If you are having problems getting a Moodle course to import into Canvas because the size of the Moodle course is too large, you are in the right place.

Why is my course too big?

Sometimes when importing Moodle courses into Canvas, you might see the error message, "Your migration cannot exceed 1000 MB." This is because Canvas has a course size limit of 1000MB (1GB). If a Moodle course exceeds this limit, it is almost always due to the course containing large or many video files that have been uploaded directly to the Moodle course. Moodle has been hosted on UCS servers and they have generously allowed users to upload as many files as they needed. This has resulted in some courses becoming larger than the 1GB limit imposed by Canvas.

What can I do about it?

Fortunately, the solution is relatively simple and has other benefits as well. Video files can be moved from Moodle and shifted to file or video hosting services like Google Drive, YouTube, Vimeo, etc.. Then the file can be deleted, and a link to the video can be inserted into the course in its place. Once the video files are deleted from Moodle, the backup should be small enough to import into Canvas without problems. Using a dedicated hosting service also means that the videos will play better for students, especially those with less stable internet connections.

Where should I host my videos?

A relatively simple solution is to upload your video files to your WOU Google Drive. You can then embed to them into your Canvas courses where they will be viewable by students. You can upload these files to your own Google Drive or a shared or department drive depending on your needs.

To learn more about the process of uploading and sharing videos to Canvas using Google Drive, see our guide on embedding Google Drive videos in Canvas.

A Note About (completely) Deleting Files From Moodle

An important thing to be aware of when deleting files from a Moodle course is that if the video was uploaded to a Moodle Page, Label or other text/content field (Assignment/Quiz/Forum descriptions, etc) then deleting the video from that text field will probably not be enough to remove the file from the course and reduce the course size. If the video was uploaded to a text field (e.g. Moodle page, label, etc.) there is one necessary step to ensure that the file is completely removed from the course.

*If the file was uploaded as a Moodle "File", this extra step is unnecessary to completely delete the file form the course.

After deleting the file from the text field, click the Manage Files Screen Shot 2021-06-08 at 12.28.56 PM.png button in the text editor. There you can see any files that have been used in that text field. To completely delete a file from a course, find it in the Unused Files section, put a check by it and click Delete Selected Files.

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How Big is it Now?

If you would like to see the current size of your Moodle course to get a sense of its current size, you can make a backup file by going to the Blue Gear icon > Backup > Jump to Final Step. After the backup file is created, click Continue. Beside the file you just created, you will be able to see the size of the course.

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In Conclusion

After you have deleted any large files from your course you should be able to back up and import the course into Canvas without any problems. If you do continue to have problems please contact us at askai@wou.edu.