Overview
Canvas notification preferences are the best way to stay informed about what’s happening in your courses. When set up according to your needs, notification preferences help you strategically engage with Canvas when doing so matters the most, freeing you from haphazardly checking your courses to see what’s been going on while you weren’t in Canvas.
This Guide explains:
- Options available for notification settings
- Setting additional contact methods in Canvas
- Setting up push notifications
- Editing your notification preferences
- Recommendations for instructors
Notification-Preference Basics
You can specify the circumstances under which you are automatically notified by Canvas about various course activities, as well as the frequency with which you are notified.
- Until you customize your notification preferences, you will have the default notification settings.
- For each course activity, you can be notified immediately, once a day, once a week, or never.
- Each contact method (email address, SMS text, push notifications, etc.) can have separate preferences.
How to Set Your Notification Preferences
When your Canvas account is created, you are given default notification preferences. You can customize these settings according to your individual preferences.
To see what course activities are included in a particular notification trigger, hover over the activity name.
How to Add a Contact Method
Notifications are sent to your main Canvas email address (the one established when your account was created). You can add a new email address or your cellphone number to receive text-message updates by following these instructions:
- How do I add contact methods to receive Canvas notifications as an instructor?
- How do I add an additional email address as a contact method in Canvas as an instructor?
- How do I add a text (SMS) contact method in Canvas as an instructor?
Setting up Push Notifications
Push notifications apply to all devices with the Canvas mobile apps. Currently, the Canvas Teacher app supports only some notifications.
Suggestions for Instructors
- Tell your students to make sure they have enabled notification preferences for course activities (e.g., announcements) you use regularly. We recommend saying this in class and adding this message to your syllabus so students know what you expect of them.
- By default, teaching team members do not receive notifications about announcements they create, only about announcements made by other teaching team members. If you would like to receive notifications about announcements you create, change the settings for “Announcement Created by You” from Never to Notify Me Right Away.
Last Updated: 23 Mar 2018