How do I assign an assignment to everyone, individual students, or sections?

By default, assignments you create in your course will be assigned to everyone. You can specify a due date and availability dates that apply to everyone. You can also assign an assignment to an individual student, course section, or course group.

When Multiple Grading Periods are enabled in a course, assignments are also respected against closed grading periods.

Note: If you unassign a student or section to a differentiated assignment you have previously graded, the grade and submission are removed from the assignment. You can restore the submission by reassigning the assignment to the student.

Open Assignments

Open Assignments

In Course Navigation, click the Assignments link.

Add Assignment

Add Assignment

Click the Add Assignment button.

Add Assignment Details

Add Assignment Details

Assign to Everyone

Assign to Everyone

By default, Canvas assigns your assignment for everyone in your course.

Edit Due and Availability Dates

Edit Due and Availability Dates

In the date fields, add your preferred date(s) with the following options:

  • Due Date [1]: Set the date and time that the assignment is due. The due date will already be populated for you if you created an assignment shell, but you can change it if necessary.
  • Available From [2]: Set the date and time when the assignment will become available.
  • Until [3]: Set the date and time when the assignment will no longer be available.

Notes:

  • If you have set section override dates in your course, you may need to select a course section and set due and availability dates that fall within the section override dates.
  • Beneath the Due Date and Availability Date fields, Canvas displays the time zone date and time according to context. If you manage courses in a time zone other than your local time zone and create or edit a due date for an assignment, the course and local times are displayed for reference.

Save and Publish

Save and Publish

If you are ready to publish your assignment, click the Save & Publish button [1]. If you want to create a draft of your assignment and publish it later, click the Save button [2].

View Date Error

View Date Error

If you submit an invalid string of due dates and try to save the assignment, Canvas generates an error notification. Such invalid entries include not unlocking the assignment before it is due, not placing the due date inside the range of availability dates, or assigning a date that is outside the course or term dates.

Correct the date and then update the assignment again.

Notes:

  • If the course does not include specified course start and end dates, Canvas validates the assignment against the term date set for the course.
  • If your course is not using Multiple Grading Periods, the Assign field validates the due date against the closed grading period and requires the assignment date to be past the date of the closed grading period.

View Assignment Dates

View Assignment Dates

View the dates assigned to the assignment.

View Assignments Page

View Assignments Page

On the Assignments Index Page, the assignment shows the dates assigned to the assignment.