Assignment activities that require file submission can be set to only accept specific file formats. This can be useful for limiting technical issues when grading student submissions, such as students submitting the wrong type of file to an Assignment.

This article provides instructions for enabling specific file types for submission in Moodle.

Enabling Accepted File Types for Assignment Submissions

To enable file submissions for the Assignment activity:

1. In the main Moodle course page, find the Assignment to edit.
2. Click on the Assignment to access its activity page.
3. In the activity menu at the top of this page, click the Settings tab.
4. In the Assignment settings, find and expand the Submission types section.
5. For the Submission types field, enable the File submissions option.

A set of additional fields for file submissions will be revealed.

Enable file formats for a category of file formats

File types can come from a variety of environments. It's recommended to enable an entire category of file format, like the Document files category, rather than picking and choosing which specific types would be allowed.

To enable a category of file types:

1. In the Accepted file types field, click the Choose button.
2. In the pop-up menu that appears, find the category of file formats to allow.
3. Click the check box next to that category's name.
4. Click the Save changes button.
5. At the bottom of the Assignment settings page, click the Save and display button.

The Assignment will exclude any file that doesn't match one of the types in the selected category of file formats.

Enable file formats for specific file types

Specific file formats or a category of file types can be allowed, excluding other file types from being submitted to this assignment.

To enable specific file types for Assignment submission:

1. In the Accepted file types field, click the Choose button.
2. In the pop-up menu that appears, find the category of file formats to allow.
3. In the bottom-right corner of that category, click the Expand option.
4. Check the box(es) next to the specific file type(s) to allow.
5. Click the Save changes button.
6. At the bottom of the Assignment settings page, click the Save and display button.

The Assignment will not allow a submission of any file formats that don't match the selected formats in the settings.

It's also possible to directly type in a file type. The format for a file type is .abc, in all lowercase letters. For example:

• .doc for a Microsoft Word file
• .png for a PNG image file

If the file type to submit is not included in Moodle's list, type in the file format.

Additional Resources

Creating Assignments in Moodle (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Grading Assignments in Moodle (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Downloading Moodle Assignment Submissions (DELTA Knowledge Base)

For additional assistance, please contact the LearnTech Help Desk at learntech@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-7094, or via the Get Help form on the DELTA Knowledge Base.