User License Info - Difference in Deactivate, Suspend, and Removing users

[JosephHolloway]

1. What is the difference in Deactivating, Suspending, and Removing users?

***I understand this is a loaded question, but deactivating a user is found in the People>"UsersName" and under specific courses and wasn't sure if they had different meanings. 

2. Does one or the other free up user license counts?

3. Where do I go to see current User License counts that are being used?

[mzimmerman · Accepted solution]

Hi @JosephHolloway 

1) If you "deactivate" a person in a course, you are setting their enrollment status for that course to be "inactive".  They are still visible to the instructor, and their information/participation/overall grade in the course can be viewed, but they do not have access to the course anymore.  This is often used when a student has dropped the course, since it allows the instructor to report the student's participation for financial aid purposes, etc.

You when you "suspend" a user's account, you are preserving their information, but blocking them from logging into Canvas.  

If you "remove" a user from a course, then you are deleting their enrollment they are no longer visible to the instructor and have no access in the course at all.  

If you "delete" a user from the system, you are completely deleting their account from Canvas.

There is a handy overview of all these states at https://s3.amazonaws.com/tr-learncanvas/docs/CanvasEnrollmentStatusComparison.pdf 

2) & 3) You would want to consult your Canvas account/customer experience rep, but as far as I know, your Canvas contract is based on FTE at the school, rather than the specific number of actual users created on the system.  So there aren't really "user license counts".