By default, active course cards are automatically added by Canvas and display up to 20 courses.

You can also choose to customize the course card display by adding or removing courses as favorite courses.

Dashboard courses are ordered alphabetically by course name and your role in the course; nicknames and course codes do not apply to course ordering. Courses with instructor roles are listed first, followed by TA roles and student roles.  

If you are an instructor, course cards may be organized by published courses and unpublished courses.

Note: If you customize the course list and manually select at least one course as a favorite, the Dashboard will only display favorite courses. Canvas will also continue to automatically favorite new published course enrollments.

Course cards show an overview of course information including the course name (or nickname), course code, and term [1].

Each card can include up to four tabs [2], which represent the four main Canvas features for student course activity: Assignments, Announcements, Discussions, and Files. These tabs mimic visibility and order in Course Navigation, so for instance, if an instructor hides the Announcements link, the Announcements tab will not display on the course card.

An unread icon on the Discussions or Announcements tab indicates that there is a new discussion or announcement in the course [3]. The number in the icon indicates the number of new items.

If a course has a long or confusing name, you can create a nickname for your course. Most courses are created using Student Information Systems (SIS) that generate course names based on terms, departments, and section numbers, and courses with similar names may be hard to distinguish.

To add a nickname, click the Options icon [1], then enter the name in the Nickname field [2]. Click the Apply button [3].

To remove a nickname, open the card options and delete the nickname. The Nickname field will display the original name of the course. Then, click the Apply button.

Notes: 

• A course nickname does not affect the course code, which always displays on the course card for course reference.
• A course nickname does not affect the course name at the account or course level; it only changes the name of the course for the individual user who created the nickname.
• Course nicknames appear in the Dashboard, Course Navigation Menu, course breadcrumbs, and notification emails. Nicknames do not display in the global Grades page and Dashboard sidebar elements such as the To Do list.
• Course nicknames are limited to 59 characters.

You can customize the color of course cards, which is synced with the color shown for the course in the Calendar. To change the color of a course card, click the card's Options icon [1], then select a new color. The check mark indicates the selected color [2], and the associated hex color code displays in the Hex Code field [3].

To use a color not shown in the window, enter the color's hex code directly in the Hex Code field.

Click the Apply button [4]. 

Notes:

• Any variation of white is not accepted as a course color.
• If you enter an invalid hex code, a warning icon displays.
• If you change the color for a course in the Calendar, the color also updates in the Dashboard.

You can also move a course card to another location in the Dashboard or remove a card from the Dashboard. Click the Options icon [1] and select the Move tab [2]. Depending on the placement of the existing card, you can move the card to the top of the Dashboard, ahead or behind a specific card, or to the bottom of the Dashboard [3].

Once a dashboard card has been reordered, new courses added to the Dashboard always display at the end of all existing courses.

To remove the course card from the Dashboard, click the Unfavorite option [4].

Note: The Unfavorite option only displays if you previously selected favorite courses.

Some courses may include an image for the course behind the course color [1]. By default, course cards with an image include a color overlay.