Where Does Canvas Student Store Offline Files?
Canvas Student syncs course content for offline reading via Manage Offline Content. Files cache in private app storage, read-only offline.
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Canvas Student treats offline as a sync feature, not a file browser. When your school enables it, you pick courses under Manage Offline Content and the app pulls them down for read-only viewing. The confirmation even estimates the storage needed before the second Sync tap.
Personal uploads go through User Files with a small set of actions: upload from camera, gallery, or device storage, plus download, rename, and delete. Anything fancier waits for a desktop browser. Course files attached to assignments follow the same download path and open in whatever viewer your phone assigns them.
Where Canvas Student stores this, by platform
/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.instructure.candroid/files
Private cache for synced courses and user files. Exact folder names may vary by version. Use Dashboard options > Manage Offline Content to choose what syncs; offline content is read-only.
Canvas Student app storage (Settings > iPhone Storage)
Sandboxed container. Same sync flow as Android through the Dashboard options icon. Files download to the app sandbox and hand off to iOS viewers, with no folder creation available.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a course available offline?
Tap the Dashboard options icon, then Manage Offline Content, select courses, and tap Sync twice. Do it on WiFi while online. Only synced courses open when you lose connection, and everything is read-only until you are back.
How do I download a file from Canvas on my phone?
Open your User Files or the course files area and use the Download option on the file. You can rename or delete from the same menu. The app cannot create folders or move files around, so tidy organization has to happen on the web version.
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