Recent Updates

  • If you have an email address registered in two Canvas accounts, you can merge these accounts. Merging accounts combines the logins, contact methods, and enrollments for the two accounts.

    The icon to complete this process will only appear in User Settings if there are two or more email addresses on the account and the email address that appears on both accounts has been registered.

    In order to complete this process, you must have the Canvas username and password for both accounts.

    Note: Merging user accounts cannot be undone.

  • Canvas is continually creating new features to improve your user experience. The majority of improvements will be made available as part of our regular release cycle. However, some features may affect your personal interaction with Canvas.

    This lesson gives an overview of how to manage user-level feature options for your user account. To view specific feature options available in Canvas, visit the user account features lesson.

  • Canvas includes a set of default notification preferences you can receive for your courses. Notifications are sent to Canvas contact methods as specified in your account. However, you can change the default settings by setting your own notification preferences. These preferences only apply to you; they are not used to control how course updates are sent to other users. To learn more about each notification, default settings, and notification triggers, view the Canvas Notifications PDF.

    Notifications are sent as one of four delivery types: send right away, daily summary, weekly summary, or don't send. If you change a setting, the change is made immediately to your account.

    Notification settings apply to all of your courses; you cannot change settings for individual courses.

    You can reply directly to email notifications outside of Canvas and have the reply appear in Conversations. However, please be aware that attachments added as part of an external reply are not included with the message shown in the Canvas Inbox.

    Note: The Canvas by Instructure app supports setting notification preferences. However, setting preferences inside the app will override preferences in the browser version of Canvas, and daily and weekly preferences are not supported.

  • If one or more of your courses have enabled ePub exports, you can view your course offline as an ePub file. You can download the ePub file and upload it into any eReader software for viewing, such as iBooks or Azardi.

    ePub content is for offline viewing only; you cannot interact with course content directly, such as completing an assignment or viewing any submissions. In an ePub file, you can view assignment details, availability dates, and point values. Discussions include the discussion topic. All discussion replies (graded or ungraded) are considered submissions and must be viewed online. Additionally, you can view any embedded media files in the ePub. Any files that aren't supported in the ePub format, such as file attachments or PDFs, can be downloaded to be viewed in the file's native environment.

    Currently ePub files and any associated files can only be generated in the browser version of Canvas, but the files can be transferred for viewing on any supported device.

    Depending on the course setup, the ePub may be organized by modules or content type (assignments, discussions, quizzes, etc.). When viewing by module, only items you have access to view in each module will be included in the ePub file. Locked modules list either their prerequisites or the unlock date, as well as the items that are contained within that module (though not the actual content of those items themselves).

    Notes:

    • You cannot download ePub files for concluded courses.
    • If you can view the Download Course Content button but cannot download an ePub file for a specific course, the feature has not been enabled for that course.
    • If your account does not display the Download Course Content button, your institution may only allow you to export content offline as an HTML file in Modules.
  • If your institution has enabled profile pictures, you can add and change profile pictures in your account. If you do not see a placeholder picture in your user settings, your institution has not enabled this feature.

    There are three ways you can select a profile picture to use throughout Canvas:

    • Upload a Picture from your computer
    • Take a Picture using your computer's camera (not supported when using Safari or Internet Explorer)
    • Import from an existing Gravatar account

     

    Tips for profile pictures:

    • Please choose an appropriate picture to represent yourself. Your institution has the right to remove pictures that are not appropriate for a classroom setting.
    • Images should be square in size to prevent your picture from being resized or distorted.
    • Files can be any type (.jpg, .png, .gif) or size as long as you have room in your personal files to store the file. Canvas recommends that your profile picture be as small as possible.
    • Your personal files quota is enforced when uploading a profile picture. If you do not have enough storage space in your personal files, you will not be able to upload your profile picture. Create more space by removing some files in your personal files.
  • In Canvas you can add contact methods to receive notifications. Contact methods allow you to select how you want to be notified when various events occur within a course. Notifications are applied to all courses in Canvas. Canvas supports notification through email, SMS text message, and Twitter.

    Once you add contact methods, you can set your own Notification Preferences to select how often you want to be notified of course events.

    View a video about Notification Preferences.

  • When you create a contact method in Canvas, you can use that contact method as a way to receive Canvas notifications. By default, notifications are sent to the email address used to create your Canvas account. However, you can add an additional email address if you do not want to use your existing email address or want to use an additional email for notifications.

    Learn how to set notification preferences.

  • You can add a text or SMS communication channel to receive Canvas notifications on your cell phone. Text or SMS channels appear under the Other Contacts sidebar heading.

    Once you have enabled the contact method, learn how to set notification preferences.

    SMS notifications are currently available for cellular numbers registered in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Uruguay.

    Note: If you have a mobile device and have enabled push notifications, your Canvas profile will include a For All Devices push contact type. If you delete this contact method, the method will reappear the next time you enable the Canvas app on your mobile device.

  • Your default email address is used as your main contact method in Canvas and is added when creating your Canvas account. Email addresses are used to create Canvas notifications; they are not used as a contact method for other Canvas users.

    If you add another email address as a contact method, you can change your default email address in Canvas.