It is possible to use the copy content function from one course or organisation to another where you are enrolled as Instructor, Leader or Teaching Assistant on both courses/organisations.
- Copy Content
- Copy per type of item (folders, learning modules, assessments etc.)
- Course quota awareness
Copy Content
- Step 1: Go to the place in the course where you would like the copied items to appear
- Step 2: In the copy items screen locate the relevant course/organisation
- Step 3: Click on the course or function folder
- Step 4: Select items to copy
Step 1: Go to a place on course
Always start the copy process at the point where you would like the items you are copying to appear.
- Hover over the divider line where you would like to add the content, then click on the plus icon to reveal the Add Content menu.
- Select Copy Content, the Copy Items screen will open.
Step 2: Find relevant course
Selecting Copy Content from the Add Content menu brings up a list of all the Courses and Organisations you are enrolled in with a staff role.
- Toggle between courses and organisations as required (a)
- Find the course from which you wish to copy items from.
- Or use search field at the top of the screen (b)
- To view the course content
- click on the title (c)
- or the right-hand side arrow (d)
The course will open to show a list of items on the course.
NB* 
Do not check the select box for the course. If you select the course from this level it will immediately add it to the Items Selected panel and copy the whole course, which is not recommended reorganising items is cumbersome and time consuming.
Step 3: Find the content
When you select a course you wish to copy content from, it will open as a list of folders.
- Each folder is an area or function i.e. Content, Discussions, Announcements, Question Banks, Rubrics.
- Click on the title or the arrow on the far right to open a list of the items in each folder.
NB* Do not check the select box for content or functions. If you select the content or function from this level it will immediately add it to the Items Selected panel and copy the whole course content or function, which is not recommended reorganising items is cumbersome and time consuming.
Step 4: Select the items and Copy
Once you have drilled down to the next level, it will show content within that specific area.
- Select any files or items you wish to copy (e)
- Use the link back to the course to navigate back if necessary (f)
- All the items you select will be added to the Items Selected section as you navigate around the folders. (g)
Tip – if you require most items in a folder or learning module copy the whole folder and delete the unnecessary items once copied.
Once you are happy with all the files in the Items Selected section, press Start Copy. You can do this at any time and all the items listed in the Items Selected panel will copy.
NB* Review the Items Selected list (g) to make sure you have not accidently added a whole course or content area.
Copied Items
The copy starts and a Copying Content wait screen will appear. This process will take longer if you are copying a lot of content,
The content items will be copied into the specified location, where you opened the Add Content menu.
All newly copied items will be hidden from students by default. It is possible to use the Batch edit function to make them visible to student in one action, see our guide, TEL guide on Batch Edit Visible to Students.
An expectations report can be opened via the course tasks and logs option in the course menu.
Copy per type of item
Copy function
| Item | Comments |
|---|---|
| Announcements | To locate an Announcement click on the folder in the Copy Items window.  Once copied you can post copied announcements or update dates on scheduled announcements. |
| Banner Image | To locate the Banner image click on the Settings folder in the Copy Items window.  See our guide on the Course Banner for more details. |
| Bb Assignments | Assignments will copy with all the same settings, including deadline dates and times – remember to update. |
| Discussions | To locate a Discussion click on the folder in the Copy Items window.  Discussions will copy to the place on the course where the copy happens and into the Discussion tab. If you decide to delete a discussion, make sure it has deleted from the Discussion tab as well as the content area. |
| Documents | Documents will copy when selected as individual items or as an item in a learning module or folder. Once the Document has been copied you can use the Edit function to update materials in the Document as required. |
| Folders | Start the copy process at an appropriate level (i.e. inside a learning module but not a folder within that). All contents will copy, including any links to third party tools such as Turnitin. |
| Journals | Journals will copy when selected as individual items or as an item in a learning module or folder. All settings and deadlines will copy unchanged, these will need to be update in the new course. The Journal prompt will copy with all formatting in place. Any student posts or marks will not copy. |
| Learning Modules | Start the copy process directly on the Course Content (not inside a learning module or folder). The learning module image and all settings will copy unchanged. All contents, including links to third party tools such as Turnitin will copy. These can be deleted once in the new course. |
| Question Banks | To locate a Question Banks click on the folder in the Copy Items window.  Copied Question Banks will appear in the Question Bank area in the new course. |
| Rubrics | To locate a Rubric click on the folder in the Copy Items window.  Rubrics will copy to the Rubrics areas, which is located in the Gradebook settings panel. |
| Tests | Tests will copy when selected as individual items or as an item in a learning module or folder. All settings and deadlines will copy unchanged, these will need to be update in the new course. The Test instructions will copy with all formatting in place. Any student attempts or marks will not copy. If a test contains pools the associated Questions Banks will copy to the Question Bank area. |
| Turnitin | LTI links such as Turnitin submission points do not appear on the Copy Items list, however, if a Learning Module or Folder contains a submission point is copied the submission point will copy with the other items. |
| Uploaded files | Files will copy when selected as individual items or as an item in a learning module or folder. Once a file has been copied you could use the “replace” function if the file needs to be reviewed and replaced in the new course. |
Items that copy by other means
| Item | Comments |
|---|---|
| Groups | To copy group sets use the Export and Import groups function. Please note that it is not possible to randomly assign students to an imported group set. See our guide on Importing and Exporting Groups. |
| Learning Module Image | To copy a learning module image you will need to either copy the learning module (this will copy all the files in the learning module) or right click on the image and use the “save image as” option to save the image and reuse it. |
Videos
| Item | Comments |
|---|---|
| Uploaded videos | Please do not upload videos or copy uploaded videos. All videos should be uploaded to YuJa and inserted using the insert video LTI (accessed via the Content Market) or embedded into a Document using the embed code copied from YuJa. |
| Inserted videos | LTI links such as inserted YuJa videos on the course content do not appear on the Copy Items list, however, if a Learning Module or Folder contains a YuJa video link it will copy with the Learning Module or Folder contents. Please remove any class recordings of the previous cohort. |
| Embedded videos | Videos embedded into Documents will copy with the Document. Please remove any class recordings of the previous cohort. |
| YuJa Channel | There is no need to copy the YuJa video link. Click on the link in your new course to create a channel for that course to share your new recording with your new students. Do not share previous class recordings with a new cohort. |
Course quota awareness
There is a file limit applied to Ultra courses. This prevents uploading files larger than 250mb. Existing files in a course larger than this can be copied, however, this can fill up the course quota of 5GB, and prevent any further materials being uploaded when it is reached. Therefore please take care to keep individual files under the 250mb limit and avoid copying the same file more than once.
How to manage and reduce the size of your files in Blackboard.
Always use YuJa for storing videos, which will allow you to share recordings via the Yuja video channel, or insert personal capture recordings into your content.
You can manage the files on your course by deleting any unused or duplicate files, see our guide Delete or restore course content for more details.
Guide last updated on March 26, 2025