Notifications & Contact Information

Navigating Canvas ModuleNotifications & Contact Information

Important Information to Know

Person walking through an airport looking at departure and arrival monitorsCanvas includes a set of default notification preferences you can receive for your courses. 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 online guide.

It is very important to customize your notifications so you know what is going on in your course without having to search. 

  • Notifications are applied to all of your courses in Canvas by default.
  • You can change your notification preferences in Canvas at any time.
  • We recommend if nothing else, set the "Announcement" notification, the "Submission Comment" notification, and the "Conversation Message" notification to "right away". This will allow you to see when your instructors post announcements to your courses, gives you feedback on assignments and when you get a direct message in Canvas. 

Notifications on Canvas Video

Notification Destination

You can edit your contact methods in your Account button under Settings.

Screenshot of the Settings and the Notification options in the Account button 

If you see a "warning" icon, this indicates a bounced contact method. To correct the error, you can remove then re-add the contact method to your profile.  A "checkmark" icon notifies you of an unconfirmed email address.

Customizing Your Notifications

You can edit your notifications in your Account button under "Notifications".

Screenshot of the Settings and the Notification options in the Account button

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

Screen shot of the frequency options for notification

Notification settings apply to all of your courses unless you set notification preferences for individual courses (Links to an external site.).

There is a list of the types of notifications you can receive, if you hover over the notification type, you will see a brief description of the notification.  You can choose the type and frequency of your notifications for each contact method in Canvas.  

A screenshot of the notifications set up page in a user account

You may be able to reply directly to email notifications outside of Canvas. Replies are updated in the Canvas Inbox. However, please be aware that attachments added as part of an external reply are not included with the message shown in Canvas.

Quick Check

When am I able to change or update my notification settings?

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