Viewing/receiving email through canvas

[ReevaPotoff]

I composed an email with a file attached and sent it to myself (teacher). I did this to test out canvas' email system. The issue is that the email does not show up on canvas inbox, nor on the primary email linked to my account. The only place it shows up in canvas is under "sent".

Where did that email, and future email I receive go?

How can I be sure that my email will get to my students?

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello there, @ReevaPotoff ...

There are a couple of items in your question that are not quite accurate.  Please allow me to explain...

• Canvas does not have e-mail.  The "Inbox" is a messaging application within Canvas.  It does not allow you to sent e-mails to your friends/family that are not enrolled (either as a student or an instructor) in the same course(s) as you are.  Also, your friends/family cannot send you e-mails and then you receive them in the Canvas "Inbox" because they are not enrolled in those course(s) in your school's Canvas environment.  However, if you or your students have your "Notification" preferences set up to receive a copy of those Inbox messages to an e-mail address (school account, personal e-mail address, etc.), then you will receive that via e-mail.
  • Notification Preferences (All Users)
  • How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as an instructor?
  • How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as a student?
  • How do I add contact methods to receive Canvas notifications as an instructor?
  • How do I add contact methods to receive Canvas notifications as a student?
• It look like you are trying to send a message to yourself via the Canvas Inbox.  This is actually documented in the Canvas Guides that it will not deliver that message back to your Inbox.  Please check out the blue box at the top of this Guide: How do I send a message to a user in a course in the Inbox as an instructor?  The second bulleted item under the "Notes" heading is: "You can also send a message to yourself, but messages can only be viewed in the Sent messages folder."

Here are some other things to maybe look at:

• One more thing you'll want to check...back in your "Account" >> "Notifications" screen...  Look at the three items under the heading "Conversations".  If you hover your mouse over any of the words under that heading, you'll get a little pop-up that describes what that particular item does.  You can also set notifications at the course level...so you might want to check out that screen, too.
  • How do I manage notifications for a single course as an instructor?
  • How do I manage notifications for a single course as a student?
• Go to your "Account" >> "Settings" page.  On the right side of your screen, you will see your e-mail address listed on the right side of the screen under "Ways to Contact".  Do you see an orange "!" icon next to your e-mail address?  (Refer to the 4th and 5th sub-bulleted items I linked to above in my first bulleted item....for screen shots.)  If so, this means that Canvas is having troubles sending out notifications to your e-mail address...probably including copies of messages you are sending through the Canvas Inbox.  You'd want to reach out to Canvas Support to get this corrected...if you do see that orange "!".  They are usually able to take care of those requests fairly quickly.  How do I contact Canvas Support?
• When you send a message from your Canvas Inbox, students may get a copy of it via e-mail (depending on their own "Notification" preferences).  They would also get the message via their own Canvas "Inbox".
  • How do I use the Inbox as a student?
  • How do I find my unread messages in the Inbox as a student?
  • How do I view the Inbox in the Student app on my iOS device?
  • How do I view the Inbox in the Student app on my Android device?

I hope these items will be of some help to you.  Beyond these troubleshooting tips, then I would recommend reaching out to Canvas Support...using the link I provided.  They may have some other suggestions for you to try.  If you do reach out to Canvas Support, please come back to this posting to provide an update so we know how they were able to assist you.

Good luck!  Take care, stay safe, and be well.

[rgibson1]

Can I ask more about this? Here's the setup:

1. Student sends me a message through Canvas. I get that in both my Inbox (in Canvas) and my Outlook Email.
2. I respond via Outlook back to the student.
3. There is not a "sent" with that message in Canvas. The "sent" remains with Outlook.
4. The student receives that response in both Canvas and their Email.

Is that correct?

[Chris_Hofer]

@rgibson1 ...

That all sounds correct to me...assuming that the student has also configured his/her notification settings to get a copy of your reply to his/her e-mail address.