in the Personal Fles area. 

Instructor How-to-Guide
Student how-to-guide

How to add a file? 

There are two ways to add files to a course.  

The most common method is to add a file, image, or video to a course area (Modules, Assessments, Announcements, etc.) and by default the file is stored in the Course Files area.  

The other method is to add a file directly to the Files area. In this location you will see all files (except student submissions) added to the course, but you also have the option to upload, delete, and download files. You might use the Files area if you have a lot of files that you want to add or remove from the course. 

Since we recommend that you add your course content from within the Modules area, you may find that you don't use the Files area other than to view all files in the course.  

Why should I care about the Course Files? 

Every course has a 1 GB file storage limit. Once you have reached the limit, you will not be able to add any more files to the course. For most courses it will take a very long time to use all the storage space, but for some courses – those that use a lot of videos, audio, images or large data files -- you may find that you run out of space.  

If you use videos or audio, we recommend that you upload your video or audio files to Kaltura so that they can be integrated within the course while being stored outside of the course. 

For large data files you may want to consider using OneDrive and then provide a link to the files.

myCourses - Course Quota - file storage limit

?Best Practices 

  • Embed files in the page with descriptions. Avoid directly linking to files in the modules or having students access files from the Course File space. 
  • Files need to be accessible. See the Knowledge Base article?Creating Accessible Documents. 
  • The Course File space is limited to 1 GB of space. DO NOT upload video or audio files directly into your course site. Use Kaltura to host your media files. Video and audio files tend to be large and use a lot of file space. 
  • Use OneDrive to store large files. Read the Knowledge Base article on?best practice guide for using OneDrive with myCourses