Why Export Course Material?

Exporting part or all of your Canvas course can be useful for a variety of reasons — different methods can allow you to review pages or student submissions offline, apply custom spreadsheet calculations to student grades, send content to users without Canvas access, or save a copy of a course to be reuploaded later.

No matter the reason you choose to export your course material, it's important that you choose the right method. Each method saves different parts of a course, and produces a different file type, so use the list below to determine which is best suited for your needs.

Export Methods and Outcomes

Export as IMSCC File

This method creates a single bundled file that is meant to be re-imported to Canvas. While you can technically unzip it to get files out, it is not intended for human readability. Does not include any student submissions or grades.

For more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit IMSCC Export Tutorial.

Ideal for saving content you intend to upload to a Canvas course later. E.g., useful for sharing across institutions.

Export as EPUB File

This generates an EPUB file containing almost all published content in your course, including the directions pages of your assignments. EPUB files are functionally quite similar to PDFs, and can be converted to PDFs with a tool like Calibre.

This is available to students when enabled in your course (after August 2025). You can opt-out of it from your course settings page.

Access to this method is not available by default, as Canvas only permits HTML ZIP or EPUB exports, and Pitt has the former enabled. If this seems like the best method for you, please reach out to us at edtech@teaching.pitt.edu for assistance. [August 2025, we will change to epub instead of HTML ZIP as the method available by default.]

For a more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit EPUB Export Tutorial.

Ideal for saving content to review as a single unified file while unable to access Canvas online. E.g., useful for promotion & tenure bundles.

Export as HTML for Offline Viewing

This method creates a zipped export of most course materials that’s in your modules. While similar to the file created by the IMSCC method, this version is designed to be human-readable; the result is a bundle of web pages you can view in any web browser, even without an internet connection. Only published content available to students is included.

This is available to students when enabled in your course. You can opt-out of it from your course settings page.

For a more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit HTML Export Tutorial.

Ideal for saving content to review in-browser while unable to access Canvas online. E.g., useful for building an OER [open education resource] web site.

Export Quizzes as QTI Files

While an IMSCC export will retain all of your course content, quizzes included, the other methods do not save interactive elements like quizzes. To download your course's quizzes (one at a time or as a bundle), you'll need to export them as QTI files.

For more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit QTI Export Tutorial.

Ideal for saving copies of quizzes for personal archives or later reuse.

Exporting Gradebook Data as CSV

This method allows you to download student grade data from your course's gradebook as a CSV file — essentially, a spreadsheet. Many instructors use the resulting spreadsheet to run calculations on student grades (for example, adding points to every student's test grade to make up for a misprinted question) or to help prepare them for final grade submission at the end of a semester.

For more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit Gradebook CSV Export Tutorial.

Ideal for saving and manipulating student grade data. Note: Contents are likely subject to FERPA regulations.

Downloading Student Submissions

This method allows you to download all submitted content from an assignment, and can allow you to review and grade student work in locations or devices that don't allow easy Canvas access. The result will be a ZIP file, containing the most recent submission each student (or group) has made to the assignment. If you do not rename the files, you can import the changes as graded feedback.

For more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit Student Submission Export Tutorial.

Ideal for reading and grading student work offline. Note: Contents are likely subject to FERPA regulations.

For Students Only

Downloading Past Submissions

While the above export options are available to those with Teacher-level access to courses, there's a related method for students to download all the files they've ever submitted via Canvas Assignment pages. This provides a comprehensive ZIP download containing all file submissions made by the student, including those from concluded courses.

For more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit Assignment Submission Download Tutorial.

Ideal for students looking to keep/recover a record of their submissions.

Viewing Courses Offline

Students are also able to use the Canvas app on iOS or Android devices to view courses offline. While they can't upload submissions until they're online again, this feature allows students to visit course content even when they can't access the internet, as long as they've downloaded it in advance. This applies to most content types, including (but not limited to) pages, assignments, discussion boards, announcements, grades, and even quiz details.

For more information and a detailed walkthrough of the process, please visit the Offline Course Viewing Tutorial for iOS or Offline Course Viewing Tutorial for Android.

Ideal for students who have regularly experience weak signals or plan to travel.