Search the Community
Account-level admins have access to Canvas reports that can be used to review account data. Canvas includes a set of default reports, though other customized reports may be included for your institution. Learn about report configurations in the Canvas Default Account Reports resource document.
Open Account
In Global Navigation, click the Admin link [1], then click the name of the account [2].
Open Settings
In Account Navigation, click the Settings link.
View Reports
The Reports page shows all available reports. Each report includes the name [1] and a help icon that explains more about the report [2]. You can also view the last time the report was run, if any [3].
Note: The Last Run report displays in the language of the user who last ran the report.
Configure Reports
Most reports must be configured before they can be run. To configure a report, click the Configure button.
Depending on the report, report configurations may include one or several options.
Select Term
All reports except the LTI Report, Outcome Export, and User Access Tokens reports require you to select a term. In the Term drop-down menu [1], you can choose from the Default Term, or any active, future, or past terms. Courses with hidden assignments may not accurately reflect scores in this report.
The Grade Export, Last User Access, Student Competency, LTI Report, and User Access Tokens reports include the option to include deleted objects. Deleted objects may include deleted courses, users, or enrollments. To include deleted objects, click the Include Deleted Objects checkbox [2].
Select Report Order
The Outcome Results report allows you to choose how to order the report. Ordering options are by Users, Courses, or Outcomes. By default, the report orders by Users. Select the radio button for your preferred report order.
Select CSV Files
The Provisioning and SIS Export reports ask you to select the CSV files you want to generate for a selected term [1]. Select the checkboxes next to the files you want to generate. Files can be generated for Users, Accounts, Terms, Courses, Sections, Enrollments, Groups, Group memberships, Group categories, Cross-listing (X list), User Observers, and Admins.
If you want to only view data created by your SIS, select the Created by SIS checkbox [2]. Otherwise, the CSV files display all data created in your Canvas account, including information created by SIS and through the interface.
To include concluded courses or deleted objects in the report, click the Include Deleted Objects checkbox [3].
Note: The selected term only impacts Courses, Sections, Enrollments, and Cross-listing CSV files.
Select Dates and Enrollment State
The Students with no Submissions report asks you to select a start date [1] and end date [2] for the report. You can either select a date by clicking each respective date's calendar icon, or you can enter the date directly in the date field.
You may also choose to include the enrollment state in the report by clicking the Include Enrollment State checkbox [3]. In the Enrollment State drop-down menu [4], select all enrollments or only active enrollments.
Select Start Date
The User Course Access Log and Zero Activity reports ask you to select a start date for the report. You can either select a date by clicking the calendar icon, or you can enter the date directly in the date field.
Note: A maximum of two years' data will be retrieved in the User Course Access Log report. If a user had access to a course over two years prior, a message displays but details cannot be provided.
Select Enrollment Type
The User Course Access Log report allows you to choose to include all or individual enrollment types. In the Enrollment Type drop-down menu, select all enrollments, student enrollments, teacher enrollments, TA enrollments, observer enrollments, or designer enrollments.
Select Course Scores
The SIS Submission Report allows you to include course scores. Click the Include course scores checkbox. By default, the SIS Submission Report does not include course scores.
Note: The SIS Submission Report may only display for institutions that have authenticated Canvas to post grades to their SIS.
Filter ePortfolio Data
The ePortfolio Report allows you to filter the data displayed in the report.
To only display ePortfolios from users without enrollments in your Canvas account, click the Only include ePortfolios from users with no enrollments checkbox [1].
To only display removed ePortfolios, click the Only include ePortfolios that have been removed checkbox [2].
Run Report
When you have finished configuring a report, click the Run Report button.
Download Report
When a report is complete and is available for download, click the Download icon. The file will download to your computer.
This document outlines the descriptions of the default Canvas reports, their configurations, and CSV export format and data.
Account and subaccount admins have access to Canvas reports that can be used to review account data or in conjunction with accessing Canvas via the API. Canvas includes a set of default reports available to all institutions. This document outlines the descriptions of all default reports, their configurations, and CSV export format and data. Configurations refer to the options and filters that can be enabled before the report is run.
Subaccount Reports
Users are associated with an account through a group or a course enrollment. Even though courses and groups can be created within subaccounts, user data is maintained at the account level. Subaccount reports that involve user data may not be as current as account-level reports. To maintain accuracy for subaccount reports, Canvas updates all user account associations weekly on Sundays (exact times may vary).
Course Grade Passback
The Course Grade Passback report gets the grade passback setting for courses in a selected term and only displays courses where a value has been set.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per course |
CSV Data |
Course ID, grade passback setting |
Course Storage
The Course Storage report shows the current statistics for storage space used in every course in a selected term (shown in megabytes).
The report shows two columns about file storage. The storage used column shows unique files in the course; files included through a previous import or course copy are not counted against the storage limit. The sum of all files column shows the amount of space required to download all files associated with the course.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per course |
CSV Data |
Course ID, course SIS ID, course short name, course name, account ID, account SIS ID, account name, storage used (in MB), sum of all files (in MB) |
Developer Keys Report
The Developer Keys Report includes Developer Keys available to the institution. The report includes keys inherited from parent or root account and keys installed directly in the account in which the report is run. For more information, see the Canvas API documentation.
CSV Format |
One row per key |
CSV Data |
Global ID, key name, inherited from parent account, contact info, key type, permitted API endpoints |
ePortfolio Report
The ePortfolio report includes all active ePortfolios for the current institution. The report can be customized to reduce the scope of the ePortfolio results to users without enrollments and/or ePortfolios that have been removed.
Configuration |
Enrollment status, removed ePortfolios |
CSV Format |
One row per ePortfolio |
CSV Data |
ePortfolio name, ePortfolio ID, author name, author ID, author SIS ID, author login ID, date created, date updated, is public, workflow state |
Grade Export
The Grade Export report shows the final grade results for all the students in a selected term.
The current score reflects the total while ignoring unsubmitted assignments and muted assignments, and the final score counts unsubmitted assignments and muted assignments as zero. If the Final Grade Override feature preview has been turned on in an account, the Grade Export report will include the override_score column.
For use with grading periods, use the MGP Grade Export report.
Configuration |
Term, deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per enrollment |
CSV Data |
Student name, student ID, student SIS ID, student integration ID*, course name, course ID, course SIS ID, section name, section ID, section SIS ID, term name, term ID, term SIS ID, current score, final score, enrollment state, unposted current score, unposted final score, override score, current grade, final grade, unposted current grade, unposted final grade, override grade |
* Contact your Customer Success Manager to include student integration IDs in the grade export report.
LTI Report
The LTI report provides an export of data that shows LTI (Learning Tool Interoperability) usage information.
Configuration |
Deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per LTI tool |
CSV Data |
Configuration location, associated account/course ID, associated account name, associated course name, tool ID, tool name, tool type, tool created at, tool privacy level, launch URL, custom fields |
Last Enrollment Activity
The Last Enrollment Activity report show the last activity on a user’s enrollments.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per enrollment |
CSV Data |
User ID, user name, last activity date and time |
Last User Access
The Last User Access report shows the last login for active users. The endpoint used for the most recent access date and time is updated every 10 minutes. The date and time displayed in the report will reflect the time the endpoint was updated and may differ from the exact time the user accessed Canvas.
Configuration |
Term, deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per enrollment |
CSV Data |
User ID, user SIS ID (if applicable), user name, last access date and time, IP address |
Multiple Grading Periods Grade Export
The Multiple Grading Period (MGP) Grade Export report shows grading period grades (and overall course grades) for each student enrolled in a given term.
Each [grading period name] also includes columns that indicate the unposted current score and unposted final score. Depending on the term configuration, this report may include multiple grading periods. If the Final Grade Override feature preview has been turned on in an account, the MGP Grade Export report will include the override_score column.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per enrollment |
CSV Data |
Student name, student ID, student SIS ID, course name, course ID, course SIS ID, section name, section ID, section SIS ID, term name, term ID, term SIS ID, grading period set name, grading period set ID, [grading period name] ID, [grading period name] current score, [grading period name] final score, [grading period name] unposted current score, [grading period name] unposted final score, current score, final score, enrollment state, unposted current score, unposted final score, override score, current grade, final grade, unposted current grade, unposted final grade, override grade |
Outcome Export
The Outcome Export report shows all learning outcomes in an account and includes details of all attributes associated with each outcome.
CSV Format |
One row per outcome |
CSV Data |
Canvas ID, vendor guide, object type, outcome title, outcome description, display name, calculation method, calculation integer, parent guides, workflow state, mastery points, ratings |
Outcome Results
The Outcome Results report shows the learning outcome results for all students in published courses.
Outcome results are tied to their level of outcome access. Account outcomes display on the account report, while the sub-account outcomes display on the sub-account report. Course outcomes only display within course reports. The only time outcomes would be displayed on both reports is if they are stored in both accounts, such as copying an account outcome to the sub-account level.
When generating this report from the account or subaccount level, all outcomes are included for the appropriate context or a parent sub-account level.
Configuration |
Term, deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per user-outcome-result pair |
CSV Data |
Student name, student ID, student SIS ID, assessment title, assessment ID, assessment type, submission date, submission score, learning outcome name, learning outcome ID, attempt number, outcome score, assessment question, assessment question ID, course name, course ID, course SIS ID, section name, section ID, section SIS ID, assignment URL, learning outcome friendly name, learning outcome points possible, learning outcome mastery score, learning outcome mastered, learning outcome rating, learning outcome rating points, account ID, account name, enrollment state |
Provisioning
The Provisioning report exports all the needed information that relates to provisioning Canvas in one or all of its respective categories: Users, Accounts, Terms, Courses, Sections, Enrollments, Groups, Group Memberships, Group Categories, Cross-listing, and User Observers.
Each report includes a created by SIS column. SIS data is displayed in the column regardless if the SIS creation checkbox is selected as part of the report configuration. Selecting the Created by SIS checkbox will display only data created by SIS.
Deleted courses without SIS IDs are only included in the Provisioning report if the course was deleted less than 120 days before the date the report is created. Courses with SIS IDs are not affected by this limit.
Groups and Group Memberships are only included in the Provisioning report if they were created through a Canvas SIS integration. To help manage and track manually created groups and group memberships, you may want to automatically allocate unique SIS IDs for manually created groups/memberships.
Start dates and end dates are only included in Provisioning reports for courses and sections that have selected the Students can only participate in the course between these dates checkbox in Course Settings.
Configuration |
Term, CSV File Type, created by SIS, deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per category |
CSV Data |
Users: Canvas user ID, integration ID, authentication provider ID, user ID, login ID, first name, last name, full name, sortable name, short name, email, status Accounts: Canvas account ID, account ID, Canvas parent ID, parent account ID, name, status Terms: Canvas term ID, term ID, name, status, start date, end date Courses: Canvas course ID, integration ID, course ID, short name, long name, Canvas account ID, account ID, Canvas term ID, term ID, status, start date, end date, Canvas Blueprint Course ID Sections: Canvas section ID, section ID, integration ID, Canvas course ID, course ID, name, status, start date, end date, Canvas account ID, account ID Enrollments: Canvas course ID, course ID, user ID, role, role ID, canvas section ID, section ID, status, Canvas associated user ID, base role type, limit section privileges, Canvas enrollment ID, Canvas temporary enrollment source ID, temporary enrollment source user ID Groups: Canvas group ID, group ID, Canvas group category ID, group category ID, Canvas account ID, account ID, Canvas course ID, course ID, name, status, context ID, context type, group category ID, max membership Group Memberships: Canvas group ID, group ID, Canvas user ID, user ID, status Group Categories: Canvas group category ID, group category ID, context ID, context type, group name, role, self signup, group limit, auto leader, status Cross-listing (X list): Canvas xlist course ID, xlist course ID, Canvas section ID, section ID, status, Canvas nonxlist course ID, nonxlist course ID User Observers: Canvas observer ID, observer ID, Canvas student ID, student ID, status Admin: Admin user name, Canvas user ID, user ID, Canvas account ID, account ID, role ID, role, status |
Public Courses
The Public Courses report shows all the public courses that are not deleted for a given term.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per course |
CSV Data |
Course ID, course SIS ID, course short name, course name, course start date, course end date |
Recently Deleted Courses
The Recently Deleted Courses report shows all the courses for a given term that have been deleted in the last 30 days.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per course |
CSV Data |
Course ID, course SIS ID, course short name, course name, course start date, course end date |
SIS Export
The SIS Export report exports the needed files for Users, Accounts, Terms, Courses, Sections, Enrollments, Groups, Group Memberships, Cross-listing, and User Observers managed by the SIS import. To view all file data not managed by SIS, please configure and export the Provisioning report.
Each report includes a created by SIS column. SIS data is only displayed in the column if the SIS creation checkbox is selected as part of the report configuration.
Start dates and end dates are only included in SIS Export reports for courses and sections that have selected the Students can only participate in the course between these dates checkbox in Course Settings.
Configuration |
Term, CSV File Type, created by SIS, deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per category |
CSV Data |
Accounts: Canvas account ID, account ID, Canvas parent ID, parent account ID, name, status Users: Canvas user ID, integration ID, authentication provider ID, user ID, login ID, first name, last name, full name, sortable name, short name, email, status Terms: Canvas term ID, term ID, name, status, start date, end date Courses: Canvas course ID, integration ID, course ID, short name, long name, Canvas account ID, account ID, Canvas term ID, term ID, status, start date, end date, course format, blueprint course id Sections: Canvas section ID, section ID, integration ID, Canvas course ID, course ID, name, status, start date, end date, Canvas account ID, account ID Enrollments: Canvas course ID, course ID, user ID, role, role ID, canvas section ID, section ID, status, Canvas associated user ID, limit section privileges Group Categories: Group category ID, account ID, course ID, category name, status Groups: Canvas group ID, group ID, group category ID, Canvas account ID, account ID, name, status Group Memberships: Canvas group ID, group ID, Canvas user ID, user ID, status Cross-listing (X list): Canvas xlist course ID, xlist course ID, Canvas section ID, section ID, status, Canvas nonxlist course ID, nonxlist course ID User Observers: observer ID, student ID, status Admin: User ID, account ID, role ID, role, status |
SIS Submission Reports
The SIS Submission report gets the submissions for courses. The SIS Submission Report may only display for institutions that have authenticated Canvas to post grades to their SIS.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per category |
CSV Data |
Submission ID, attempt, score, grade, late, submission type, submitted at, graded at, workflow state, excused, assignment id, assignment name, assignment created at, assignment due at, assignment points possible, assignment description, assignment post to SIS, assignment group ID, assignment group name, assignment SIS source ID, course ID, course SIS ID, course name, section ID, section SIS ID, section name, account ID, account name, term ID, term SIS ID, term name, user ID, user name, user sortable name, user SIS user ID, user SIS login ID |
Student Competency
The Student Competency report shows the learning outcome results for all students.
This report displays the details of the outcome result including the associated assignment. However, this report only shows outcome results for assignments and does not include outcomes tied to question banks. For detailed reports, create outcomes at the account or sub-account level and add those outcomes to course activities.
When generating this report from the account or subaccount level, all outcomes are included for the appropriate context or a parent sub-account level. Additionally, reports include all child subaccount outcomes and all course level outcomes.
Configuration |
Term, deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per user-outcome-result pair |
CSV Data |
Student name, student ID, student SIS ID, assignment title, assignment ID, submission date, submission score, learning outcome name, learning outcome ID, attempt, outcome score, course name, course ID, course SIS ID, section name, section ID, section SIS ID, assignment URL, learning outcome friendly name, learning outcome points possible, learning outcome mastery score, learning outcome mastered, learning outcome rating, learning outcome rating points, account ID, account name, enrollment state |
Students with No Submissions
The Students with no submissions report shows all students enrolled in a course in a given term who have not submitted an assignment, graded discussion, or quiz between the given date range in a course.
Configuration |
Term, start date, end date, enrollment state |
CSV Format |
One row per student enrollment that meet the criteria |
CSV Data |
User ID, user SIS ID, user name, section ID, section SIS ID, section name, course ID, course SIS ID, course name |
Unpublished Courses
The Unpublished Courses report shows all the courses for a given term that are not published.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per course |
CSV Data |
Course ID, course SIS ID, course short name, course name, course start date, course end date |
Unused Courses
The Unused Courses report shows courses that have none of the following items: assignments, announcements, discussions, files, modules, pages, or quizzes.
Configuration |
Term |
CSV Format |
One row per course |
CSV Data |
Course ID, course SIS ID, course short name, course long name, course status, course created date and time |
User Access Tokens
The User Access Tokens report shows users with access tokens.
Configuration |
Deleted objects |
CSV Format |
One row per token |
CSV Data |
User ID, user name, token hint, expiration, last used, dev key ID, dev key name |
User Course Access Log
The User Course Access Log report shows all the activity from users enrolled in all courses in a given term. The times viewed and times participated are counted from the beginning of time until the time the report was generated. A maximum of one month's data will be retrieved. By default, it will return data from the beginning of the previous week.
Configuration |
Term, start date, enrollment type |
CSV Format |
One row per student activity |
CSV Data |
Section ID, section SIS ID, section name, course ID, course SIS ID, course name, term ID, term SIS ID, term name, user ID, user SIS ID, user name, content type, content, times viewed, times participated, last viewed |
Zero Activity
The Zero Activity report shows all the students enrolled in any courses in a given term.
Configuration |
Term, start date |
CSV Format |
One row per user enrollment that have not visited the course since the date |
CSV Data |
User ID, user SIS ID, student name, section ID, section SIS ID, section name, course ID, course SIS ID, course name |
Last update: 2023-06-21
This resource can also be accessed from the following Canvas Guide:
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to add terms and set term dates to manage course access for users. You will also learn how to create a grading period set, associate it with a term, and create a grading period within that set.
Terms can only be created at the root account level. Once terms are created, grading periods will allow you to establish date ranges for grade reporting.
Notes:
- You can create terms using the SIS Import Tool, but not grading periods.
- Term access dates can only be added manually.
- This lesson outlines a manual process for uploading information in your account. To learn more about using the Canvas API to automatically integrate with your SIS, talk with your CSM and visit the Canvas Guides, review Canvas API documentation, and visit the Canvas Developers Group in the Canvas Community.
Lesson 3 Outline
Terms
What are Terms?
Terms define start and end dates that apply to any course added to that term. For that reason, term dates should be set before adding courses to your account. Terms can be created manually or by using SIS imports.
Additionally, terms are used to filter data in account analytics and account reports.
Add New Term
To manually add a term to your account:
- Click the Terms link in Account Navigation.
- Click the Add New Term link.
Add Term Details
In the Term Details page, add the following information:
- Term Name: Enter a name to display in the Terms page and in the Course Settings page
- SIS ID (Optional): Enter an ID associated with SIS data to enhance searching and filtering for terms in an account
- Term Runs From Dates: Specify the beginning and end dates for your term
- User Can Access Dates (Optional): Enter beginning and end dates that specify when course-level users can access courses within the term. Learn more about user access dates.
Notes:
- Canvas includes a default term that cannot be removed or renamed.
- Use caution when editing Term Runs from and User can access dates, as the fields cannot be left empty they are edited.
- Instructors and students cannot view the Terms page, so please ensure users in your institution are aware of term dates for your institution publicly.
- Not all courses within a term conform to the term dates. Learn more about course dates and section start dates.
Grading Periods
What are grading periods?
Grading periods specify date ranges used for student grade reporting. Student grades are calculated using course assignment scores with due dates that fall within the grading period’s start and end date range. Grading period close dates prevent grade modification after a specified date.
Grading periods are created within grading period sets. When creating a grading period set, you can associate it with terms, and any courses within that term automatically inherit the grading periods.
Add Grading Period Set
To create a grading period set:
- Click the Grading link in Account Navigation.
- Click the Add Set of Grading Periods button.
Add Grading Period Set Details
Enter or select the following details for your grading period set:
- Set name: Enter a searchable name to display in the Grading Periods page.
- Attach terms: Type and select a term name(s) to associate with the grading period. Courses associated the selected terms inherit grading period set dates.
- Weighted grading periods (optional): Assign a weight to individual grading periods.
- Display totals for All Grading Periods (optional): Allow users to view total grades and any assignment group totals in a course associated with the grading period set.
When you are done entering grading period set details, click the Create button [5].
Add Grading Period
Your grading period set displays on the Grading Periods page. To add one or more grading periods to your grading period set, click the Add Grading Period link.
Add Grading Period Details
Add the following for each grading period you wish to include in a grading set:
- Grading Period Title: differentiate between grading periods
- Start Date and End Date: specify start and end dates for the grading period; any course assignment that falls within these dates will be included in the student’s reported grade
- Close Date: specify a date when reported grades can no longer be modified for the grading period
When finished, click the Save button [4].
Learn more about adding grading periods and viewing existing grading periods in an account.
Additional Resources
Canvas Guides
For more in-depth information about the topics covered in this chapter, check out the Canvas Admin Guides chapters on Terms and Grading.
You can also watch the Canvas Admin overview videos about Terms and Grading Periods.
Canvas Community
The Canvas Community is an online community of Canvas users from around the world. It houses a space for Questions and Answers about Canvas and a variety of groups, including the Canvas Administration group.
Up Next in Lesson 4: Grading and Learning Standards
You may prefer to configure your account to standardize learning expectations and measurements as much as possible. In the next lesson, you’ll learn about the following:
Grading Schemes
- Grading schemes establish the criteria ratings used to measure student achievement in a course. This helps ensure that student grades are based on a standardized scale.
- Accounts can house multiple grading schemes, and a course can enable one grading scheme to measure student achievement.
Outcomes
- Outcomes are statements that describe the knowledge and skills students will gain from the courses they take at your institution.
- You can provide outcomes for a variety of subjects, skills, and courses at the account level. Instructors can then find and apply account-level outcomes in their courses.
Rubrics
- Rubrics are tools used to measure student growth and achievement on individual assignments in a course.
- You can create a standard set of rubrics for instructors to use across courses.
Question Banks
- Canvas allows users to create question banks, or quiz question repositories. Questions can be grouped and saved for easy access and use when creating a new quiz.
- You can create question banks for instructors to use in their courses, ensuring that students across courses can be assessed on standardized quiz questions.
You can run reports to review attendance information for a subset of the courses and students in your account. This report is sent to your email, where it can be downloaded as a comma separated value (CSV) file.
The downloaded CSV report displays all content in a list. Reports always include the following data fields: Course ID, SIS Course ID, Course Code, Course Name, Teacher ID, Teacher Name, Student ID, Student Name, Class Date, Attendance, and Timestamp.
Roll Call Attendance Badges are included in account reports if they were created in the account and have been assigned to students. Additionally, the badges will also only be included if they were set within the time frame you specify in the report. To view badges for reports in a subaccount, you must request the report from the subaccount. For example, if an instructor has marked a student with a badge that was created in a course or in a subaccount, the badge will not appear in the report when exported from the account.
You can generate reports for the entire course, or you can generate reports based on specific students or courses. To locate a course or student ID, view the People page, click the name of a student, and both the course and student IDs will be in the browser URL (e.g. courses/XXXXXX/users/XXX).
Note: In order to gather all the needed information, a provisioning report will also be generated when an attendance report is requested. The provisioning report can be viewed in the Reports tab in Account Settings.
Open Account
In Global Navigation, click the Admin link [1], then click the name of the account [2].
Open Attendance
In Account Navigation, click the Attendance link.
Specify Report Data
In the Generate Report tab, you can specify criteria for your report. If you leave the fields blank, the report will be generated for the entire account.
You can choose a date range for the report [1]. You can also optionally filter by SIS course ID [2] or SIS student ID [3].
By default, the email field [4] will be populated with your email address to send the report. Confirm your email in the field or enter a new email address.
Run Report
Click the Run Report button.
View Notification
A notification should appear if your request was successfully submitted.
This document is for account role permissions; to view course role permissions, please visit the course permissions resource document.
This document is designed as a complete reference for the Permissions page in Canvas. This document specifically discusses account-level and sub-account-level permissions. Using the information in this document, you may be able to troubleshoot permissions-related questions from your users or create custom roles for your account.
Permissions are listed alphabetically, matching the order in the Canvas UI. Each permission includes the following information:
- The default status (enabled/disabled) for default user roles in Canvas.
- A non-editable status is indicated by an asterisk*.
- A table indicating the main effect(s) of the permission, listed specifically in reference to Canvas features.
- An additional considerations table, if applicable.
- This includes information about cross-functionality with other permissions and course and/or account settings that may impact the permission.
Things to keep in mind when working with permissions:
- At the account level, the only default role is Account Admin.
- You cannot change a permission that has a transparent checkmark or X without a button. These are permissions that are locked by default and cannot be modified by anyone.
- When you change a permission, it can sometimes take 30 minutes or longer for that permission to take effect. If the expected changes do not appear immediately, try again after some time has passed.
- Enabling a permission doesn’t take effect as quickly as disabling a permission.
- Admins who are given student roles in a course may still be able to view admin features. To avoid permission conflicts, admins should create a separate account.
Sub-Account Permissions and Settings
The following permissions never apply to subaccounts:
- Catalog - manage
- Users - act as
- Users - manage login details
- Users - manage observers
- SIS Data - import
- SIS Data - manage
- Developer Keys - manage
- Notifications - view
- Admin Tools - Logging (in Statistics - view)
The following Account Navigation links are never available in subaccounts:
- Authentication
- Developer Keys
- SIS Imports
- Terms
Important: This document matches the content shown in the Permissions sidebar and is subject to change. Updates are posted to the Canvas Permissions document in the Canvas Community Admins group. If you find something that does not make sense or does not work as intended, please contact our Canvas support team.
Account-level settings - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ * |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to view and manage the Settings and Notifications tabs in Account Settings. |
Authentication |
Allows user to view and manage authentication options for the whole account. |
Subaccounts |
Allows user to view and manage subaccounts for the account. |
Terms |
Allows user to view and manage terms for the account. |
Theme Editor |
Allows user to access the Theme Editor. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Announcements |
The Announcements tab is always visible to admins; however, to manage announcements, Global Announcements - add / edit / delete must also be enabled. |
Feature Options (Account Settings) |
To manage the Feature Options tab, Feature Options - enable / disable must also be enabled. |
Reports (Account Settings) |
To view the Reports tab, Reports - manage must also be enabled. |
Subaccount Navigation (Account Settings) |
Not all settings options are available at the subaccount level, including the Notifications tab. |
Admin Analytics - view and export data
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Analytics |
Allows user to view account analytics using Admin Analytics. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Analytics |
By default, the Admin Analytics - view and export data permission is enabled for other account roles which have the Grades - view all grades and Analytics - view pages permissions enabled. Newly added account roles do not have the Admin Analytics - view and export data permission enabled by default and must be enabled during the role creation process or later. |
Admins - add / remove
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ * |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to add and remove other account admins. |
Commons |
Allows user to access and edit the Admin settings in Commons. Allows user to create and manage Groups. Allows user to manage shared resources in the account. |
Analytics - view pages
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Analytics (Account) |
Allows user to view account analytics. |
Analytics (Course) |
Allows user to view course analytics through the course dashboard. Allows user to view student analytics. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Analytics |
To view student analytics in course analytics, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Account Settings |
The analytics feature must be enabled in Account Settings to view analytics pages. To see the Analytics link in the user sidebar from the People page, Profiles must be disabled in your account. |
People (Course) |
To view student analytics, Users - view list and Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Announcements - view
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Announcements |
Allows user to view the Announcements link in Course Navigation. Allows user to view course announcements. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Announcements |
To view recent announcements on the home page, Course Content - view must be enabled, and the Show recent announcements on Course home page checkbox must be selected in Course Settings. To manage course announcements, Discussions - moderate must also be enabled. |
Global Announcements |
This permission only affects course announcements; to manage global announcements, Global Announcements - add / edit / delete must be enabled. |
Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to designate a course as a Blueprint Course. Allows user to manage Blueprint Course settings in Course Settings. Allows user to add and remove associated courses. Allows user to edit lock settings on individual assignments, pages, or discussions. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Blueprint Courses |
Course roles can only manage Blueprint Courses if they are added to the Blueprint Course as a teacher, TA, or designer role. To manage associated courses, Courses - view list and Courses - add must also be enabled. To edit lock settings on files, Course Files - edit, Courses - manage / update and Course Files - edit must also be enabled. To edit lock settings on quizzes, Courses - manage / update and Assignments and Quizzes - manage / edit must also be enabled. |
Course Settings |
To manage lock settings for object types, Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. |
Catalog - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Catalog |
Allows user to access Admin settings in Catalog. Allows user to manage Catalog settings. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Catalog |
This permission is only available to institutions using Canvas Catalog. Catalog is an additional product that can be purchased through a Canvas Success Manager. |
Subaccount |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
Conversations - send messages to entire class
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Conversations |
Allows user to send a message to “All in [course name]”. Allows user to send a message to “All in [course group]”. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Conversations |
When enabled, users can only send messages to all users in courses and course groups, not to account groups. |
Conversations - send to individual course members
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Conversations |
Allows user to send messages to individual course members. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Conversations |
When disabled, students can still send individual messages to course teachers and course TAs. Additionally, when disabled, students cannot send individual messages to students who belong to the same account-level groups. |
People (Course) |
To edit a user’s section, Users - allow administrative actions in courses and Users - view list must also be enabled. |
Course Calendar - add / edit / delete
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Calendar |
Allows user to add, edit, and delete events in the course calendar. |
Scheduler |
Allows user to create and manage appointments on the calendar using Scheduler. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Calendar |
Regardless of whether this permission is enabled or disabled, users will still be able to manage events in their personal calendar. |
Scheduler |
Scheduler must be enabled for your account. |
Course Content - view
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Courses |
Allows user to view published and unpublished course content. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Undelete Courses) |
If Courses - manage / update and Courses - undelete are also enabled, an account-level user will be able to restore deleted courses in Admin Tools. |
Courses |
If Course Content - view is disabled, user will still have access to Course Settings. Users cannot manage individual course content without the appropriate permission for that content item. If course visibility is limited to users enrolled in the course, this permission allows the user to view course content without being enrolled in the course. |
Course Content |
To view Choose Home Page and Course Setup Checklist buttons, Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. (Teachers, designers, and TAs can set the home page of a course, regardless of their permissions.) |
Gradebook |
To view the Gradebook, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Courses - add
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Courses (Account) |
Allows user to add new courses to an account. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Account Settings |
To allow other users to create courses in an account, select the appropriate user role in the Account Settings page: teachers, students, and/or users with no enrollments. If this permission is enabled and Courses - view list is disabled, users can add a new course with the Add a New Course button in Account Settings. |
Courses - change visibility
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings |
Allows user to manage the Visibility options in Course Settings or when creating a new course. |
Courses - manage / update
Default Role Status
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to sync Blueprint Courses. Allows user to view Sync history. |
Courses (Account Navigation) |
Allows user to view and manage courses in the account. |
Course Home Page |
Allows user to view the Course Setup Checklist button. |
Course Settings (Course Details) |
Allows user to access the Navigation tab. Allows user to edit course image, name, course code, time zone, subaccount, term, and other options in Course Details tab. Allows user to access Student View (test student), Copy this Course, and Permanently Delete Course buttons. |
Student Context Cards |
Allows user to view student context cards in announcement and discussion replies. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Blueprint Courses |
If this permission is updated, but Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete is not enabled, users can still sync Blueprint Courses and view Sync history. |
Course Content |
To manage course content via UI or API, the Course Content - add / edit / delete must be enabled. To view Choose Home Page and Course Setup Checklist buttons, Course Content - view must also be enabled. (Teachers, designers, and TAs can set the home page of a course, regardless of their permissions.) |
Course Settings |
To cross-list a section, Manage Course Sections - edit must also be enabled. To edit the course SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Courses |
To access the Courses link in Account Navigation, Courses - view list must also be enabled. |
Grades |
To view grades in a course, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Student Context Cards |
Student context cards must be enabled for an account by an admin. If this permission is not enabled, users can still view context cards through the Gradebook. |
Courses - undelete
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Tools (Restore Courses tab) |
Allows user to access the Restore Courses tab in Admin Tools. (Not available at the subaccount level.) |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Restore Courses tab) |
To search for a course in the Restore Courses tab, Course Content - view must also be enabled. To restore a deleted course in an account, Manage Courses - delete and Course Content - view must also be enabled. |
Courses - view change logs
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Determines visibility of the Course Activity option in the Admin Tools Logging tab. Allows user to view course activity information for the account. |
Courses - view list
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to filter for blueprint courses at the account level. Allows user to add associated courses. |
Courses |
Allows user to see the list of courses in the account. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Account Settings |
If this permission is disabled and Courses - add is enabled, users can add a new course with the Add a New Course button in Account Settings. |
Blueprint Courses |
To add associated courses, Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - add must also be enabled. |
Statistics |
Allows user to see the list of recently started/ended courses in account statistics. |
Data Services - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Canvas Data Services |
Allows user to access and manage Canvas Data Services. |
Developer Keys - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Developer Keys |
Allows user to create developer keys for root accounts. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Developer Keys |
Required fields include key name, owner email, tool ID, redirect URL, and icon URL. |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
Discussions - create
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Discussions |
Allows user to add discussions in the Discussions page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Announcements |
To create announcements, Discussions - manage must be enabled. |
Discussions |
To view discussions in a course, Discussions - view must be enabled. Both Discussions - create and Discussions - moderate allow the user to create a discussion in the Discussions page. To manage discussions, Discussions - moderate must also be enabled. |
Discussions - moderate
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Announcements |
Allows user to view the New Announcement button in the Home page. Allows user to add announcements in the Announcements page. |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to edit lock settings on the Discussions index page in a Blueprint master course. |
Discussions |
Allows user to add discussions in the Discussions page. Allows user to close for comments, move, pin/unpin, edit, and delete discussion topics in the Discussions page. Allows user to edit discussion topics. Allows user to view all replies within a discussion topic. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Announcements |
To view announcements, Announcements - view must be enabled. |
Blueprint Courses |
To edit lock settings on the Discussions index page, Courses - manage / update and and Discussions - view must also be enabled. If the additional permissions are enabled, but this permission is not enabled, lock settings can be edited on individual discussions. |
Discussions |
Both Discussions - create and Discussions - moderate allow the user to create a discussion in the Discussions page. If this permission is enabled, Discussions - create is not required. To view discussions in a course, Discussions - view must be enabled. To reply to a discussion, Discussions - post must be enabled. To edit a discussion, Discussions - moderate must be enabled. |
Discussions - post
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Discussions |
Allows user to reply to a discussion post. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Discussions |
To view discussions in a course, Discussions - view must be enabled. If the Users must post before seeing replies option is set for a discussion, users must post a reply to view all posts unless Discussions - moderate is also enabled. |
Discussions - view
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to edit content lock settings on individual discussions. |
Discussions |
Allows user to view the Discussions link in Course Navigation. Allows user to view course discussions. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Blueprint Courses |
To edit lock settings from the Discussions index page, Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. |
Commons |
To share a discussion to Commons, Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. |
Discussions |
To manage discussions, Discussions - moderate must also be enabled. To reply to a discussion, Discussions - post must also be enabled. |
Feature Options - enable / disable
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Feature Options (Account Settings) |
Allows user to manage Feature Options in Account Settings. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Feature Options |
To view Feature Options for an account, Feature Options - view must also be enabled. |
Feature Options - view
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Feature Options (Account Settings) |
Allows user to view Feature Options in Account Settings. |
Global Announcements - add / edit / delete
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Announcements (Account) |
Allows user to add, edit, and delete global announcements. |
Grades - edit
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Allows user to search by course ID or assignment ID in grade change logs in Admin Tools. (Not available at the subaccount level.) |
Analytics |
Allows user to view student-specific data in Analytics. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view the course grading scheme. |
Discussions |
Allows user to like discussion posts when the Only Graders Can Like checkbox is selected. |
Gradebook |
Allows user to edit grades in the Gradebook. Allows user to access Gradebook History. Allows user to access the Learning Mastery Gradebook (if enabled). Allows user to post/hide course assignment grades. Allows user to manage course assignment grade posting policies. |
Grading Schemes |
Allows user to create and modify grading schemes. |
Quizzes |
Allows user to moderate a quiz and view the quiz statistics page. |
SpeedGrader |
Allows user to edit grades and add comments in SpeedGrader. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
To search grade change logs, Grades - view change logs must also be enabled. |
Analytics |
To view student analytics in course analytics, Analytics - view pages must also be enabled. |
Course Settings |
To edit course grading schemes, Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. |
Gradebook and SpeedGrader |
Gradebook and SpeedGrader will be inaccessible if both Grades - edit and Grades - view all grades are disabled. |
People (Course) |
To view student analytics, Users - view list and View analytics must also be enabled. |
Quizzes |
To moderate a quiz, Assignments and Quizzes - manage / edit must also be enabled. To view the user SIS ID column in the Quiz Item Analysis CSV file, SIS Data - read must also be enabled. To view the submission log, Quizzes - view submission log must also be enabled. |
Grades - Select final grade for moderation
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Grades |
Allows user to select final grade for moderated assignments. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Assignments |
To add students to a moderation set, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Grades |
To publish grades for a moderated assignment, Grades - edit must also be enabled. |
SpeedGrader |
To review a moderated assignment in SpeedGrader, Grades - edit must also be enabled. |
Grades - view all grades
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Allows user to search by assignment ID in grade change logs. (Not available at the subaccount level.) |
Analytics |
Allows user to view student-specific data in Analytics. |
Assignments, SpeedGrader |
Allows user to view a link to SpeedGrader from assignments. |
Gradebook |
Allows user to export the Gradebook to a comma separated values (CSV) file. Allows user to access the Learning Mastery Gradebook (if enabled). |
Grades |
Allows user to view student Grades pages. |
Modules |
Allows user to access the Student Progress page. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to view analytics link in the user settings menu. |
Quizzes |
Allows user to view student results, view quiz statistics, and access a quiz in SpeedGrader. |
Rubrics, SpeedGrader |
Allows user to view grader comments on a rubric in SpeedGrader. |
Student Context Card |
Adds analytics to a student’s context card. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Grade Change Logs) |
To search grade change logs, Grades - view change logs must also be enabled. |
Analytics |
To view student analytics, Analytics - view pages must also be enabled. |
Courses |
To view published and unpublished course content. |
Gradebook |
To view the Gradebook, Course Content - view must also be enabled. If both Grades - edit and Grades - view all grades are disabled, Gradebook will be hidden from Course Navigation.. |
Grades |
To post or hide grades, Grades - edit must also be enabled. |
Modules |
To view module progression, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Reports |
To access the Student Interactions report, Reports - manage must also be enabled. |
Student Context Card |
Student Context Cards must be enabled for an account by an admin. |
Grades - View audit trail
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Grades |
Allows user to review an audit trail in assignments, both moderated and anonymous. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Grades |
To moderate grades, Grades - Select final grade for moderation must also be enabled. To post or hide grades for an assignment, Grades - edit must also be enabled. |
Grades - view change logs
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Determines visibility of the Grade Change Activity option in the Admin Tools Logging tab. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
To search by grader or student ID, Users - view list must also be enabled. To search by course ID or assignment ID, Grades - edit must also be enabled. To search by assignment ID only, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Groups - view all student groups
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Groups |
Allows user to view the group home pages of all student groups. Allows students to access other student groups within a group set with a direct link. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Groups |
By default students are able to create groups; to restrict students from creating groups, do not select the Let students organize their own groups checkbox in Course Settings. |
Item Banks - manage account
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Item Banks |
Allows user to view and manage all item banks in the account. Allows user to share any item bank with the entire institution's account. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Item Banks |
If this permission is not enabled, users can only view item banks created by them or shared with them. When a user with an admin role is granted this permission, item banks created by any user in the account display in the Account and Course Item Banks pages and can be managed by the admin. |
Learning Outcomes - add / edit / delete
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Outcomes |
Determines visibility and management of the Outcomes link in Account Navigation. Allows user to view the Outcomes Manage tab at the account and course levels. Allows user to create, edit, and delete outcomes and outcome groups at the account and course levels. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Feature Options |
If the Account and Course Level Outcome Mastery Scales feature option is enabled, the Manage tab displays an updated interface. Additionally, the Outcomes page will display two additional tabs that decouple mastery scales and proficiency calculations from outcomes management. Access to these tabs requires the Outcome Proficiency Calculations - add / edit and Outcome Mastery Scales - add / edit permissions. |
Outcomes |
To allow the Course Outcomes page as read-only, this permission can be disabled but Course Content - view must be enabled. To import learning outcomes, Learning Outcomes - import must also be enabled. |
Learning Outcomes - import
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Outcomes (Account/Course) |
Allows user to import learning outcomes. |
Manage Assignments and Quizzes - add / delete / edit
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Additional Considerations - All Permissions
Feature |
Related Information |
Assignments |
To access the Assignments Index Page, Course Content - view must be enabled. |
Discussions |
These permissions do not manage Discussions. Discussions are managed via individual Discussion permissions. |
Item Banks |
To access item banks for a course or account, Item Banks - manage account must also be enabled. |
Assignments and Quizzes - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Assignments |
Allows user to add assignments in a course. Allows user to add assignment groups in a course. Allows user to duplicate assignments in a course. |
Modules |
Allows user to add new assignments to a module. |
Item Banks |
Allows user to add new question banks to a course or account. Allows user to add new questions to new or existing question banks in a course or account. |
Quizzes |
Allows user to add quizzes in a course. Allows user to duplicate quizzes in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Assignments |
To differentiate assignments to individual students, Users - view list must also be enabled. |
Course Settings |
To import assignments and quizzes using the Course Import Tool, Course Content - add must be enabled. |
Rubrics |
Disabling this permission will override (if enabled) the Rubrics - add / edit / delete permission, preventing user from creating rubrics for an individual assignment. |
Assignments and Quizzes - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Assignments |
Allows user to delete assignments in a course. Allows user to delete assignment groups in a course. |
Quizzes |
Allows user to delete quizzes in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Rubrics |
Disabling this permission will override (if enabled) the Rubrics - add / edit / delete permission, preventing user from deleting rubrics for an individual assignment. |
Assignments and Quizzes - edit
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Assignments |
Allows user to edit and publish/unpublish assignments. Allows user to manage assignment settings. |
Commons |
Allows user to share an assignment to Commons. Allows user to share a quiz to Commons. |
Quizzes |
Allows user to edit lock settings on the Assignments and Quizzes index pages. Allows user to edit and publish/unpublish quizzes. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Assignments |
To edit assignments, Assignments and Quizzes - manage / edit must also be enabled. To manage moderated grading, Grades - Select final grade for moderation must also be enabled. |
Blueprint Courses |
To edit lock settings from the Assignments index page, Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - manage must also be enabled. If Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - manage are enabled, but this permission is not enabled, blueprint lock settings for an assignment can be managed from the assignment’s details page. |
Quizzes |
To edit quizzes, Assignments and Quizzes - manage / edit must also be enabled. To moderate a quiz, Grades - edit must also be enabled. To edit lock settings on an individual quiz, or on the Quizzes index page, Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - manage must also be enabled. |
Rubrics |
Disabling this permission will override (if enabled) the Rubrics - add / edit / delete permission, preventing users from editing rubrics from an individual assignment. |
Manage Course Content - add / edit / delete
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Additional Considerations - All Permissions
Feature |
Related Information |
Attendance |
The Attendance tool must be enabled by your Canvas admin. |
Chat |
The Chat tool must be enabled by your Canvas admin. |
Commons |
To share a Discussion to Commons, Discussions - view must also be enabled. |
Course Home Page |
Teachers, designers, and TAs can select a course home page without the Course content - add / edit / delete permission. |
Course Pacing |
Course Pacing feature preview must be enabled for your institution. |
Course Settings |
The Course Status buttons (unpublished and published) only display until a student submission is received. Courses with student submissions cannot be unpublished. |
Modules |
Module items which have student submissions cannot be unpublished. |
Course Content - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Assignments |
Allows user to create blackout dates. |
Calendar |
Allows user to add events to Calendar List View Dashboard via the Add to Student To-Do checkbox. |
Commons |
Allows user to import resources from Commons into a course. |
Course Pacing |
Allows user to create a course pace via Course Pacing. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to share course items directly with other users. Allows user to copy individual course items to another course. Allows user to view course copy status. Allows user to create content migrations. Allows user to import content using the Course Import Tool. |
Discussions |
Allows user to add non-graded discussions to List View Dashboard via the Add to Student To-Do checkbox. |
Modules |
Allows user to create, add items, and duplicate modules. |
Pages |
Allows user to add pages to List View Dashboard via the Add to Student To-Do checkbox. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Commons |
To share a Discussion to Commons, Discussions - view must also be enabled. |
Course Pacing |
Course Pacing feature preview must be enabled in your institution. |
Course Content - edit
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Announcements |
Allows user to lock / unlock selected announcements individually or in bulk. |
Assignments |
Allows user to edit a list of assignment blackout dates. |
Commons |
Allows user to share assignments to Commons or edit previously shared content. |
Conferences |
Allows user to edit Conferences. |
Collaborations |
Allows user to edit title and description on all collaborations. |
Course Pacing |
Allows user to edit and publish a course pace via Course Pacing. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to edit to-do date on a course Page that supports it. Allows user to edit content migrations. Allows user to edit course tabs. |
Modules |
Allows user to update modules (edit module settings, publish, unpublish, batch edit). |
Syllabus |
Allows user to edit the course syllabus. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Commons |
To share a Discussion to Commons, Discussions - view must also be enabled. |
Course Home Page |
Teachers, designers, and TAs can select a course home page without the Course content - add / edit / delete permission. |
Course Pacing |
Course Pacing feature preview must be enabled in your institution. |
Course Settings |
The Course Status buttons (unpublished and published) are only displayed until a student submission is received. Courses cannot be unpublished with student submissions. |
Modules |
Module items cannot be unpublished if there are student submissions. |
Course Content - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Announcements |
Allows user to have full section visibility when viewing announcements. Allows user to view or retrieve a list of assignment blackout dates. |
Attendance |
Allows user to access the Attendance tool. |
Chat |
Allows user to access the Chat tool. |
Collaborations |
Allows user to view previously created collaborations. |
Conferences |
Allows user to view course Conferences. |
Course Pacing |
Allows user to view and list course paces via Course Pacing. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view Course Status, Choose Home Page, and Course Setup Checklist buttons in the Home page. Allows user to view and list content migrations. Allows user to view a content migration content list by type. Allows user to view a content migration notice to an "import in progress". Allows user to view and initiate course link validation. |
Syllabus |
Allows user access to LTI sub navigation tool selection for assignment syllabus configuration. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Attendance |
The Attendance tool must be enabled by your Canvas admin. |
Chat |
The Chat tool must be enabled by your Canvas admin. |
Course Home Page |
Teachers, designers, and TAs can select a course home page without the Course content - add / edit / delete permission. |
Course Pacing |
Course Pacing feature preview must be enabled in your institution. |
Manage Course Files - add / delete / edit
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Additional Considerations - All Permissions
Feature |
Related Information |
Course Files |
If one or all permissions are disabled, user can still view and download files into a zip file. |
Course Files - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Files |
Allows user to add course files and folders. Allows user to import a zip file. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Course Settings |
To import files using the Course Import Tool, Course Content - add / edit / delete must be enabled. |
Course Files - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Files |
Allows user to delete course files and folders. |
Course Files - edit
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to edit Blueprint Course lock settings on the Files page. |
Course Files |
Allows user to edit course files and folders. Allows user to download files into a zip file, import a zip file, and lock/unlock files. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Blueprint Courses |
To edit lock settings for course files, Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. |
Manage Course Sections - add / delete / edit
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Additional Considerations - All Permissions
Feature |
Related Information |
Course Settings (Sections tab) |
To cross-list sections, Course Sections - edit and Courses - manage / update must also be enabled. |
Course Sections - Add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings (Sections tab) |
Allows user to add course sections. |
Course Sections - Delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings (Sections tab) |
Allows user to delete course sections. Allows user to delete a user from a course section. |
Course Sections - Edit
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings (Sections tab) |
Allows user to rename course sections. Allows user to change start and end dates for course sections. Allows user to cross-list sections. |
Manage Course Templates - create / delete / edit
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Additional Considerations - All Permissions
Feature |
Related Information |
Account Settings |
To access the Account Settings tab, Account-level settings - manage must also be enabled. |
Course Templates - create
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to set a template for an account. Allows user to view names of course templates in the root account. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to select a course as a course template in Course Settings. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses |
To create a new course to use as a course template, Courses - add must also be enabled. |
Course Templates - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to set an account to not use a template. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to remove a course as a course template in Course Settings. |
Course Templates - edit
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to change the template being used by an account. Allows user to view names of course templates in the root account. |
Manage Courses - conclude / delete / publish / reset
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Additional Considerations - All Permissions
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account Navigation) |
To access the Courses link in Account Navigation, Courses - view list must be enabled. To add a course, Courses - add must also be enabled. |
Courses - conclude
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view the Conclude Course button. |
Courses - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view the Delete this Course button. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Restore Courses tab) |
To restore a deleted course, Courses - undelete and Course Content - view must also both be enabled. |
Courses - publish
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Home Page |
Allows user to view the Publish Course and Unpublish Course buttons in the Course Home page. |
Dashboard |
Allows user to view the Publish button in a course card for an unpublished course (Card View Dashboard). |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Course Settings |
Affects viewing the Permanently Delete this Course button, which only appears for manually created courses. |
Modules |
The Courses - publish permission allows the user to publish courses that do not contain modules. To publish/unpublish module content, Course Content - edit must be enabled. |
Courses - reset
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view the Reset Course Content button. |
Additional Considerations
Features |
Related Information |
Course Settings |
The Courses - Reset permission resets course content for both manually created and SIS-managed courses. (For SIS-managed courses, the SIS Data - manage permission does not apply.) |
Manage Groups - add / delete / manage
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Groups - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to create account groups. Allows user to add group members to account groups. |
Assignments (Course) |
Allows user to add a group for a group assignment in a course. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to create course groups. Allows user to create course groups created by students. Allows user to add students to groups. Allows users to import groups in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Account) |
To add account level groups via CSV, SIS Data - import must also be enabled. |
Groups - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to delete account groups. Allows user to remove group members from account groups. Allows user to move group members to another group in an account. Allows user to assign a student group leader in an account. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to delete course groups. Allows user to delete course groups created by students. Allows user to remove students from course groups. Allows user to move group members to another group in a course. Allows user to assign a student group leader in a course. |
Groups - manage
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to edit account groups. Allows user to view the Clone Group Set button for an account group. Allows user to randomly assign users to an account group. Allows user to add users to an account group. Allows user to move group members to another group in an account. Allows user to assign a student group leader in an account. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to edit course groups. Allows user to edit course groups created by students. Allows user to view the Clone Group Set button for a course group. Allows user to randomly assign users to a course group. Allows user to add users to a course group. Allows user to remove students from course groups. Allows user to move group members to another group in a course. Allows user to assign a student group leader in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Account) |
If this permission is disabled, at the account level, the user cannot view any existing account groups. At the course level, the user can view, but not access, any existing groups, including groups created by students. To view account groups, Users - view list must also be enabled. |
People (Course) |
To view all student groups in a course, Groups - view all student groups must also be enabled. By default, students can always create groups in a course. To restrict students from creating groups, Courses - manage / update must be enabled, and the Let students organize their own groups checkbox in Course Settings must not be selected. To access the People page and view course groups, Users - view list must also be enabled. |
Manage LTI - add / delete / edit
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
LTI - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to manually add an app in Account Settings. Allows user to add external app icons to the Rich Content Editor toolbar. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to manually add an app in Course Settings. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
External Apps |
If this permission is disabled, users can still install approved apps through the Canvas App Center (if enabled for your institution). However, if LTI - delete is not enabled, they cannot delete manually added external apps. |
LTI - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Settings |
Allows user to manually delete an app in Account Settings. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to manually delete an app in Course Settings. |
LTI - edit
Features Affected |
What it Does |
External Apps |
Allows user to edit configurations for manually added external apps. |
Manage Pages - create / delete / update
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Pages - create
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Pages |
Allows user to create pages in a course. |
Pages - delete
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Pages |
Allows user to delete pages. |
Pages - update
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Blueprint Courses |
Allows user to edit lock settings in the Pages index page and for an individual page in a Blueprint master course. |
Pages |
Allows user to edit course pages. Allows user to define users allowed to edit the page. Allows user to add page to student to-do list. Allows user to publish and unpublish pages. Allows user to view page history and set front page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Blueprint Courses |
Blueprint courses must be enabled for an account by an admin. To edit lock settings on the Pages index page, Blueprint Courses - add / edit / associate / delete and Courses - manage / update. However, if these additional permissions are enabled, but the Pages - Update permission is not enabled, the user can still adjust content lock settings on individual pages in a Blueprint Master Course. |
Pages |
Students can edit and view page history if allowed in the options for an individual page. |
Notifications - view
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Admin Tools (Notifications tab) |
Allows user to access the View Notifications tab in Admin Tools. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Notifications tab) |
To search and view notifications for a user, Users - view list must also be enabled. |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
Outcome Proficiency Calculations - add / edit
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Outcomes |
Allows user to view the Outcomes Calculation tab and set outcome proficiency calculations at the account and course levels. |
Additional Considerations
Features |
Related Information |
Feature Options |
This permission requires the Account and Course Level Outcome Mastery Scales feature option, which must be enabled by a Customer Success Manager. This feature affects existing data for an entire account. |
Outcomes |
If the feature option is enabled, and this permission is enabled, the Outcomes page includes three tabs: Manage, Mastery, and Calculation. To access the Mastery tab, the Outcome Mastery Scales - add / edit permission must also be enabled. To access the Manage tab, the Learning Outcomes - add / edit / delete permission must also be enabled. |
Outcome Mastery Scales - add / edit
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Outcomes |
Allows user to view the Outcomes Mastery tab and set outcome mastery scales at the account and course levels. |
Additional Considerations
Features |
Related Information |
Feature Options |
This permission requires the Account and Course Level Outcome Mastery Scales feature option, which must be enabled by a Customer Success Manager. This feature affects existing data for an entire account. |
Outcomes |
If the feature option is enabled, and this permission is enabled, the Outcomes page includes three tabs: Manage, Mastery, and Calculation. To access the Calculation tab, the Outcome Proficiency Calculations - add / edit permission must also be enabled. To access the Manage tab, the Learning Outcomes - add / edit / delete permission must also be enabled. |
Rubrics |
If this permission is enabled, the Learning Mastery tab displays on the Outcomes page instead of the Rubrics page. |
Permissions - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ * |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Permissions |
Allows user to view and manage permissions. |
Question banks - view and link
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Question Banks |
Allows user to view and link questions in a quiz to account-level question banks. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Quizzes and Question Banks |
To access the Manage Question Banks link in a course Quizzes Index Page, Course content - view and Assignments and Quizzes - manage / edit must also be enabled. |
Quizzes - view submission log
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Quizzes |
Allows user to view student quiz logs. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Grades |
Grades - edit must also be enabled. |
Quizzes |
The Quiz Log Auditing feature option must be enabled in Course Settings. |
Reports - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Reports |
Allows user to view and configure reports in Account Settings. Allows user to view Access Reports. Allows user to view last activity and total activity information on the People page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
To view Last Activity and Total Activity information on the Course People page, Users - view list must also be enabled. To access a Course People page, Users - view list must also be enabled. |
Reports (Course) |
To access the Student Interactions report, Grades - view all grades must also be enabled. |
Rubrics - add / edit / delete
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Rubrics |
Determines visibility and management of Rubrics link in Account Navigation. Allows user to view the Rubrics link in Course Navigation. Allows user to create, edit, and delete rubrics. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Rubrics |
Users can access and create (but not edit) individual assignment rubrics through Assignments when Course Content - view and Assignments and Quizzes - add are enabled. |
SIS Data - import
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Navigation |
Determines visibility and management of SIS Import link in Account Navigation. |
SIS Import |
Allows user to import SIS data. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
SIS Import |
To manage SIS data, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
SIS Data - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Navigation |
Determines visibility of SIS Import link in Account Navigation. Allows user to view the previous SIS import dates, errors, and imported items. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to edit the course SIS ID. |
People (Account) |
Allows user to view and edit the SIS ID and Integration ID in a user’s Login Details |
People (Course) |
Allows user to view, add, and remove course enrollments via SIS ID. |
Subaccount Settings |
Allows user to view and insert data in the SIS ID field. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Course Settings |
To edit course settings, Courses - manage / update must be enabled. |
People (Account) |
To view or edit a user’s SIS ID or Integration ID, Users - view list and Users - manage login details for users must also both be enabled. |
People (Course) |
If this permission is enabled, users do not need the SIS Data - read permission enabled. The account permission overrides the course permission. To disallow users from managing SIS IDs at the course level, SIS Data - manage and SIS Data - read must both be disabled. To add or remove users to a course, the appropriate Users permission must be enabled (e.g. Users - Teachers). |
SIS Import |
To import SIS data, SIS Data - import must also be enabled. |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
SIS Data - read
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
SIS |
Governs account-related SIS IDs (i.e., subaccount SIS ID). |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view a course’s SIS ID. |
People (Account) |
Allows user to view the SIS ID in a user’s login details. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to view user SIS IDs in a course People page. |
Quizzes |
Allows user to view the user SIS ID column in Quiz Item Analysis CSV file. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Account and Subaccount |
Users and terms are located at the root account, so the SIS endpoint always confirms the user’s permissions according to root account. Subaccounts only have ownership of courses and sections; they do not own user data. Subaccount admins are not able to view SIS information unless they are also granted an instructor role in a course. Subaccount admins cannot view SIS information without the course association, as the instructor role has permission to read SIS data at the account level. |
People (Account) |
To view a user’s login details, Users - view list and Users - manage login details must also both be enabled. |
People (Course) |
To view the list of users in the course, Users - view list must also be enabled. To add or remove users to a course, the appropriate Users permission must be enabled (e.g. Users - Teachers). |
SIS Import |
To manage SIS data, SIS Data - manage must be enabled. If SIS Data - manage is enabled and SIS Data - read is disabled, the account permission overrides the course permission. If SIS Data - manage is disabled and SIS Data - read is enabled, users can only view course, user, and subaccount SIS IDs. To disallow users from viewing any SIS IDs at the course level, SIS Data - manage and SIS Data - read must both be disabled. |
Statistics - view
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Statistics |
Allows admin user to view account statistics. |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Allows user to generate login/logout activity report in Admin Tools. (Not available at the subaccount level.) |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
If Statistics - view or Users - manage login details is enabled, the user will be able to generate login/logout activity in Admin Tools. To hide the login/logout activity option in Admin Tools, both of these permissions need to be disabled. |
People (Account) |
To view user page views, Users - view list must also be enabled. |
Storage Quotas - manage
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Quotas (Account Settings) |
Allows user to view and manage Quotas tab in account settings. User can set default course, user, and group storage quotes. |
Student Collaborations - create
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Collaborations |
Allows user to create collaborations. Allows user to view, edit, and delete collaborations they created. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Collaborations |
To allow edit/delete functionality of collaborations created by other users, Course Content - edit and Course Content - delete must also be enabled. If Course Content - add / edit / delete is enabled and Student Collaborations - create is disabled, the user will not be able to create new collaborations but will be able to edit and delete all collaborations. To add students to a collaboration, Users - view list must also be enabled. To add a course group to a collaboration, Groups - add must also be enabled. |
Submission - Submit on behalf of student
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✖️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Submissions |
Allows instructors to submit a file upload assignment on behalf of a student in the Gradebook. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Submissions |
Submissions includes a timestamp and who submitted the assignment. Additionally, the instructor can submit multiple files at a time for a single student and submit beyond the availability date. |
Users - act as
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to act as other users in the account. This permission should only be assigned to users that your institution has authorized to act as other users in your entire Canvas account. Users with this permission may be able to use the Act as feature to manage account settings, view and adjust grades, access user information, etc. This permissions also allows admins designated to a sub-account to access settings and information outside of their sub-account. |
SpeedGrader |
Allows user to delete a submission file. |
Student Context Card |
Allows a user to access the Act as User link on student context cards. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
API |
The Roles API refers to this permission as become_user. |
People (Account) |
To view the list of users in an account, Users - view list must be enabled. |
Student Context Card |
Student Context Cards must be enabled for an account by an admin. |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
Users - Designers
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Designers - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Courses (Account) |
Allows user to add designers to a course from the account Courses page. Allows user to add designers to a course. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to add designers to a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add designers to a course from the Courses page via email address or login ID even if a designer does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. To access the account Courses page, Courses - view list must be enabled. |
People (Course) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add designers to a course from the People page via email address or login ID even if a designer does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Designers - remove
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to remove designers from a course. Allows user to deactivate designers in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
If an enrollment is created via SIS, only admins can remove the enrollment from a course. To remove a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Users - Students
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Students - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Courses (Account) |
Allows user to add students to a course from the account Courses page. Allows user to add students to a course. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to add students to a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add students to a course from the Courses page via email address or login ID even if a student does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. To access the account Courses page, Courses - view list must be enabled. |
People (Course) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add students to a course from the People page via email address or login ID even if a student does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Students - remove
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to remove students from a course. Allows user to deactivate students in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
If an enrollment is created via SIS, only admins can remove the enrollment from a course. To remove a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Users - Observers
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Observers - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Courses (Account) |
Allows user to add observers to a course from the account Courses page. Allows user to add observers to a course. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to add observers to a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add observers to a course from the Courses page via email address or login ID even if an observer does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. To access the account Courses page, Courses - view list must be enabled. |
People (Course) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add observers to a course from the People page via email address or login ID even if an observer does not already have a Canvas account. To add observers via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Observers - remove
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to remove observers from a course. Allows user to deactivate observers in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
If an enrollment is created via SIS, only admins can remove the enrollment from a course. To remove a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Users - TAs
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
TAs - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account (Course) |
Allows user to add TAs to a course from the account Courses page. Allows user to add TAs to a course. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to add TAs in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add TAs to a course from the Courses page via email address or login ID even if a TA does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. To access the account Courses page, Courses - view list must be enabled. |
People (Course) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add TAs to a course from the People page via email address or login ID even if a TA does not already have a Canvas account. To add TAs via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
TAs - remove
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to remove TAs from the course. Allows user to deactivate TAs in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
If an enrollment is created via SIS, only admins can remove the enrollment from a course. To remove a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Users - Teachers
This grouped permission provides the option to manage each granular permission individually or as an entire group. Default role status applies to the entire grouped permission.
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Teachers - add
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account (Course) |
Allows user to add teachers to the course from the account Courses page. Allows user to add teachers in the course. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to add teachers in the course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add teachers to a course from the Courses page via email address or login ID even if a teacher does not already have a Canvas account. To add a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. To access the account Courses page, Courses - view list must be enabled. |
People (Course) |
If the Open Registration account setting is enabled, users with this permission can add teachers to a course from the People page via email address or login ID even if a teacher does not already have a Canvas account. To add teachers via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Teachers - remove
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to remove teachers from a course. Allows user to deactivate teachers in a course. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
If an enrollment is created via SIS, only admins can remove the enrollment from a course. To remove a user via SIS ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. |
Users - Allow Administrative Actions in Courses
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to view login ID information for users. Allows user to view user details for course users. Allows user to edit a user’s section or role (if not added via SIS). |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Account) |
To add or remove users to a course, the appropriate Users permission must be enabled (e.g. Users - Teachers). To edit user details, modify login details, or change user passwords, Users - manage login details must also be enabled. |
People (Course) |
To add or remove users to a course, the appropriate Users permission must be enabled (e.g. Users - Teachers). To view SIS IDs, SIS Data - read must be enabled. To edit a user’s section, Conversations - send to individual course members must be enabled. |
Observers (Course) |
To add or remove an observer to a course, the Users - Observers permission must be enabled. To link an observer to a student, Users - manage login details and Conversations - send to individual course members must be enabled. To generate a pairing code on behalf of a student to share with an observer, Users - Generate observer pairing code for students must also be enabled. |
Users - Manage Students in Courses
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to view login ID information for students. Allows user to view prior enrollments. Allows user to access a user’s settings menu and user details. Allows user to edit a student’s section or role. Allows user to resend course invitations from the Course People page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Courses (Account) |
To access the account Courses page, Courses - view list must be enabled. |
People (Course) |
To add or remove a student to or from a course, the Users - Student permission must be enabled. To view the list of users in the course, Users - view list must be enabled. To view SIS IDs, SIS Data - read must be enabled. To edit a student’s section, Conversations - send to individual course members must also be enabled. |
Users - Generate observer pairing code for students
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Course) |
Allows user to generate a pairing code on behalf of a student to share with an observer. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Course) |
To generate a pairing code from a student's User Settings page, the User - act as permission must also be enabled. To generate a pairing code from a student's User Details page, the Users - allow administrative actions in courses permission must also be enabled. Pairing codes are only supported when self registration is enabled for the account. QR codes are not the same as pairing codes and are only used to help users log into their own accounts via the Canvas mobile apps. To disable QR code logins for all users in your account, please contact your Customer Success Manager. |
Users - manage login details
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to create accounts for new users. Allows user to remove and merge users in an account. Allows user to modify user account details. Allows user to view and modify login information for a user. |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Allows user to generate login/logout activity report in Admin Tools (not available at the subaccount level.) |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
If Statistics - view or Users - manage login details is enabled, the user will be able to generate login/logout activity in Admin Tools. To hide the login/logout activity option in Admin Tools, both of these permissions need to be disabled. |
People (Account) |
To view users and user account details, Users - view list must be enabled. To change user passwords, Users - view list must also be enabled. To view a user’s SIS ID, SIS Data - manage or SIS Data - read must also be enabled. To view a user’s Integration ID, SIS Data - manage must also be enabled. To merge users, the Self Service User Merge feature option must also be enabled. |
People (Course) |
To add or remove users to a course, the appropriate Users permission must be enabled (e.g. Users - Teachers). |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
Users - manage observers
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to manage observers associated with students in the account. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Subaccounts |
Not available at the subaccount level. |
Users - moderate content
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
ePortfolios |
Allows user to view ePortfolio Moderation link in Account Settings. Allows user to moderate ePortfolios for the account. |
Users - view list
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Account Navigation |
Allows user to access the People link in Account Navigation. |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
Allows user to view login/logout activity of users in Admin Tools. Allows user to search grade change logs by grader or student in Admin Tools. (Not available at the subaccount level.) |
Assignments |
Allows user to differentiate assignments to individual students. |
Collaborations |
Allows user to view and add users in a collaboration. |
Conversations |
Allows user to send a message in Conversations without selecting a course. |
Course Navigation |
Allows user to view the People link in Course Navigation. |
Course Settings |
Allows user to view enrollments on the Sections tab. |
Groups (Course) |
Allows user to view groups in a course. |
People (Account) |
Allows user to view list of users in the account. |
People (Course) |
Allows user to view list of users in the course People page. Allows user to view the Prior Enrollments button in the course People page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Account Groups |
To view account-level groups, Groups - manage must also be enabled. |
Admin Tools (Logging tab) |
To generate login/logout activity in Admin Tools, Users - manage login details or Statistics - view must also be enabled. To generate grade change logs in Admin Tools, Grades - view change logs must also be enabled. |
Courses |
To add or remove users to a course, the appropriate Users permission must be enabled (e.g. Users - Teachers). |
Groups |
To add a group, Manage Groups - add must also be enabled. To delete a group, Manage Groups - delete must also be enabled. To edit a group, Manage Groups - manage must also be enabled. |
People (Account) |
To edit user details, modify login details, or change user passwords, Users - manage login details must also be enabled. To view user page views, Statistics - view must also be enabled. To act as other users, Users - act as must also be enabled. |
People (Course) |
To edit a user’s section, the appropriate Users permission (e.g. Users - Teachers), Users - allow administrative actions in courses, and Conversations - send to individual course members must also be enabled. |
Users - view login IDs
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account/Course) |
Allows user to search for other users by Login ID in the account People page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Account, Course) |
To access the People page, Users - view list must be enabled. If this permission is enabled, and if Users - view primary email address is disabled, users will see email addresses used as login IDs. To view login IDs, Users - allow administrative actions in courses must also be enabled. |
Users - view primary email address
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
People (Account) |
Allows user to search for account users via primary email address in the account People page. Allows user to search for other users via primary email address in a course People page. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
People (Account) |
To view the account People page, Users - view list must be enabled. If this permission is disabled, and Users - view login IDs is enabled, users will still see email addresses used as login IDs. |
Web Conferences - create
Default Role Status
Account Admin |
✔️ |
Features Affected |
What it Does |
Conferences |
Allows user to create new conferences in courses and groups. Allows user to start conferences they created. |
Additional Considerations
Feature |
Related Information |
Conferences |
To allow full management of conferences created by the user or others, Course Content - add / edit / delete must also be enabled. To end a long-running conference, Course Content - edit must also be enabled. If Course Content - add / edit / delete is enabled and Web Conferences - create is disabled, the user can still manage conferences. |
Last update: 2022-12-16
This resource can also be accessed from the following Canvas Guides:
People shows all the users enrolled in your course, either added by your or your institution via SIS import.
You can also view the number of current users in a course from the Course Settings page.
Open People
In Course Navigation, click the People link.
View People
The People page displays all information about the users in your course. The page is designed with global settings at the top of the page [1] followed by the generated user data [2].
Search and Filter Users
Global settings include searching and filtering by user data. To search for a specific user, type the user's name in the search field [1].
To filter by role, select the Roles drop-down menu [2]. The filter will also display the number of users in each type of role (e.g. student).
You can also add a user to the course [3].
Manage Users
To manage course-level user options, click the global Options drop-down menu. You can view user groups [1]. User groups are the same as displayed in the global settings at the top of the page.
You can view prior enrollments in the course [2]. Prior enrollments are students who were previously enrolled in the course and their enrollments have been concluded.
You can also view a summary of all student interactions in your course [3]. Interactions are recorded when you contact the student via Conversations or when you leave a comment on an assignment.
You can view registered services for each user in the course [4]. If a person has registered a social media account in Canvas, you can see that service listed and communicate with that person through any social media site they have registered.
You can export a list of pairing codes for all students in your course [5]. Pairing codes are used to pair a student with an observer. This option only displays if self-registration is enabled at your institution and is only available for users with permission to generate observer pairing codes.
View Users
The People page orders users alphabetically by last name. Search and filter results display the following data:
- The user's name [1]
- Login ID [2]
- SIS ID [3]—this column requires permission to view SIS IDs
- Section [4]—may be enrolled in more than one section
- Role [5]—displays the name of the user role
- Last Activity [6]—displays the date and time of a user's most recent interaction in the course. This time stamp updates when a user navigates through the course using the Course Navigation menu, replies to a discussion or submits an assignment or quiz, and when they access course files and pages. Mobile actions may not display due to local device caching.
- Total Activity [7]—allows you to see how long students interact within a course and counts page navigation only. Total activity time is displayed in hours:minutes:seconds. If a user has not yet reached an hour of activity, total activity time is displayed as minutes:seconds. Total Activity records any time spent viewing course content that exceeds two minutes. If the time between a new activity and the last completed activity is under ten minutes, all time between these two events will also be included. Total Activity does not include group activity or page views for videos that do not include intermediate page requests, such as a half-hour recorded lecture. To view specific page views for a student, view the student's course access report.
Note: Viewing user details, including Login IDs and user email addresses, are course permissions. Depending on your permissions, you may not be able to view all available information in the People page.
View User Status
You can also view the status for pending and inactive enrollments.
Once a course is published, users receive an invitation to the course. Users who have not yet accepted the course invitation display a pending status [1]. To resend course invitations for pending users, click the Resend link [2] at the top of the page.
Users who are inactive in the course display an inactive status [3]. The inactive status allows you to view a user's prior activity in the course but does not allow the student to access the course.
Manage Users
To manage a user in your course, click the Options icon. If you have permission in your course, you can resend course invitations and view user details. You may also be able to edit the user's course sections, edit the user's role, deactivate the user, or remove the user from the course.
As an admin, the Account Settings tab contains multiple settings you can control and change in your Canvas account.
Not all settings and options are available to sub-account admins. The following restrictions apply to sub-account admins:
- Sub-account admins cannot manage the following account options and restriction settings: Default Time Zone, Allow Self-Enrollment, Login Label, Trusted HTTP referrers, Don't let teachers rename their courses, Students can opt-in to receiving scores in email notifications, and Restrict students from viewing quiz questions after course end date.
- Sub-account admins can only enable Equella, Turnitin, Analytics, and User Avatars.
- Sub-account admins cannot customize links for the help dialog box by default.
- Sub-account admins cannot enable web services by default.
- Sub-account admins cannot choose who can create new courses by default.
- Sub-account admins cannot enable personal pronouns within a sub-account.
- Sub-account admins cannot suppress notifications from being created and sent out.
Notes:
- Not all settings options are available for sub-accounts.
- This lesson indicates the settings that you can manage for your entire account. Other integrations may be available with the assistance of your Customer Success Manager.
Open Account
Click the Admin link [1], then click the name of the account [2].
Open Settings
In Account Navigation, click the Settings link.
View Settings
Account Settings defaults to the Settings tab. Here you can view all the details available to you in your account.
View Account Settings
The Account Settings section allows you to specify settings for the entire account, including account name [1], default language [2], default due time [3], default time zone [4], and self-enrollment [5].
You can also specify trusted URLs at the root account [6]. This option allows accounts to have custom login pages hosted on different domains but still keep the authenticity token.
You can set a default view for the Dashboard using the Default View for Dashboard drop-down menu [7]. Default options include Recent Activity, List View, and Card View. The setting defaults to the Card View. Specifying a default view applies to all new account users. Once a user has selected a different view, the default no longer applies. If you want to apply the selected default view to all users in the account, select the Overwrite all users’ existing default dashboard preferences checkbox [8]. However, users can change their dashboard view at any time in the dashboard options menu.
View Maintenance Window
The Default Time Zone settings also display the maintenance windows for your account. You can expect that all maintenance for your account will occur during your maintenance window, unless emergency maintenance is required. Even though the windows are two hours each, your expected downtime shouldn't last for more than a few minutes. It is also possible that maintenance will not be necessary during your scheduled maintenance windows.
You can view the regular cadence when your maintenance windows take place [1] as well as the specific date and time of your next maintenance window [2].
View Restriction Settings
You can also manage restriction settings for the entire account.
If you do not want instructors to be able to rename their courses, click the Don't let teachers rename their courses checkbox [1].
If you do not want instructors to modify course availability dates, click the Don't let teachers modify course availability dates checkbox [2]. This checkbox does not display in the Account Setting page for sub-accounts.
To allow students to opt-in to receive scores as part of grading notifications, click the Students can opt-in to receiving scores in email notifications checkbox [3]. When this option is enabled, the user's Notification Settings page displays an opt-in checkbox in the Course Activities Grading section. If you enable this option but disable it at a later time, the checkbox will be removed from the notifications page, and anyone who has opted in will no longer receive scores in grading notifications.
If you do not want students to be able to view quiz questions after their course has concluded, click the Restrict students from viewing quiz questions after course end date checkbox [4].
You can choose to restrict student access to view courses before the course start date [5].
You can also choose to restrict student access to view courses after the course end date [6].
You can allow the restriction of quantitative data in a course [7], or you can restrict the view of quantitative data by students and observers in new courses [8].
You can also disable comments on announcements in all courses [9].
You can enable a Mastery Paths for instructor's courses [10]. Mastery Paths allows instructors to customize learning experiences for students based on performance.
To allow students to download course content and view content offline for all courses, select the Allow students to download course content and view offline checkbox [11]. Alternatively, if you'd prefer to allow students to download course content and view content offline for specific courses, you can enable the ePub Exporting feature option for the course.
You can require that copyright and license information be provided for files before they are published [12].
You can also disable Canvas media uploads in the Rich Content Editor [13].
You can allow observers to sign-up for appointments when enabled by the teacher [14].
You can allow the option to split student names into two separate columns and show first and last names separately in the gradebook [15].
You can allow users to submit an additional email at registration [16].
View Slack API Key
You can add a Slack API key in Account Settings to allow users to receive notifications in Slack. The Slack API Key is generated from an app created using the Slack API. To add a new Slack API key, type the Bot User OAuth Access Token copied from Slack in the New Slack Api Key field.
Learn more about creating a Slack App for your institution.
Note: Creating a Slack App and generating an Access Token requires that you are also an admin user in Slack.
View Personal Pronouns
The Personal Pronouns section allows you to enable and customize personal pronoun options in your account. When enabled, users can select a pronoun to display after their username in several areas in Canvas.
View Quiz IP Address Filters
The Quiz IP Address filter allows an admin to create a predefined list of IP addresses or address ranges, making it easier for instructors to select a valid setting when creating a quiz. Since this is often used by an organization to limit tests to an on-campus testing center, it is recommended that you use a descriptive name that associates your filter with that location.
Filters can be a comma-separated list of addresses, or an address followed by a mask (i.e., 192.168.217.1/24 or 192.168.217.1/255.255.255.0). For more information on these masks, view the IP Filtering in Canvas resource document.
View Features
The Features section lets you enable or disable specific built-in Canvas functionality.
To enable Canvas for Elementary, select the Canvas for Elementary checkbox [1].
To allow sub-accounts to use the Theme Editor, select the Let sub-accounts use the Theme Editor to customize their own branding checkbox [2].
To allow users to be added to a course via email address without already having a Canvas user account, select the Open Registration checkbox [3].
To allow users to edit their name as part of their user account settings, select the Users can edit their name checkbox [4].
In a Root Account, admins can disable users from editing communication channels. Additionally, when profiles are enabled by an institution, admins can disable users from editing their profiles. By default, the Users can edit their profiles checkbox [5] and Users can edit their communication channels settings checkbox [6] are enabled.
To allow users to delete the institution-added email address in their user accounts and use a personal email address, select the Users can delete their institution-assigned email address checkbox [7]. If this feature is selected, also consider enabling the non-institutional email notification.
Show the email address of sender for user interaction Notifications checkbox [8].
To show a searchable list of courses in the root account when the public course index setting is enabled, select the Show a searchable list of courses in this root account with the "Include this course in the public course index" flag enabled checkbox [9].
To enable push notifications for a mobile device, select the Enable push notifications to a mobile devices checkbox [10].
To remove the hidden game within Canvas, select the Remove hidden game from 404 page checkbox [11].
To suppress notifications from being created and sent out from your Root Account, click the Suppress notifications from being created and sent out checkbox [12].
To allow users to integrate content with Equella, select the Equella checkbox [13].
To enable analytics for the account, select the Analytics checkbox [14].
To allow users to upload a profile picture in their user accounts, select the User Avatars checkbox [15]. When this feature is enabled, you can manage profile pictures for all users. This feature is independent of the Profiles feature, which must be enabled by a Customer Success Manager.
When the User Avatars checkbox is selected, the Enable Gravatar checkbox is also selected by default [16]. A Gravatar is a globally recognized avatar associated for a user in any website that supports Gravatars. When Gravatars are enabled in an account, users can import their Gravatar when selecting a profile picture in their user settings page. Gravatars are associated with the user’s Gravatar email address. When Gravatars are disabled, the From Gravatar tab is not included as an option in the Select Profile Picture window.
View SIS Grade Export Settings
If you've integrated your account with a student information system (SIS), depending on your institution's configuration, you can either configure SIS submissions for your entire account [1] or manage SIS integration settings [2].
View Help Menu Options
As an account admin, you can customize the Help menu that appears in Canvas for all users. You can also add custom help links for your institution and have them display to all or specific user roles.
View Similarity Detection Platform
The Similarity Detection Platform section displays for all accounts and is used for plagiarism LTI tool integrations.
If your account has installed at least one plagiarism LTI tool, any content you include in the Similarity Pledge text field will display to students [1]. Similarity pledges require students to check a box acknowledging they agree with the pledge information, which usually asks them to verify their work is their own and that any sources have been properly cited.
You can also set the originality score default for the entire account in the Students can see originality score drop-down menu [2]. You can set the report to generate immediately upon assignment submission, after an assignment is graded, after an assignment due date, or never. The account default is not required and can be changed at any other level. Subaccounts can set a separate default from the account, and individual assignments within a course can set their own originality preferences as well.
View Web Services
The Enabled Web Services section is where you enable third-party integrations. These integrations can be used to extend the functionality of a user's Canvas profile. For example, when a user connects their Twitter account to their Canvas user profile, Canvas can send that user private Twitter messages about new assignments, quizzes, messages, etc. This is all configurable in the user's Notification Settings.
Note: If you enable the Google Apps LTI for your entire institution, you do not need to enable the Google Drive web service for your students.
View Course Template
If a course has been designated as a course template, you can select the template to be used for all new courses in your account or sub-account.
View Who Can Create New Courses
You can choose who can create new courses within your account in addition to account administrators. This setting allows the selected user(s) to create new course shells by clicking the Create a New Course button in the Dashboard.
You can allow teachers [1], students [2], and/or users with no enrollments [3] to create courses in your account.
You can also manage where new courses created by teachers and students can be placed. To allow courses to be created in any account where a teacher or student has an active enrollment, click the Allow creation anywhere the user has active enrollments checkbox [4]. To allow courses to only be created in the Manually-Created Courses sub-account, click the Allow creation only in the Manually-Created Courses sub-account checkbox [5].
Copied courses are added to the same subaccount as the course that was copied.
Note: Account administrators can always create courses.
Update Settings
Click the Update Settings button.
If you do not already have a Canvas account, you need to create an account before you can log in to Canvas.
If you are using Canvas through your institution, you will most likely already have an account and need to accept a course invitation. Your institution will email your login information. If you do not yet have an account, you can create an account when you accept the course invitation.
If you are not using Canvas through your institution, you can create your own account. Your instructor will provide you with a join code to link you directly to the course. This code will be sent to you separately from the Canvas email that invites you to join the course. If you need to create an account in Canvas but have not received your join code via email, please contact your instructor or institution for help with logging in.
Note: Once you create an account, you can request to delete your account at any time. Deleting your Canvas account cannot be undone and will delete all Canvas information including courses, assignments, grades, and participation. Do not request to have your account deleted unless you are certain you absolutely no longer require any access to your prior Canvas activity. To request to have your account deleted, open the Help menu and submit a ticket to Canvas support through the Report a Problem link.
Enter URL
If you don't yet have an account, you can set one up for yourself without an email link.
To create your account, open a browser and type canvas.instructure.com into your browser.
Note: You must have a join code from your instructor or institution to create your account.
Create Canvas Account
Click the Need a Canvas Account? link.
Sign Up As a Student
Click the I'm a Student button.
Complete Registration
Complete the following fields:
- Enter the course join code in the Join Code field. This code will be emailed to you by your instructor or institution—the email is separate from your email invitation to join the course.
- Enter your name in the Full Name field.
- Enter your username in the Username field.
- Set your password by typing in the Password field.
- Confirm your password by typing your password in the Confirm Password field.
- Agree to the terms of use by clicking the terms of use checkbox.
- Confirm that you are not a robot by completing the Captcha form (if enabled by your institution)
- Click the Start Learning button.
The Help Menu assists users in your institution by displaying a list of Canvas help resources. Depending on their role, users can view up to eight default help options. As an admin, you can reorder or hide default links in the Help menu. You can also add custom help links for your institution and choose if they should be available to all users or specific user roles. You can highlight links by adding a New label to a link or by featuring the link in the Help menu.
You can also change the Help icon and text that displays throughout Canvas.
This article shows how to access the Help Menu Options directly from the Global Navigation Menu. However, you can also access the Help menu options in Account Settings.
Notes:
- Canvas Help menu customizations are only available at the account level and automatically apply to all subaccounts. When opening the Help menu, only admins can view the customization link.
- Help menu customizations are not available in Free-for-Teacher accounts.
- The Help menu links also display when a user accesses the Help link in the Login page. However, the Ask Your Instructor a Question and Ask the Community links are never part of the Help menu in the Login page since the Login page does not associate a user by role.
- The Help menu includes a Show Welcome Tour link which displays a short welcome tour for Admins, Instructors, and Students. This link cannot be disabled.
- Release note links can be added to the Help Menu by enabling the Embedded Release Notes feature option. When the feature option is enabled, this feature cannot be customized in Account Settings.
Customize Help Menu
In Global Navigation, click the Help Menu link [1], then click the Customize this menu link [2].
View Help Menu Options
In the Settings tab, locate the Help menu options section.
Customize Name
By default, the Canvas Help menu text displays as Help. To change the text, enter the new name in the text field.
The name of the Help menu displays in Global Navigation, the footer of the login page, and the top menu bar in SpeedGrader. The name should be no more than 30 characters.
Customize Icon
By default, the Help navigation icon displays as a question mark. To change the navigation icon, select another icon from the included icon set. The selected icon displays a square border.
The navigation icon currently only displays in Global Navigation. To best assist your account users, the navigation icon should compliment the name of the Help menu.
Customize Help Menu Links
You can allow your users to view up to eight default Help menu links according to their role:
- Conference Guides for Remote Classrooms [1]: Users can view and search guides and resources for using Conferences in remote classrooms and online learning
- COVID-19 Canvas Resources [2]: Users can view resources for teaching and learning online
- Ask your Instructor a Question (Students Only) [3]: Students can quickly send their instructor(s) questions about their courses; messages are copied to the Conversations Sent folder and moved to the Inbox when a reply is received
- Search the Canvas Guides [4]: Users can search the Canvas Guides for information about features inside of Canvas
- Report a Problem [5]: Users can submit problems with Canvas; tickets are either sent to Canvas or your own support team, depending on your institution's preference to manage support tickets
- Training Services Portal [6]: Users can access training resources provided by Instructure
- Ask the Community (Non-Students Only) [7]: Users can exchange ideas and solutions regarding Canvas functionality with Canvas experts and their Canvas peers
- Submit a Feature Idea [8]: Users can submit ideas about how to make Canvas better
Manage Default Links
To move a default link up or down in the menu, click the up or down arrow [1]. To delete a default link, click the Delete icon [2]. To edit a default link, click the Edit icon [3].
Notes:
- The Help menu links also display when a user accesses the Help menu from the Login page. However, even when enabled, Ask Your Instructor a Question, Ask the Community, and Training Services Portal links are never part of the Help menu in the Login page since the Login page does not associate a user by role.
- The Show Welcome Tour link cannot be modified or removed from the Help menu.
Edit Default Links
To edit the name of a default link, type in the Link name field [1]. To edit the description of a default link, type in the Link description field [2]. To select which users can view a default link, click the user role Available to checkboxes [3]. Options include Everyone, Students, Teachers, Admins, Observers, and Unenrolled. Unless otherwise changed, all user roles are selected for custom links.
Use the Features checkboxes [4] if you wish to have the link display with a New label or as a featured link. To add a custom featured headline, edit the Featured headline field [5]. You may only have one featured link and one new link in the Help menu.
To save your changes, click the Update link button [6].
Note: The Link URL cannot be changed for default links.
Restore Default Links
If you want to restore a default link in the Help menu, click the Add Link button [1] and select the name of the link [2]. Faded links cannot be added as they are already in the Help menu [3].
Restore Default Links
If you'd like to add a custom link to the Help menu, click the Add Link button [1], then click the Add Custom Link option [2].
Add Link
In the Link name field [1], enter the link name.
In the Link description field [2], enter a description for the link.
In the Link URL field [3], enter the URL for the link. This field is required.
The link URL field also supports the telephone URL and mailto schemes.
- To create a click-to-call link in the Help menu, enter tel:+ followed by the internal format of the phone number (country code, area code, and number) in this field. Additionally, users can use the telephone link to call the number through their computers. When a user clicks the link, the user receives a confirmation alert before the call is placed. (Users may be able to access telephone links when viewing Canvas in a mobile browser, although mobile browsers are not officially supported by Canvas.)
- To create a mailto scheme in the Help menu, enter mailto: followed by the email address. When a user clicks the link, the user's browser opens the email service configured in the user's browser and creates an email to the designated email address. If no browser configuration is set, the browser will try to pass the email link to a desktop email program.
For the Available to checkboxes [4], select the user(s) who can view the link. Options include Everyone, Students, Teachers, Admins, Observers, and Unenrolled. Unless otherwise changed, custom links select checkboxes for all roles.
Use the Features checkboxes [5] if you wish to have the link display with a New label or as a featured link. To add a custom featured headline, edit the Featured headline field [6]. You may only have one featured link and one new link in the Help menu.
Click the Add Link button [7].
Update Settings
Click the Update Settings button.
About Trust Accounts
A trust relationship allows one Canvas account to trust another Canvas account and allows users to be enrolled in both places. Instead of creating two separate accounts and merging them together, a trust relationship allows separate Canvas accounts to share user identities, so a user can log in to one account and access courses from both accounts.
To establish a trust between two or more accounts, the Canvas Operations team configures a trust setting, which is stored in the Canvas code. The Canvas interface never shows that a trust relationship is present. Trusts can be established between multiple accounts.
Trusted Canvas instances display as an authentication provider option.Learn more about configuring trusted Canvas instance authentication.
The following behaviors do not apply to trust accounts:
- Trusts do not show any information in the UI/GUI indicating you in a trust with another school or that the course you are enrolled in is at another school.
- Trusts do not provide any data or a summation of which users are in a trust enrollment at another school.
- The Canvas interface does not show provided trust data. The trust is simply an invisible link that exists between two or more sites.
- User lists from one school cannot be browsed from another school. Admins from both schools will need to work out a business process to send enrollments from one school to the other.
- Trusts do not provide any automation for trust enrollments. Users are enrolled via CSV uploads or via the API.
- Users enrolled in courses at other schools are only able to see the name of the course they are enrolled in. They cannot view any information in the interface that shows the course is located at another school.
For questions about trust accounts, please contact your Customer Success Manager.
Definitions
User |
A person with a login and user profile in at least one Canvas account. With multiple Canvas accounts, the person has a separate login and user profile for each account. However, the login and profile may contain identical information, such as the same email address used as login credentials. |
Merged User | A user with multiple Canvas accounts merged together to use one profile. For each Canvas account, the user’s login may be unified by a central authentication system or retained individually through Canvas authentication. |
Login | A username and password tied to a specific Canvas account used for login credentials. A login must be unique to a user and is required to authenticate a specific Canvas account. However, a user may have the same username (such as an email address) or password as login credentials for multiple accounts. |
Trust Link | A virtual link between two Canvas accounts. The trust link goes in one direction from one canvas account to another. However, the interface does not indicate a trust is present. |
Canvas Account | A Canvas configuration with a unique URL (i.e. institution.instructure.com). For the purpose of trusts, Canvas accounts do not refer to subaccounts. |
Integration ID | A secondary identifier useful for more complex SIS integrations. An integration ID can be used for a user without affecting the user’s SIS ID. |
User Roles and Expectations
The tables below indicate intended behaviors regarding various activities and user roles for trust accounts.
✔️ indicates the behavior is supported
✔️* indicates the behavior is supported with caveats as explained in the table
✖️ indicates the behavior is not supported
Student
User with at least 1 enrollment across trust |
Merged user with at least 1 enrollment across trust |
|
View Courses in Dashboard across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Courses in Mobile Device across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Course To Do List items across Trust | ✖️ | ✖️ |
View Files in Mobile Devices across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Calendar across Trust | ✖️ |
✔️* Not shown in mobile, but events can be viewed within individual courses |
View Conversations across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Message Users across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Branding across Trust |
✔️* Displays home account branding; accessing a course in the trusted account shows trust branding |
✔️* Displays branding within account login URL |
View User Settings across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View ePortfolio Attachments across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Push Notifications across Trust | ✖️ | ✖️ |
Supports Secondary Login (Pseudonym) | ✖️ | ✔️ |
Notes:
- Creating a student in both accounts with the same integration ID does not generate a prompt to merge the student.
- When the student is merged within an individual account, neither account was made the home or deleted account.
Instructor
User with at least 1 enrollment across trust |
Merged user with at least 1 enrollment across trust | |
View Courses in Dashboard across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Courses in Mobile Device across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Files in Mobile Devices across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Calendar across Trust | ✖️ |
✔️* Not shown in mobile, but events can be viewed within individual courses |
View Conversations across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Message Users across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Branding across Trust |
✔️* Displays home account branding; accessing a course in the trusted account shows trust branding |
✔️* Displays branding within account login URL |
View User Settings across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View ePortfolio Attachments across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
View Push Notifications across Trust | ✖️ | ✖️ |
View Account-Level Outcomes | ✖️ | ✔️ |
View Rubrics across Trust | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Supports Secondary Login (Pseudonym) | ✖️ | ✔️ |
Admin
Home Account |
Secondary Account |
|
View Provisioning Report—Enrollments CSV |
✔️* View enrollments for courses located within account login URL, including users that have been merged to secondary account |
✔️* View enrollments for courses located within account login URL, including users that have been merged to home account |
View Provisioning Report—Users CSV |
✔️* View user data for students merged to secondary account if a student still has one enrollment in the secondary account |
✔️* View user data for students merged to home account if a student still has one enrollment in the home account |
View Page Views |
✔️* View page views for all accounts, except for submission details |
✔️* View page views for all accounts, except for submission details
Cannot view trusted course from home account |
View Courses across Trust Accounts | ✖️ | ✖️ |
View User Details |
✔️* Can view users merged to another account if they are still enrolled in a course in the account |
✔️* Can view users merged to another account if they are still enrolled in a course in the account |
View Course & Student Analytics for Merged Users | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Supports Secondary Login (Pseudonym) | ✖️ | ✔️ |
Logins CSV
The logins.csv can often be used in trust accounts, especially when cross-listing or merging users. This section includes notes for successful usage for the logins.csv within trust accounts.
- The root_account field is required when cross-listing users across accounts within a trust account.
- The integration_id should be left blank when merging users that have matching integration IDs.