This error message occurs when there isn't a Canvas user account connected to that identifier in your instance of Canvas. Basically, Canvas doesn't think there's a user account for that person. Your troubleshooting steps to resolve this would be:
- Check that the email address you entered is the correct email address for that student. In this case, is it possible that the email address you are entering is a personal email address instead of an institutional email address?
- Check with your institution that email address is the way to add students. For example, at my institution, we add people to courses using an alphanumeric ID, even though Canvas has email addresses on file for our users.
- Ask your institution administrators if this student's Canvas account has been deleted or suspended. If this is a new student, it's also possible that they have not had a Canvas account provisioned for them yet. This is an automatic process at some institutions (based on a data feed from the admissions or registration system) but may be done manually at others. It may also be that you're attempting to add students before the data sync has happened - your Canvas administrator will be able to determine this.
If all of those things check out, you may also want to clear your browser cache and cookies.
Good luck!
