Canvas: How to Recover Deleted Items

This article presents 5 methods for recovering content that you may have inadvertently deleted in Canvas. For example, text on a page, a whole page, an image, a discussion, or something within the course that you want back.  

Depending on what you've deleted, and when, you have some options and may* be able to recover the deleted content. 

Note: Methods are listed in order from simplest to complex:

• If you accidentally deleted part of the text while working on it
• If you started making changes to an item but don't want to save the changes
• If you removed an item from the module navigation (quiz, file, page, etc.)
• If you need to restore a previous version of a Canvas page
• If you deleted an entire item (page, quiz, assignment, discussion, etc.) and need to restore it

Edit > Undo

Always try Edit>Undo first! Especially if you're still editing and you find you've accidentally deleted some text, an image, etc. 

• PC keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Z
• Mac keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Z 

Cancel your changes

If you're editing content in any area of Canvas and you delete a whole bunch of text or even complex content, you don't have to save the changes.  Just hit "Cancel" at the bottom and your content will revert back to the time before you made them.

Add back in any items "removed" from a module.  

Items displayed in a module actually reside outside of the modules and are only displayed there for easy navigation.  That's why you will only have an option to "Remove" an item from a module, not delete it. You can easily add it back into the module by clicking the + sign at the top of a module.

Restore from a prior version

This works for Canvas Pages only. If you want to go back to an earlier version of the Page, first open the Page, then click the three-dots at the top. Choose "View Page History" and see if you can restore from an earlier dated version.

Type "/undelete" after a course URL

Use this if you deleted an entire item in Canvas, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This is for Pages, Discussions, Quizzes, Assignments, etc. Doing this will show all recently items deleted items from that course and give you the option to "Restore" them.

Still not working?

If you have situations where deleted content cannot be restored with these simple methods, please contact the Tech Desk. A Canvas admin might* be able to retrieve or restore your content through other means.

*While these methods can help, please know there are no guarantees for full content recovery as each situation is different.