{"id":1096,"date":"2025-08-20T06:30:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T10:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/teaching-innovation\/?p=1096"},"modified":"2025-08-18T16:31:53","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T20:31:53","slug":"canvas-magic-restoring-deleted-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/teaching-innovation\/2025\/08\/20\/canvas-magic-restoring-deleted-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Canvas Magic: Restoring Deleted Content"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the inaugural blog in my Canvas Magic series, I introduce faculty to simple ways to restore deleted Canvas content.<\/p>\n

Recently, I received a call from a stressed faculty member. She was reviewing her course\u2019s content and accidentally deleted all its exams\u2014the same exams she was planning to import into her next iteration of the course.<\/p>\n

To reassure her, I let her in on an easy, though not widely known, fix: while courses and their content can be deleted, in most cases, there is a way to retrieve the materials.<\/p>\n

In our consultation, I introduced the instructor to a bit of Canvas magic: the \/undelete trick. For other instructors looking to retrieve content, this blog details how to use Canvas features to restore deleted content.<\/p>\n

\/undelete<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If you have recently deleted an item on Canvas (e.g., a Quiz, Assignment, Page, or Discussion Board), the quickest way to retrieve it is to add \/undelete to the end of your course URL. But first, you will need to go to the home page of your course.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Once on the home page, in the address bar, add \/undelete to the end of your course URL.\"Screenshot<\/li>\n
  2. After hitting enter\/return, the Restore Deleted Items page will appear, containing a list of recently deleted items with restore buttons next to them.\"Screenshot<\/li>\n
  3. To restore an item, simply click the \u201crestore\u201d tab, and voila! the missing content will return to your course.\"Screenshot\"Screenshot<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Tip: Try to use the \/undelete feature as soon as you notice your missing content, as the feature only loads 25 of the most recently deleted items in a course.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Restoring Deleted Page Content<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Depending on where you are in the page design process, there may be an even easier way to restore content. If you accidentally delete content on a page, you could simply undo the action that deleted the content. This way, you only need to retrieve the missing content, rather than an entire missing page.<\/p>\n

    If you accidentally deleted content on a page\u2014rather than deleting an entire item\u2014you can undo the action rather than restore the item.<\/p>\n

    If you have not<\/strong> saved the page since you made the unwanted change, use Undo.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    On a Mac<\/p>\n