Canvas courses move into an archived, read-only state either automatically when a term ends or manually when an instructor concludes the course through settings. The method you use depends on whether you want to lock the course in place, save a copy of its content for future use, or simply clean up your dashboard.
How Courses Get Archived Automatically
Most Canvas institutions set term dates at the administrative level. When a term concludes, every course associated with that term automatically enters a read-only state. In read-only mode, no one can submit assignments, post to discussions, upload files, or change grades. Students and observers can still view all published materials, files, and their old submissions, but they cannot add or alter anything.
Canvas follows a date hierarchy that determines exactly when this happens. Section dates override course dates, and course dates override term dates. If your institution’s admin set the fall term to end December 15 but you extended your course participation dates to December 20, your course stays active until the 20th. If a specific section within that course has its own override dates, those take priority for students in that section. You don’t control term-level dates yourself, but you can check your course dates by going to Settings and looking at the participation date fields.
Concluding a Course Manually
If you need to archive a course before the term officially ends, or if your institution doesn’t use term dates, you can conclude it yourself. This puts the course into the same read-only state as an automatic term conclusion.
To do it, click Settings in your course navigation, then look for the “Conclude this Course” link. Click it, confirm by clicking “Conclude Course,” and verify the course now shows as concluded. One important note: this option is a course permission. If you don’t see the “Conclude this Course” button in your settings, your institution has restricted that ability, and you’ll need to contact your Canvas admin.
After you conclude a course, you lose the ability to create or edit assignments, post or change grades, or add new content. Students retain view-only access to everything that was published. This is worth keeping in mind if you still need to make grade adjustments or post late feedback before archiving.
Exporting a Course for Offline Backup
Concluding a course keeps it inside Canvas, but if you want a portable copy of your content (to reuse in a future semester, move to a different institution, or simply keep as a backup), you’ll want to export it.
Go to Settings in your course navigation, then click “Export Course Content.” Select the “Course” radio button under Export Type and click “Create Export.” Canvas will process the export in the background, and you’ll get an email when it’s ready. Once it finishes, click the “New Export” link to download the file.
The export comes as an IMSCC file, which is a standardized format (Common Cartridge) that Canvas and other learning management systems can import. If you just want to browse the contents on your computer, rename the file extension from .imscc to .zip and open it like any other compressed folder.
A few limitations to know about. Canvas won’t export courses larger than 20 GB. The download link expires after 30 days, so grab the file promptly. And the export does not include student interactions or grades. If you need a record of grades, export them separately from the Gradebook as a CSV file before concluding the course.
Cleaning Up Your Course List
After a course is archived or concluded, it still appears in your course list, which can get cluttered over several semesters. Canvas gives you some control over this through the “All Courses” page. Click “Courses” in the global navigation, then “All Courses” to see every course tied to your account. From there, you can star the courses you want on your dashboard and unstar the ones you don’t. Only starred (favorited) courses appear on your main dashboard, so removing the star from old courses effectively hides them without deleting anything.
If your institution uses Canvas Catalog, the admin can also toggle whether Canvas-enrolled courses appear on the Catalog Student Dashboard through root catalog settings. That’s an admin-level control, so if concluded courses are cluttering your Catalog view, reach out to your institution’s Canvas administrator.
What Students See After Archiving
By default, students can still access concluded courses in read-only mode. They can review published materials, reread discussion threads, and check their submitted work and grades. They cannot submit new work, reply to discussions, or upload files. This default behavior is controlled by a setting in the course. If you want to remove student access entirely after the course ends, go to Settings, look for the option that controls student access to past courses, and uncheck it. When unchecked, students lose the ability to view the course at all once it’s concluded.
For most instructors, leaving read-only access on is the better choice. Students often need to reference old course materials or verify their grades after the semester ends, and read-only mode lets them do that without any risk of altering course data.