How do I take a quiz?

You can easily take a quiz by accessing the Quizzes page. Depending on how your instructor set up the quiz, questions may be shown all on one page or one at a time. If you are unable to finish a quiz you may be able to resume it at a later time.

Notes:

  • Your instructor may be using an upgraded quiz tool called New Quizzes in your course. If the quiz you are taking displays differently, your instructor may be using New Quizzes. For help with taking a New Quizzes quiz, please see How do I take a quiz in New Quizzes?
  • Having multiple browser tabs or windows open while taking a quiz may cause issues when submitting answers or when completing a quiz.
  • If you lose internet connectivity Canvas extends the time for five minutes, saving the answer entered before the timer runs out.
  • If enabled by your instructor, your quiz might require the use of the Respondus Lockdown Browser.

Open Quizzes

Open Quizzes

In Course Navigation, click the Quizzes link.

Open Quiz

Open Quiz

Find an available quiz you'd like to take and click the title of the quiz.

Take Quiz

Take Quiz

To begin the quiz, click the Take the Quiz button.

View Quiz

Complete the quiz per your instructor's instructions. Quizzes will either have all the questions on one page, or each question will be shown one at a time.

There are several different question types in Canvas that your professors may choose to employ, from True/False to Essay format. Questions can vary by question type. Each question will show in the top right corner the point value of the question. Each question will be divided from others by a box surrounding the question and answers.

You can use other areas in the quiz to help you navigate and complete quiz questions, including the sidebar and the flagging questions feature.

View Sidebar

View Sidebar

At any point during the quiz, you can view a summary of your quiz. Questions you've answered will be faded out and identified by a checkmark icon [1], while unanswered questions will be bolded and identified by a question mark icon [2].

You can also view the due date for the quiz [3]. In the sidebar, the quiz due date refers to the autosubmit date, which can be a specified Until date or the last day of the course. This is not the due date set for when the quiz will be marked late.

You'll also see a timer showing your progress on the quiz. For untimed quizzes [4], the quiz shows as the elapsed time. If you are taking a timed quiz [5], the timer shows the running time and counts down until time expires.

Flag Questions

You can flag the questions you want to go back to by clicking the flag by the question [1]. The flag will change color to yellow to remind you to finish the question. The yellow flag will also appear in the question overview in the sidebar [2].

View Quiz Warning Notifications

If you are taking a timed quiz, or you are taking a quiz close to the due date or lock date and time, Canvas generates warning messages to help you manage your time in the quiz. Canvas will also warn you if you lose the connection to the internet during the quiz.

View Due Date Warning

View Due Date Warning

If you are taking a quiz with a set due date, you will see a warning popup banner as to how many minutes remain before the quiz will be marked late. Warnings appear 30 minutes prior, five minutes prior, and one minute prior.

View Time Restriction Warning

View Time Restriction Warning

If you start a quiz near the time when it will be due, you will see a warning popup banner. Use the sidebar to view the time the quiz is due and how many minutes are remaining. In this sense, the quiz due date refers to the autosubmit date, which is either a specified lock (Available until) date or the last day of the course. Warnings appear 30 minutes prior, five minutes prior, one minute prior, and 10 seconds prior.

View Quiz Logout Warning

View Quiz Logout Warning

If at any time you get logged out of Canvas while taking a quiz, you will see a warning pop-up banner. To resume your quiz, click the Login button.

Pause Quiz

If your browser allows you to leave the quiz, you can pause the quiz by leaving the quiz page. When you are ready to resume the quiz, the quiz will resume where you left off.

Note: If you leave a timed quiz, the timer will keep running and the quiz will be automatically submitted when time runs out.

Submit Quiz

Canvas will save your quiz as you go through it. When you are finished, submit your quiz and view the quiz results to find out your score.

View Auto Submit Warning

View Auto Submit Warning

If you do not submit a timed quiz before the time runs out, Canvas displays a pop-up box telling you that your quiz time has expired. The quiz automatically submits after the ten-second count down [1], or you can click the Ok, fine button or Close icon to submit your quiz [2].