When we talk about copying or importing, the course that contains the content to be copied or ported is called the source, while the course that will receive the content is called the destination.

Two course cards that exemplify the source course and destination course

Whether you are a Canvas School/Dept. Admin. or an Instructor, using the Import tool is the preferred way to copy content between courses. Importing is easier, and the results will be more accurate.

Links to Content in Other Courses

When you use the Import tool, it maintains the integrity of all hyperlinks in the content. By contrast, if you select text from one course (the source) and paste it into another (the destination), any hyperlinks contained in the selected text will be broken in the destination course. This is because the Canvas database assigns each course a unique number that is embedded in the URL, or web address, of every hyperlink.

Example of a course URL with the course number indicated

When a hyperlink is pasted into a different course, the URL of the source course is retained in the destination course. Students are rarely enrolled in both the source and the destination course, so when they click the link, they will receive the Unauthorized, or "Access Denied," message (pictured below), because it is pointing to the source course. You would need to manually correct the link by modifying it to point to the corresponding location in the destination course.

"Access Denied" message

Resource Files

Broken image icon

Another benefit of Import is that it will include all necessary resources, such as image files. Pasting text that includes an image will include a reference to the image, but it won't paste the image itself. Because the image doesn't exist in the destination course, the result is a broken link. To rectify this situation, you would need to upload the image file from the source course into the destination course at the same relative location. The file name would need to be exactly the same, and the folder structure, including subfolder names, would need to exactly match.