DOCX Submission Issue

[AubreyWard]

Hello,

I am experiencing a strange phenomenon with one of my student's essay submissions (I am an instructor).

I restricted the file type to docx, and the student was allowed to upload the assignment, but, rather than letters and words, all that shows up in the document on Canvas is page after page of random symbols. It looks like this:

This is what I'm seeing in SpeedGrader.

I am fairly certain that the student did not fill out the document with a bunch of nonsense and that some sort of error has occurred. I appreciate any help on this matter!

Thank you,

Aubrey Ward

[gnoack · Accepted solution]

You can download the document to view it, perhaps they chose a font that isn't supported by the viewer.  What does it look like when viewing in Word after download?

They also may have created the document using a different word processor and did not export it to Microsoft Office Word correctly. For example, from Pages or Google Docs. Can you ask the student how the document was created? 

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello there, @AubreyWard ...

In addition to the feedback that you've received from @gnoack so far...I have another question.  On the right side of your screen, you should be able to see the actual file as a clickable link.  What is the file extension on it?  Is it *.docx like you had specified?  Also, would you be able to share your assignment settings screen where it shows the types of file you are allowing your students to submit?  That may help us to narrow down the issue a bit more...thanks!

[gnoack · Accepted solution]

You can download the document to view it, perhaps they chose a font that isn't supported by the viewer.  What does it look like when viewing in Word after download?

They also may have created the document using a different word processor and did not export it to Microsoft Office Word correctly. For example, from Pages or Google Docs. Can you ask the student how the document was created? 

[AubreyWard]

gnoack,

Thanks for your reply. I haven't heard back from the student yet, but in the meantime: the thing is, I cannot open or view the downloaded file (apologies; I should have included that detail in my original post). When I attempt to open the file, Word tells me that it is unreadable. I've tried opening the file with the text converter and forcing Word to repair the file, but none of that works. 

Thank you again. 

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello there, @AubreyWard ...

In addition to the feedback that you've received from @gnoack so far...I have another question.  On the right side of your screen, you should be able to see the actual file as a clickable link.  What is the file extension on it?  Is it *.docx like you had specified?  Also, would you be able to share your assignment settings screen where it shows the types of file you are allowing your students to submit?  That may help us to narrow down the issue a bit more...thanks!

[gnoack]

If Word cannot open it, I suspect it isn't a Word file.  The student may have changed the file extension to .docx, but that won't make it a Word file. It has to be exported from the application that was used to create it. 

Just a hunch, but I would bet it is a Pages file from a Mac.  

[10071]

Any resolution to this issue? I am experiencing the same behavior with a few of our summer school students.

[gnoack]

Hi @10071 

It was never clear if the issue was with Canvas or the file. I suspect it was the file and the student uploaded an incompatible file.  Probably the quickest path to a resolution is to contact the student and find out how they created the file. 

[10071]

The original is a Word document created on a Windows machine. The instructor is unable to download and open the file in Word. It seems something is happening to the document in the Doc viewer in Canvas.

[ericwhitmer · Accepted solution]

I would ask the student to resubmit the file and to export to Word, if it is indeed a modified Pages file. Apple has a guide on how to do that: Export to Word, PDF, or another file format in Pages on Mac - Apple Support

Hope this helps some.

[10071]

The original is a Word document created on a Windows machine. The instructor is unable to download and open the file in Word. It seems something is happening to the document in the Doc viewer in Canvas.

[gnoack]

Hi @10071 

It may be a quirk with the doc viewer today or just that file.  Still, I would check with the student to be sure, and if they did indeed create in Word, then ask them to resave it and reupload.

I teach MS Office and I have seen many students do many odd things with files.  For example, they may have changed a Google doc file's extension to .docx thinking that will convert it. 

[gnoack]

@10071 

You might also review what extension the instructor has installed on their browser.  Have you tried different browsers to see if the issue persists?  

I've had issues with SpeedGrader and ad blockers.  See this post. Weird Issue with Speedgrader - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)