Notifications for Students in Canvas

Canvas includes a set of default notification settings you can receive for your courses. However, you can change the default settings by setting your own notification settings. These settings 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 resource document.

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.

Notification settings apply to all courses unless you set notification settings for individual courses.

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 in the Canvas message.

Notes:

• The Canvas Student app supports setting notification settings. However, managing settings inside the app will override settings in the browser version of Canvas.
• You may be able to select notification settings for an individual course. Learn more about managing notifications for a single course.

This article covers how to:

• Open and View Notification Settings
• Manage Notification Settings

Open and View Notification Settings

1. In Global Navigation, click the Account tab [1], then click the Notifications link [2].
   
    
2. On the Notification Settings page, you can manage notification settings for your Canvas account and/or manage notification settings for individual courses using the Settings for dropdown menu [3].
   
3. By default, the Settings for dropdown displays the Account option [3]. A banner displays stating account-level notification settings apply to all of your Canvas courses, however, any course-specific notification settings override account notification settings [4]. To dismiss the message, click the Close icon [5].
4. A banner displays when daily and weekly messages are delivered [6]. To dismiss the message, click the Close icon [7].
5. View the account-level notification types [8] and your listed contact methods [9].
6. Each notification has a default delivery frequency setting. Hover over the notification icon to view the current notification delivery frequency for a notification type and contact method [10].

Manage Notification Settings

1. Each notification is set to a default setting. To change a notification for a contact method, locate the notification and click the icon for the contact method [1].
   
2. Select the Notify immediately option to receive a notification right away [2].
   • These notifications may be delayed by up to one hour if an instructor makes additional changes, preventing you from being spammed by multiple notifications in a short amount of time.
3. To receive a daily notification, select the Daily summary option [3].
4. To receive a weekly notification, select the Weekly summary option [4].
   • The date and time of your weekly notifications are posted at the bottom of the notifications page.
5. If you do not want to receive a notification, select the Notifications off option [5].

Notes:

• Each set notification setting will automatically apply to all of your courses. However, if you manage notification settings for a single course, notifications for that course must continue to be managed in the course.
• Twitter notification settings do not support daily summary or weekly summary options.
• Unregistered contact methods will appear in notification settings but will not receive notifications until you confirm the registration.