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Canvas - How do I use TidyUp?
With TidyUP, you can:
- Scan your course to identify unpublished or unused pages, unlinked files, outdated documents, and empty folders.
- Review file usage to see exactly where each file appears before making changes, ensuring you don’t delete something important.
- Clean up announcements by mass-deleting outdated messages in just a few clicks.
- Manage files and folders more effectively with options to rename, reorganize, or delete items in bulk.
Question Banks: The question bank files will show as "unused". If you're using question banks, put all those files in a separate folder in your Canvas "files" tab. Then, in TidyUp, choose "ignore folder" to eliminate accidental deletion of the question bank files.
Getting Started
- From your Canvas course, select TidyUP from the course navigation list - on the left side of your course page.
- On the TidyUP Welcome page, select the Scan Course button to start the process.
Once the scan completes, you will be presented with a report organized into three tabs: Files, Canvas Content, and Folders. (You may have to authorize TidyUP’s request to access your account.)
Reviewing the Files Tab
Files refer to all documents, PDFs, PowerPoints, images, etc., within your course.
Selecting the files tab, you will see a list of all the files in this course by name, listing any place where they are "used in" or linked, as well as when they were last updated, and file size. You can click on the top menu to change the sorting order to find your oldest files.
Deleting files with TidyUP will delete them permanently. If you want to save files but still delete them from your Canvas course, select the top check box next to the File Name heading and then select Download Selected.
Delete unused, duplicate, or outdated files individually
- Locate your course files under File Name.
- Select the red trash can icon next to each file.
TidyUP cannot delete files that are in use.
Delete all unused files at once
- Filter them by selecting Unused Files from the Show dropdown.
- Then, select the top check box next to the File Name heading and select the Delete Selected button.
File Names: If you want to edit the visibility or clarify the names of any of your files, you can do so by selecting the pencil icon corresponding to each file. *This will not break the link to the file wherever it is linked in the course, but will also not change the text of the file name that was used on pages where the file was linked.
Reviewing the Canvas Content Tab
Canvas Content refers to pages, assignments, quizzes, announcements, and discussions within your course.
Selecting the Canvas Content tab, you will see a list of all the course items that are not files (e.g. pages, quizzes, discussion posts, etc.), listing any place they are "used in" or linked, as well as when they were last updated.
Filter Content
- Filter content by using the Type dropdown in the top right hand corner.
- You can also use the Published, In Modules, and Has Content filters with green check and grey cross-out buttons to specify content.
- Additional columns on the tab can tell you where your Canvas content is being used and when it was last updated.
Delete Canvas content you’ll no longer be using or duplicates
- Locate the title of the Canvas page, discussion, etc.
- Delete individually by selecting the red trash can icon on each row.
- Delete multiple by selecting checkboxes, or the top check box next to the Title heading, and then selecting the Delete Selected button.
Reviewing the Folders Tab
Folders refer to the containers for different groups of content within your course.
Selecting the Folders tab, you will see a list of all folders in your course. From there, you can delete entire folders if you know they're old and not in use.
Although you may be less likely to delete an entire folder from your Canvas course, you may do so by clicking the Folders tab. There, you can review the Folder Path, the number of files and subfolders in each folder, and when the folder was last updated. You can also edit the visibility or names of each folder by selecting the pencil icon corresponding to each folder.
For more information, explore the TidyUp User Guide.