What merging courses in Canvas means and when you need it

Merging courses in Canvas combines two separate course shells into one, moving all students, assignments, and content from a source course into a destination course. Canvas does not have a built-in merge function in the standard interface. Instead, you either cross-list courses (which links them without deleting either one) or manually move content and re-enroll students. The method you choose depends on whether you want to keep both course records or consolidate everything into a single shell.

Most institutions use cross-listing when two sections of the same course need to appear as one in the gradebook and assignment submission system. You use manual migration when you are combining unrelated courses or when your institution does not support cross-listing through your system administrator.

Key Takeaways

  • Cross-listing through your institution's system administrator is the fastest way to combine two courses without losing either course record.
  • Manual migration requires you to copy content from one course to another, then re-enroll students, and takes longer but gives you full control over what moves.
  • You cannot merge courses directly in Canvas yourself — the cross-listing request goes through your school's registrar or Canvas administrator.
  • Before you start any merge, back up your gradebook data from both courses because the process cannot be undone.

Cross-listing courses through your institution

Cross-listing is the official way to combine courses. It links two course shells so they share the same roster, gradebook, and assignments, but both course records stay in your institution's system. To request a cross-list, contact your Canvas administrator or registrar — the person who manages course creation at your school.

Tell them the course code and section number of both courses you want to link, and which one should be the primary course (the one where grades will post). Your administrator will make the connection on the backend, and within a few hours both courses will show the same students and content. The source course (the one that is not primary) becomes read-only, so students see it but cannot submit work there.

Cross-listing is reversible. If you need to separate the courses later, your administrator can unlink them and restore the original enrollment. This is why it is the safest option for courses that might need to stay separate again.

Manually copying content and re-enrolling students

If cross-listing is not an option at your institution, you can move content by hand. Open the source course (the one you are moving from) and the destination course (the one you are moving into) in separate browser tabs. In the source course, go to Settings, then select Export Content. Choose the content type — Assignments, Quizzes, Modules, or Pages — and read the file.

Switch to the destination course and go to Settings, then Import Content. Upload the file you just downloaded. Canvas will recreate the assignments, quizzes, or pages in the destination course. Repeat this for each content type you need to move. Note that due dates, point values, and rubrics transfer, but links between items (like a module that points to a quiz) may need to be rebuilt by hand.

After content is in place, you need to re-enroll students from the source course into the destination course. Go to the destination course, click People, then Enroll Users. You can paste a list of student names or email addresses, or enroll them one at a time. If your institution uses an SIS (Student Information System), ask your administrator to update the roster there instead — that way students enroll automatically and you do not have to manage it manually.

What happens to grades when you merge

Grades do not automatically transfer when you move assignments. If students have already submitted work in the source course, their grades stay in that course's gradebook. The new assignments in the destination course start with no submissions or grades. You have two choices: accept that grades live in two places, or manually enter grades from the source course into the destination course.

Before you start any merge, read the gradebook from both courses as a CSV file. Go to each course, click Grades, then the menu icon (three dots), and select Export. Save both files to your computer. This backup protects you if something goes wrong during the move. Canvas does not restore gradebooks after a merge, so this file is your only safety net.

If you are using cross-listing instead of manual migration, grades are not an issue — both sections feed into the same gradebook automatically, so you see all students and all grades in one place from day one.

Removing the source course after a merge

Once you have moved all content and students to the destination course, you can delete the source course if your institution allows it. Go to the source course, click Settings, scroll to the bottom, and select Delete this Course. Canvas will ask you to confirm. The course and all its content will be permanently removed from your institution's Canvas instance.

Do not delete the source course until you have verified that all students are enrolled in the destination course and all grades have been recorded where they need to be. If you delete it by mistake, your institution's Canvas administrator may be able to restore it from a backup, but that takes time and is not may provide.

If you used cross-listing instead of manual migration, you typically do not delete the source course — it stays in the system as a read-only linked section, and students can still see it in their course list.

Troubleshooting common merge problems

If students do not appear in the destination course after you enroll them, check that you used the correct email address or username format. Canvas is case-sensitive for some institutions and not others — ask your administrator which format your school uses. If a student is already enrolled in the destination course under a different role (like Observer instead of Student), you may need to remove that enrollment first before adding them as a Student.

If assignments do not import correctly, the most common cause is that the source course uses a grading scale or point system that does not match the destination course. Check the assignment settings in both courses and make sure the point values are the same. If a quiz imports but the questions do not, export the quiz again and check that you selected the correct file type — Canvas quizzes export as QTI files, which are different from assignment exports.

If you cannot find the Export or Import Content option, your institution may have disabled it for security reasons. Contact your Canvas administrator to request access or to ask them to perform the export and import for you.

When to use cross-listing versus manual migration

Use cross-listing if both courses are sections of the same course (like Section A and Section B of Biology 101) and your institution supports it. It is faster, safer, and reversible. Use manual migration if you are combining courses with different content, different instructors, or different terms, or if your institution does not offer cross-listing.

Cross-listing also works better if students are already enrolled through your SIS. Manual migration is better if you have a small number of students and you want to hand-pick who moves and what content transfers. Manual migration also gives you the chance to clean up old assignments or outdated materials before they go into the new course.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I merge two courses that have different instructors?

Yes, but cross-listing may not be the right tool. Cross-listing is designed for multiple sections of the same course taught by different instructors. If the courses are completely different subjects or have different learning goals, manual migration gives you more control — you can choose which content to move and which to leave behind. Both instructors should agree on what the merged course will look like before you start.

What if students are already enrolled in both courses?

If you are using cross-listing, Canvas will automatically deduplicate the roster — each student appears once, not twice. If you are doing manual migration, you will need to remove students from the source course before or after you enroll them in the destination course, otherwise they will see both courses in their list and may submit work to the wrong one.

Can I undo a course merge?

If you used cross-listing, yes — your administrator can unlink the courses and restore the original enrollment. If you manually migrated content and deleted the source course, no — the source course and its original content are gone. This is why you should always back up your gradebook and take screenshots of your course structure before you start a manual merge.

Do student submissions transfer when I merge courses?

No. When you move assignments to a new course, the assignments themselves transfer, but student submissions and grades do not. Students will see the assignment in the destination course as new and unsubmitted. You must manually re-grade or ask students to resubmit. This is one reason cross-listing is preferred — it avoids this problem entirely because both sections stay linked.

How long does a cross-list take?

Once your administrator processes the request, the courses are linked within a few hours, usually the same day. Manual migration can take anywhere from one hour (for a straightforward course with a few assignments) to several hours (for a course with many modules, quizzes, and pages). Plan for at least one business day if you are doing it yourself.