How do I manage Course Navigation links?

As an instructor, you can control which links appear in Course Navigation. Canvas includes a set of default Course Navigation links that are shown by default and cannot be renamed. Depending on your course configuration, other links may be available and may be customizable.

Links to sections that don't have any content and that students cannot create content for will be automatically hidden for students and will display the Visibility icon to instructors. For example, if there are no learning outcomes set for the course, you will see the Outcomes link with the Visibility icon, but students will not see the link at all. Configured External Apps may create additional Course Navigation links.

Disabling a course navigation link creates the following redirects:

  • Hidden only (cannot be disabled but still accessible via direct URL): Discussions and Grades
  • Page disabled; redirected to Home page: Announcements, Assignments, Conferences, Collaborations, Files, Modules, Outcomes, Quizzes, Pages, People, Rubrics, and Syllabus
  • Page disabled; won't appear in navigation: Any LTI links, such as Attendance, Chat, and SCORM

Reordering and hiding Course Navigation links for Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, and Files also affects the course tabs in the Dashboard course view for all users. Additionally, disabling the Files link will hide the Files tab in the Content Selector in the Rich Content Editor for students.

The following course navigation links will still be visible to instructors even if they have been hidden or disabled: Home, Announcements, Assignments, Collaborations, Conferences, Discussions, Files, Grades, Modules, Outcomes, Pages, People, Quizzes, Rubrics, Settings, and Syllabus.

Notes:

  • Navigation links that cannot be disabled require the URL access to display related data in other Canvas areas. Access to hidden pages may be further restricted by changing specific student permissions in Canvas. Contact your Canvas admin for assistance.
  • If you disable the Course Navigation link for an external tool, the link no longer displays in your Course Navigation list.
  • If the course navigation link for the page is disabled and hidden from students, the Student View button does not display.

Open Settings

Open Settings

In Course Navigation, click the Settings link.

Open Navigation

Open Navigation

Click the Navigation tab.

Save Navigation

Save Navigation

Click the Save button.

View Course Navigation Links

View Course Navigation Links

View the Course Navigation Menu. Navigation links will display in the same order that you have designated in Course Settings.

Any Course Navigation link that is hidden from students displays the Visibility icon [1]. A link may be hidden to students because the feature area has no content [2] or because the link is disabled [3]. Links that are manually disabled by a course instructor display at the bottom of the Course Navigation Menu above the Settings link [4].

Note: If you have disabled a Course Navigation link to an external tool, that link will not display in Course Navigation and is hidden to all course users, including instructors.