Moodle question bank files

GIFT Format Converter for Moodle GIFT, Word to GIFT and PDF to GIFT

Upload the chapter PDF, the Word handout or the lecture slides. PDFQuiz writes the questions, the correct answers and the feedback, then gives you one GIFT text file that Moodle imports into the question bank. You never type a tilde or an equals sign.

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The short answer

Most GIFT converters reformat questions you already typed. PDFQuiz writes them first. It reads your PDF, Word document or slides, generates up to six question types with an answer key and explanations, and exports a Moodle GIFT .txt file. In Moodle you open Question bank, choose Import, pick GIFT format and upload the file, and every question lands with its correct answer, partial credit and feedback already set.

PDFQuiz is an independent tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Moodle. GIFT export is included in the Pro and Elite plans, see the pricing page.

What the exported GIFT file looks like

A GIFT file is ordinary text. Every question gets a title between double colons, the answers sit inside curly braces, and a blank line separates one question from the next. That is why you can open the export in any text editor and fix a word before you import it.

Characters that mean something in GIFT, the tilde, equals sign, hash, colon and curly braces, are escaped with a backslash when they appear inside your own text. A ratio written as 3:1 in a chemistry handout becomes 3\:1 in the file and imports correctly.

cell-biology-chapter-3-gift.txt

// Cell Biology Chapter 3 (pdfquiz.com)

::Q1::Which organelle produces most of the ATP in a cell? {=Mitochondrion ~Ribosome ~Golgi apparatus ~Lysosome ####Oxidative phosphorylation happens in the mitochondrion.}

::Q2::Plant cells have a cell wall made mainly of cellulose. {=True ~False}

::Q3::Which structures contain their own DNA? {~%50%Mitochondria ~%50%Chloroplasts ~%-50%Ribosomes ~%-50%Vacuoles}

::Q4::The fluid inside the cell membrane is called the {=cytoplasm =cytosol}

::Q5::Match each organelle to its job. {=Nucleus -> Stores DNA =Ribosome -> Builds proteins =Lysosome -> Digests waste =Vacuole -> Stores water}

::Q6::Explain why a cell stays small instead of growing without limit. {####Mention the surface area to volume ratio.}

Shortened sample in the same syntax the export writes. Multiple answer questions split the credit evenly across the right answers and subtract it evenly across the wrong ones.

How to convert Word to GIFT for Moodle in four steps

The same four steps work for a PDF chapter, a PowerPoint deck or a scanned handout. The source file never has to follow a template, because the questions are written from what the file says.

Upload the source

Drop in up to 10 files at once, Word, PDF, PowerPoint, text or images, up to 50 MB each. Switch on OCR for scanned pages.

Pick question types

Choose any mix of single choice, multiple answer, true or false, fill in the blank, matching and open ended, and set how many questions you want.

Review and edit

Read every question, fix the wording, swap a weak distractor or delete an item you would not grade. The explanation becomes the Moodle feedback.

Export and import

Download Moodle (GIFT) from the quiz list. In Moodle open the course question bank, choose Import, pick GIFT format, upload the file, click Import, then Continue.

Moodle expects GIFT files saved as UTF-8 text. The export is written that way, so accented names, degree signs and curly quotes from the source survive the import.

How each question type is written in GIFT

All six PDFQuiz question types make it into the GIFT file. That is the main difference from QTI, where only the choice types travel.

PDFQuiz type	GIFT syntax	Moodle type
Single choice, four options	{=right ~wrong ~wrong ~wrong}	Multiple choice
Multiple answer	{~%50%right ~%-50%wrong}	Multiple choice, partial credit
True or false	{=True ~False}	Two option multiple choice
Fill in the blank	{=answer =variant}	Short answer
Matching, at least 4 pairs	{=term -> match}	Matching
Open ended	{####feedback}	Essay, graded by you

Every question carries a title such as Q1 or Q2, so you can find it in the question bank, and the explanation PDFQuiz wrote is attached as general feedback that students see after they submit.

Community college instructor at a desk reviewing a printed course reader next to a laptop

The course reader is already the test, it just is not written as questions yet. Typing forty items into the Moodle question editor, one form per question, is the evening most instructors would rather skip. A GIFT import turns that into a single upload, and generating the questions from the reader removes the writing as well.

GIFT converter options compared

Before you pick a tool, ask one thing. Do the questions exist yet? If your test bank is already typed with the answers marked, a formatter is enough. If all you have is the chapter, the writing is the real work.

Route	You start with	Who writes the questions	Best when
Writing GIFT by hand	A text editor and the GIFT syntax rules from the Moodle docs	You	A handful of questions and you know the symbols
Word macros	A Word file typed in the layout the macro expects	You	Your test bank already lives in Word
SimpleQuestion	A free desktop editor that writes and checks GIFT, no essay questions or text formatting	You	You want a GIFT editor with syntax checks on your own computer
Open source text converters	Questions in a simpler plain text layout, converted by a script	You	You are comfortable running a script and the questions exist
Formswrite	Questions already written in Google Docs, Sheets or a PDF	You, the tool converts them	A finished quiz sits in a document and only needs moving
PDFQuiz	The PDF, Word file or slides you teach from	Generated from the source, then reviewed and edited by you	There is no question bank yet, or you need a fresh set every term

To be straight about it, if your sixty questions already sit in a Word file with the right answers marked, one of the formatters gets them into Moodle and you do not need us for that. PDFQuiz pays for itself the term the textbook changes, a module gets rewritten or a training manual lands on your desk with no questions attached. Then the stems, the distractors and the feedback come from the material, and the GIFT file is the last click.

Versions are the other reason. Generate a second set from the same chapter for a makeup exam or another section, export it into a separate question bank category, and let Moodle draw random questions from both. Need the same items on paper too? The set also exports as a printable test with an answer key.

6 of 6

PDFQuiz question types carried into the GIFT file

16 formats

Read on upload, from PDF and Word to PowerPoint and photos

10 files

In one upload, up to 50 MB each

Two instructional designers at a shared table comparing a training manual with notes on a laptop

Who needs a Word to GIFT converter

College and community college faculty on Moodle

Weekly reading checks built from the assigned chapter, imported into a question bank category per unit, with feedback students see after the attempt.

Instructional designers and e-learning teams

Knowledge checks for a new online course written from the subject expert slides and handouts, delivered to the course shell as one GIFT file.

Corporate trainers on Moodle Workplace

Compliance and onboarding quizzes generated from the policy manual or the SOP binder, refreshed each time the document is revised.

Other formats from the same quiz

One generated quiz downloads in several formats from the same menu. Departments that run Moodle for one program and Canvas for another use the QTI converter for the Canvas QTI 1.2 zip and the QTI 2.1 package, which carry the choice question types. Review games get a Kahoot spreadsheet through PDF to Kahoot, and paper tests come out as PDF or Word with a separate answer key.

There is no Moodle XML, Aiken or SCORM export. Moodle reads GIFT natively, so for the six question types PDFQuiz writes, XML adds nothing you would miss.

GIFT format questions Moodle users ask

What is GIFT format in Moodle?

GIFT is the plain text question format built into Moodle. Each question is one block of text, with the answers inside curly braces, an equals sign in front of the correct answer and a tilde in front of each wrong one. Moodle imports a GIFT file straight into the question bank, so a whole test bank moves in one upload instead of question by question.

How do I convert a Word document to GIFT format?

Upload the Word file to PDFQuiz, choose the question types you want and generate the set. Review and edit the questions, then open the download menu on the quiz list and pick Moodle (GIFT). You get a .txt file in GIFT syntax with the answers, partial credit weights and feedback already written, so nothing in the Word file has to follow a template.

Can I convert a PDF to GIFT format?

Yes. Upload the PDF, switch on OCR if it is a scanned copy, and generate the questions from its text. After you review the set, the Moodle (GIFT) download turns it into a GIFT text file. The same works for PowerPoint decks, text files and photos of printed pages, up to 10 files and 50 MB per file in one upload.

How do I import a GIFT file into Moodle?

Open your course, go to More, then Question bank (Question banks in Moodle 5), and choose Import from the bank menu. Select GIFT format, drag the .txt file into the upload box and click Import. Moodle lists every question it parsed, and you click Continue to save them into the chosen category. From there you add them to any quiz in the course.

Does GIFT format support images?

Only indirectly. GIFT is plain text, so an image has to be written as an HTML image tag pointing to a file Moodle can already reach. The PDFQuiz GIFT export is text only, which keeps the file small and imports cleanly. If a question needs a diagram, add the image in the Moodle question editor after the import.

What question types does GIFT support?

GIFT covers multiple choice, multiple choice with several correct answers and partial credit, true or false, short answer, matching, missing word, numerical and essay questions. PDFQuiz writes six types and all six export to GIFT, mapped to multiple choice, multiple choice with partial credit, true or false, short answer, matching and essay in Moodle.

Is GIFT better than Moodle XML?

For moving ordinary questions, GIFT is simpler because it is readable text you can open and correct in any editor. Moodle XML carries more, such as embedded images, calculated questions and per answer settings, but it is hard to edit by hand. PDFQuiz exports GIFT, not Moodle XML, because the six question types it writes all fit GIFT.

Why does my GIFT import fail in Moodle?

The usual causes are a file not saved as UTF-8, a special character such as a colon, equals sign, tilde, hash or curly brace left unescaped inside a question, or two questions with no blank line between them. The PDFQuiz export escapes those characters with a backslash and separates every question with a blank line, which avoids the common parse errors.

Setting up the quiz itself after the import? The Moodle quiz generator page walks through question bank categories, random questions and quiz settings, and the Word to quiz generator covers .docx handouts in more detail.

Related converters and tools

Moodle Quiz Generator

Quizzes and question banks for Moodle courses.

QTI Converter

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Canvas Quiz Generator

Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes from your files.

Word to Quiz

Questions written from a .docx study guide.

Quiz Export Tool

Every export format and the plan it needs.

PDF to Kahoot

A Kahoot import spreadsheet from your PDF.

Turn this week's chapter into a Moodle question bank

Upload the Word file or PDF, review the questions and their feedback, and import one GIFT file instead of filling in the question editor forty times.

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