Troubleshooting: Duplicate badge awards in Canvas

Problem

Sometimes, instructors want to only award a badge in Canvas to users who have not previously earned the badge, therefore avoiding duplicates. This is possible with the "Prevent duplicate badge awards" feature.

Note: This only applies to legacy LTI users.

Solution

Check the Prevent duplicate badge awards box at the bottom of the badge objectives page. This will ensure the use of the first existing award for a student for a specific badge awarded in a Canvas course instead of awarding a new copy to that student when they complete the relevant modules. If students already earned this badge outside the course or in a previous version of the course configuration, their badge will be shown here. This is a course-wide setting.

See also Troubleshooting: How do I prevent duplicate badges from being issued in Canvas?