Your Canvas course is like a filing cabinet. Over time, we add PDFs, handouts, and links, but we don't always remember to take the old drafts out when we replace them. The Content Audit Tool (CAT) provides you with a way to audit your course content to ensure it contains only the content you intend for students to see. CAT scans your entire course to find content (Files, Pages, and Assignments) that is linked or visible to students. Use this tool to help you clean up course content that may be old and no longer necessary to be copied forward to the next term.
The tool considers content in use if it is linked in:
- Modules (The main student navigation path)
- Assignments and discussions
- Pages (Links embedded in text)
- Quizzes (including the questions inside them)
- Announcements
Important note: The CAT does not track whether a student clicked on something; it checks for structural links that are inside one of the learning pathways used by students.
Using the Content Audit Tool to find unused items
- Open your Canvas course site that you want to review with CAT.
- Select Course Admin Tools in the course navigation.
- Select Content Audit Tool.
- The tool will automatically run and return a report with the content (Canvas pages and assignments) and files used in the course
- When the scan is complete, CAT displays a bar chart showing how many items are in the course and how many items are unused.
- Use the dropdown menu in the field below the bar chart to filter views between assignments, files, and pages.
- Use the Show Unused Items Only toggle switch to view a list of unused items.
- Determine what you want to do with any unused items in the report.
- Delete them: If you don't need them, you can delete them manually from your course to free up space and reduce clutter for your students.
- Save them: If you aren't ready to part with them, check the box next to the item, and export them to a development course (a course site not associated with PeopleSoft or student enrollment) site for safekeeping.