TidyUp for Canvas: File and Page Cleanup Made Simple

In this video, we'll walk through TidyUp, a

simple, intuitive tool in Canvas that helps you

clean up your course by identifying unused files,

folders, and content pages. Regular course cleanup

not only keeps your materials organized and easy

to manage, but also supports accessibility by

reducing clutter and outdated content. Let's take

a look at how it works. To access TidyUp, open

your course in Canvas and select TidyUp from the

Course Navigation menu. If  you don't see it listed,

navigate to 'Settings,'  'Navigation,' and drag TidyUp

into the active section above.

Be sure to click 'Save.'

The first time you open up TidyUp, you'll see a

screen that lets you scan your course for unused

files and content. Choose 'Scan Course.' Depending

on your course size, the scan may take a few

moments to complete. TidyUp is intuitive and

self-explanatory. While guides  and videos like this one

can help, most instructors will find it makes

sense immediately and doesn't require extensive

training or technical expertise. It also provides

tools far superior to the standard Canvas Files

page, making it easier to filter, preview, move,

download, and delete multiple items efficiently.

TidyUp checks every item in your course: Files,

Pages, Discussions, Assignments, and more. To find

out what's in use and what's not. Your scan

results are divided into three tabs across the top

of the page: 'Files,'  'Folders,' and 'Canvas Content.'

Each tab lets you review  and manage different parts

of your course. Let's start in the 'Files' tab. At

the top of the 'Files' page, you'll see a short

helpful hint: "All files are shown below. Use the

fields to the right to filter by file types or

usage. Hover over a file name to view details or

click the file name to preview the file. Files in

use cannot be deleted." And finally, "Review the

additional documentation for more help."

On the right, you can filter by file type. After

filtering, you can sort by file name by clicking

the 'File Name' column heading. This alphabetizes

your list and makes it easier to identify

potential duplicates or similarly named files.

On the 'Files' page, you  can see where each file is

used or not used in your course, when it was last

updated, its size, and actions to take including

'Edit' and 'Delete.'

Hover over any file name to see a preview of the

file and the full path to its location in Canvas

files. This is much more helpful than the standard

Canvas Files page, which can be clunky and doesn't

always show where the actual files live. You'll

notice that files currently in use are locked to

prevent accidental deletion. Below the file list,

you'll find buttons to 'Move Selected,' 'Download

Selected,' or 'Delete Selected.' These let you

reorganize or remove multiple items at once. If

you'd like to back up before deleting, choose

'Download Selected' to save a copy. One example

workflow to get you started is to select 'Images,'

then choose 'Show Unused Files' to display all

images currently not in use in your course. This

helps you spot outdated or unused items quickly.

Using this filter, we could then quickly and

easily delete all image files in our course that

we aren't using by selecting all files, then

select the bulk 'Delete Selected' button.

There's a search bar at the top of the page to

locate specific files quickly. And additionally,

you can export your results by  selecting 'Download CSV Report,'

a great way to keep a record or share

a clean up summary.

Let's move on to the  'Folders' tab. This view helps

you manage entire folders  within your course files.

Here you'll see each folder listed with the number

of files it contains. On the right, you can filter

to show all folders or just empty folders, a quick

way to spot and remove unused structure left over

from older course copies. You could expand a

folder to review its contents,

or select one or more folders to delete, just like

in the Files tab. This is especially helpful for

removing outdated folders or reorganizing your

course file structure before a new term. Finally,

let's explore the 'Canvas Content' tab. This area

displays all pages, assignments, discussions,

quizzes, and other Canvas course content. At the

top, you can filter by  'Published' or 'Not Published,'

'In Modules,' not 'In  Modules', 'Has Content' or does

not 'Have Content.' This makes it easy to focus on

items that are unpublished, unused, or missing

content. You can also use the column headers to

sort your content. For example, sorting by 'Title'

helps you spot duplicate,  or similarly named pages,

just like we did with files. Click on a page title

to open it in Canvas and review its content if you

need to. From TidyUp, you can also rename pages

or publish multiple pages at once.

Remember, any changes you make in your Canvas

content pages such as deleting, renaming, or

publishing will require you to rescan your course

using the green 'Scan Course' button at the top to

see updates reflected in TidyUp.

Finally, here are some tips and best practices to

help you get the most out of TidyUp. Renaming

files versus pages. Images and other files are

identified with unique IDs, so renaming them won't

break links on a page. Pages, however, are

different. If you rename a page, links to that

page may break. Using TidyUp alongside Canvas'

'Validate Links in Content' in Course Settings can

help you catch broken links. File location

awareness. Canvas files can be clunky. You can

search, but you often don't know where that file

lives or where it's published. In TidyUp,

hovering over a file shows the full path, so you

know exactly where it's located in your course and

whether you need to delete it, retain it, or move

it somewhere else. Be cautious with deletions. If

you're ever nervous about removing files, download

selected files or export your entire Canvas course

as a backup just to be safe. Safe deletion. TidyUp

won't let you delete files that are in use, so

you can't accidentally remove something critical.

Iterative workflow. Course cleanup is often

iterative. You may delete pages you aren't using,

which then frees up files no longer in use. Then

you can re-scan and clean up the newly unused

files. So scan, review, delete and repeat.

Accessibility benefits. Cleaning up unused files

and content reduces the number of items to review

for accessibility. With Title II regulations

coming in spring 2026, this is especially helpful.

Tools like UDOIT, another Cidi Labs product,

pairs well with TidyUp to ensure your courses are

accessible. Check out UDOIT resources in the

video description below or near this video on the

page. And that's it! You've learned how to access

TidyUp, scan your course, explore the files,

folders, and Canvas content tabs, filter and sort

items, preview and back up your content. TidyUp

is intuitive and mostly easy to use, so

instructors can clean up courses quickly without

getting lost in menus. Its tools are far superior

to the default Canvas Files page, letting you

manage files, folders, and content with confidence

and efficiency. For more details, visit the Cidi

Labs support site, or reach out to CETL at

c-e-t-l-@reynolds.edu. Thanks for watching,

and happy cleaning with TidyUp.