Share:

How-To: Share Files in Canvas from YouTube, Kaltura, and Google Drive

How-To: Share Files in Canvas from YouTube, Kaltura, and Google Drive

You can easily share files from external cloud storage platforms like YouTube, Kaltura or Google Drive by linking or embedding files in the Rich Text Editor in Canvas.

To embed a YouTube video in Canvas:

  1. Go to youtube.com and log in to your Miami Google account
  2. Click the “Create a Video” button
  3. Click “Upload Video”
  4. Drag and drop your video file in the window, or click “Select File” to choose it
  5. While your video uploads, fill in its title and description and choose an image for its thumbnail
  6. Check the “No, it’s not made for kids” box under the Audience section, then click “Next”
  7. Click “Next” again
  8. Under “Save or publish,” choose “Unlisted.” This will allow anyone with the link to watch your video, but it will not be public on YouTube
  9. Click “Save”
  10. Click “Embed” in the window that pops up, and click the “Copy” button
  11. Open your Canvas course, and open a course element with a Rich Text Editor, such as an Announcement, Assignment, Page, Syllabus, Discussion, etc
  12. Click the “Insert/edit media” button in the Rich Text Editor toolbar
  13. Click the “Embed” tab, paste your embed code in the field, and click “Ok”
  14. Click “Save” to save your changes and close out of the Editor. You should see a preview of your YouTube video appear on the page

The video below demonstrates the steps for adding YouTube, Kaltura, and Google Drive files into Canvas. The YouTube specific steps can be viewed at 0:13 in the video below.


To embed a video in Canvas using Kaltura:

  1. In your Canvas course, click on “My Media” from the left-hand navigation menu
  2. Click “Add new”
  3. Drag and drop your video file into the window, or click “Choose a file to upload” to navigate to your file
  4. Give your video a name and description while it’s uploading
  5. Click “Save”
  6. Open your Canvas course, and open a course element with a Rich Text Editor, such as an Announcement, Assignment, Page, Syllabus, Discussion, etc.
  7. Position your cursor in the Rich Text Editor, and click the “More External Tools” button in the toolbar
  8. Select “Embed Kaltura Media”
  9. Click “Select” next to the video you want to embed
  10. Click “Save” to save your changes and close out of the Editor. You should see a preview of your video appear on the page

The video below demonstrates the steps for adding YouTube, Kaltura, and Google Drive files into Canvas. The Kaltura specific steps can be viewed at 2:24 in the video below.


To link to any type of file in Canvas using Google Drive:

  1. Log in to Google Drive (drive.google.com) with your Miami Google account
  2. Click the “New” button in the upper left-hand corner, then click “File Upload.” Add a file saved on your computer to your Google Drive
  3. In the upload window that appears in the lower right-hand corner, hover over the file being uploaded. Click the folder icon that appears to the right of the file name in order to show the file’s location in your Drive
  4. With the newly uploaded file selected, click the Link button in the top right-hand corner
  5. Toggle link sharing ON
  6. Make sure the sharing settings are set to “can view.” If you want other people to be able to edit and change your file, you can adjust this by opening the “Sharing settings”
  7. Click on the link and copy it
  8. Open your Canvas course, and open a course element with a Rich Text Editor, such as an Announcement, Assignment, Page, Syllabus, Discussion, etc.
  9. In the Rich Text Editor, type the text you’d like to be linked
  10. Highlight the text to be linked, click the “Link to URL” button in the toolbar, and paste the link you copied from Google Drive
  11. Click “Save” to save your changes and close out of the Editor. Click on the link you added to test it

The video below demonstrates the steps for adding YouTube, Kaltura, and Google Drive files into Canvas. The Google Drive specific steps can be viewed at 3:52 in the video below.


Step-by-Step Video

The video below walks through the steps of sharing files in Canvas with YouTube, Kaltura, & Google Drive.

We've Got Your Back

If at any point you would like support or guidance while you are teaching a distance learning course, please connect with us!  We are here to help.