How to edit instructor comments in Speedgrader?

[SarahMurphy2]

Is it possible to edit instructor comments once submitted in Speedgrader? Previously, I could do this by going into the Gradebook and there was a pencil icon to edit the comment. Now, I only see a trashcan icon to delete the comment. 

When a small error is made in the comments, it would be really nice to be able to edit and re-save, rather than having to delete and re-post the comment. Is there a way to do this now?

Thanks!

[JoseOrcasitas]

Hi, 

Currently, in Canvas SpeedGrader, instructor comments cannot be edited once they’ve been submitted. In the past, you may have been able to edit through the Gradebook’s pencil icon, but the interface has changed — now, the only option is to delete the existing comment (trash can icon) and re-enter the corrected version.

If the ability to edit comments would be valuable for your workflow, I recommend submitting it as a feature idea through the Canvas Community so it can be reviewed for future updates.

Thanks!

[dbrace]

@JoseOrcasitas, @SarahMurphy2 submitted this as an idea (https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Ideas/Allow-instructors-to-edit-comments/idi-p/652915) on 2025-08-15 at 04:27 PM ET but it was denied (a comment was left on ‎2025-08-17 at 02:09 AM ET) by @ModeratorPanda.

Status changed to: Will Not Consider

Instructors can edit comments by selecting the edit icon for the score in the grade detail tray:

How do I leave comments for students in the Gradebook? | Edit Comment

If you are unable to see this icon or the grade detail tray, please contact your Canvas support team to report a problem.

To help our Product Teams evaluate new ideas, this thread has been moved to our Will Not Consider status.

What did @SarahMurphy2 do wrong?

-Doug

[dbrace]

How do I leave comments for students in the Gradebook? | Edit Comment

If you are unable to see this icon or the grade detail tray, please contact your Canvas support team to report a problem.

To help our Product Teams evaluate new ideas, this thread has been moved to our Will Not Consider status.

What did @SarahMurphy2 do wrong?

-Doug

[KristinL]

Hello! 

@SarahMurphy2 , in How do I leave comments for students in the Gradebook?, there is a section that shows how to edit a comment from the Gradebook. It's a very helpful feature, especially when a small typo needs to be adjusted! However, like @JoseOrcasitas shared, this is currently not possible when looking at comments in Speedgrader.

To edit your comment, click the Edit icon and make your edits in the comment box. When you have finished editing your comment, click the Submit button. The time stamp of the edited comment will indicate the comment has been edited.

I see that you also submitted an idea, and I'm following up there as well. 😊

[mmforbes]

@KristinL Thanks for pointing out the workaround: One can indeed edit comments from the "Grade Detail Tray".

However, to get to this from the speed grader is absolutely not intuitive and highly disruptive while in the process of grading.  An edit button on the speedgrader next to the comment is an appropriate UI design choice and I highly recommend that you ask your team to reconsider SarahMurphy2's feature request for the sake of instructors who have to optimize our grading process as much as possible.

[SarahMurphy2]

Hi Jose,

Thank you for your reply! Yes, I do think the edit feature would be helpful. Sometimes, we need to make a small correction and it's a lot easier to edit rather than deleting and reposting. I'll submit this as a feature idea.