how do i submit assignments on canvas

University Center for Teaching and Learning

How to create assignments for your canvas course.

• Quick Start
• Instructor Help
• Student Help

How to Create Assignments

Using assignments in Canvas provides a streamlined process for assigning homework and creating quizzes for students.  Canvas considers an ‘assignment’ to be anything that is graded, whether that be a quiz or homework assignment, and whether it’s delivered entirely online, paper-and-pencil, or is a participatory assignment with no actual deliverable.

This Quick Start guide will cover the creation of assignments where the student submits a file electronically, on paper, using an external tool such as Turnitin or Panopto , or where no submission is expected (e.g. class participation). See How to Create Tests and Quizzes for Your Canvas Course and Create and Manage Discussions for more information about using those tools as assignments.

1. In the Course Navigation menu, click the Assignments link.

2. Click “ +Assignment ” at the top right.

3. Write the assignment title and directions for students.

4. Assign the number of points available for the assignment.

5. Choose an “ Assignment Group” . Assignment groups are, in essence, a category of assignment. For more information about using Assignment Groups, see the Canvas guides regarding Assignments.

6. There are four submission types :

• No Submission: an activity where nothing will be collected from students (e.g. a participation grade)
• For the full details about the online assignment subtypes, (text entry, annotation, file upload, etc.), please see the official documentation .
• We have a recorded mini-webinar on annotation assignments, including assignment ideas, available on the Training Webinars page.
• On Paper: assignments/quizzes/activities that were written on paper and collected by the instructor
• External Tool: assignments submitted through a 3rd party tool that is integrated with Canvas, such as a textbook publisher’s website or Turnitin

7. Submission Attempts: You may allow unlimited submission attempts for Online assignments, or restrict attempts to one or more. When a student submits to an assignment they have already submitted to, the previous submission is retained as well, and the instructor may view both.

8. Group Assignments and Peer Reviews:  Assignments can be created as either a group assignment or peer review assignment.

9. Assign options- You can assign an assignment to your entire class, a specific student, and/or a section of your class. You can also set the due date and the availability dates (when your students can submit their assignment). Each section can have different due dates and availability dates.

10. If you are finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save & Publish “. If you are not finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save ” and you may come back and work on it more later without students having access to it.

Instructor Help for Assignments

Creating assignments.

• How do I create an assignment?
• How do I add a moderated assignment to be graded by multiple reviewers?
• How do I create an online assignment?
• How do I add or edit details in an assignment?
• How do I add or edit points for an assignment?
• What assignment types can I create in a course?
• How do I limit submission attempts for an assignment?
• How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
• How do I enable anonymous instructor annotations in student submissions?
• How do I import SCORM files as an assignment?
• How do I publish or unpublish an assignment as an instructor?

Managing Assignments

• How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
• Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments?
• How do I assign an assignment to everyone in a course?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course section?
• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
• How do I view differentiated assignments with different due dates in a course?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I delete an assignment?
• How do I duplicate an assignment?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment?
• How do I use Direct Share to copy an assignment to another course?
• How do I use Direct Share to send an assignment to another instructor?

Creating and Managing Peer Review Assignments

• How do I create a peer review assignment?
• How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
• How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I manually assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I view student peer review comments as an instructor?

Creating External Tool Assignments

• How do I add an assignment using an external app?
• How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file?

Using Assignment Groups

• How do I add an assignment group in a course?
• How do I create an assignment shell in an assignment group?
• How do I create rules for an assignment group?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?

Grading Considerations

• How do I add a grading scheme to an assignment?
• How do I download all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I upload all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I exclude an assignment from the course’s final grades?
• How do I give extra credit in a course?

Student Help for Assignments

• How do I view Assignments as a student?
• How do I filter assignments by type as a student?
• How do I submit an online assignment?
• How do I submit a text entry assignment?
• How do I enter a URL as an assignment submission?
• How do I submit a media file as an assignment submission?
• How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I upload a file from Microsoft Office 365 as an assignment submission?
• How do I know when my assignment has been submitted?
• How do I manage celebration animations in Canvas as a student?
• How do I submit a cloud assignment with Microsoft Office 365?
• How do I download assignment submissions from all my courses?
• How do I annotate a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I use DocViewer in Canvas assignments as a student?
• How do I submit a PDF assignment with annotations in the Student app on my Android device?
• How do I add annotations to a submission in the Student app on my iOS device?

Groups and Peer

• How do I submit an assignment on behalf of a group?
• How do I know if I have a peer review assignment to complete?
• How do I submit a peer review to an assignment?
• Where can I find my peers’ feedback for peer reviewed assignments?
• How do I view the rubric for my assignment?
• How do I view the rubric for my external tool assignment?
• How do I view rubric results for my assignment?
• How do I know when my instructor has graded my assignment?
• How do I view assignment comments from my instructor?
• How do I view annotation feedback comments from my instructor directly in my assignment submission?
• How do I view my Roll Call Attendance report as a student?
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Getting Started with Canvas Assignments

• Last modification date Updated On July 26, 2024
• Categories: Assignments , Canvas , Uncategorized
• Categories: assessment , Getting Started , Grading

Canvas  Assignments  are a way for instructors to provide students opportunities to practice using the knowledge and skills they have gained or to assess student performance related to such knowledge and skills. (Creating an Assignment is the  only  way to create a new column in the Gradebook.)

In Canvas there are four basic  Submission Types  for assignments. The submission types include:

• No Submission : For assignments for which you are not collecting any content from the students.
• Text Entry : For students to enter text directly into a text box on Canvas.
• Website URL : For students to enter a URL (usually to a blog, video, podcast, etc.).
• Media Recordings : For students to upload or record media for submission.
• File Uploads : For students to upload files for submission ( Restrict Upload File Types  will allow you to limit which types of files may be submitted).
• On Paper : For assignments students will submit in person.
• External Tool : For assignments which students will submit through a third-party tool (such as Turnitin, Panopto Video Quiz, and PlayPosit).

Managing an Assignment

Managing assignment groups.

When getting started with Assignments, learn to

• Create an assignment shell with the Canvas guide  How do I create an assignment? 

If you select  Peer Reviews Appear Anonymously , annotation tools in  SpeedGrader  will become unavailable.

If you change the  Assign To  area from  Everyone  to select students after submissions have already begun, and do not have a second set of Assign To dates, submissions from unassigned students will disappear.

• Published assignments are visible as existing outside of availability dates, but students cannot see the details.
• If looking to update the due and/or availability dates on multiple assignments, see   How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• If choosing the option to make an assignment a  Group Assignment : If only assigning to specific groups, make sure to click the  X  on the  Everyone Else  choice under  Assign to .

Media Recording  Assignments are not recommended due to technical reasons. Instead, have students submit media by embedding it in a  Text Entry  assignment through Panopto .

Clearly express expectations and criteria for grading by using a  Rubric .

Be cautious limiting submission attempts, as students often make mistakes loading documents and need multiple attempts to ensure you have the correct submission.

• Delete an assignment with the Canvas guide  How do I delete an assignment?
• This duplication process will not work for Quizzes.
• Attach a rubric to an assignment for grading or to communicate expectations to students with the Canvas guide  How do I add a rubric to an assignment?

Accessibility Tips

• Use descriptive text for links, instead of long URLs or ‘click here’. 
• Make instructions brief and to-the-point. Avoid long paragraphs and sentences.
• Consider allowing multiple submission types to accommodate technical limitations students may face.

Assignment Groups  are a way to categorize different graded items in Canvas. For example, you may have journals, blogs, and essays which your students create in your course. Assignment Groups allow you to label and group different types of assignments separately in order to better organize and for ease when applying weighting (see  How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups? ). When getting started with Assignment Groups, learn to

• Add and delete assignment groups with the Canvas guide  How do I add an assignment group in a course?
• Move or reorder an assignment group with the Canvas guide  How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
• Make rules governing grading expectations within assignment groups with the Canvas guide  How do I create rules for an assignment group?

Additional Resources

• CTI Resource: What is the Assignments Index Page?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
• Canvas Student Guide

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How to Create an Online Submission Assignment

Instructors will organize their graded assignments from the “Assignment” link in the Course Navigation. Published assignments will then automatically sync into the Canvas Gradebook for instructors to add grades and provide feedback. 

Online submission-type assignments, specifically, allow students to submit work for instructors online, through Canvas. Then, instructors can have digital forms of work without the need to download and clutter their desktop memory.

**Once students submit to an assignment, the instructor CANNOT unpublish it

**Graded discussions or quizzes will automatically drop into the “Assignments” section, but should be created in their respective sections (“Discussions” or “Quizzes” via the Course Navigation links).

• What are Assignments?
• How do I create an Assignment
• How do I create an online assignment?
• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
• How to Upload and Embed Files via the Rich Content Editor
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
• How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
• Email the LX Design team
• Video Suggestions
• Hybrid Learning

Simon Fraser University Engaging the World

Canvas support.

• A-Z directory
• How do I submit an online assignment?

Assignments in Canvas can be submitted using several submission types. Instructors can choose what kind of online submissions they want you to use. You have the option to resubmit assignments if your instructor allows. If you cannot see the "Submit Assignment" link, you instructor may want you to submit your assignment in a different way.  

1. Click  the Assignments link in the course navigation sidebar on the left hand-side. 

2. Click the Assignments link to view all the assignments you have for that course.

Note: You can also access your Assignments through the Syllabus, Gradebook, Calendar, or Modules. 

3. When you click an Assignment title, you will see a screen with assignment instructions. You may also see a rubric if your instructor has provided one. 

4. Click the Start Assignment link to submit your work. If you cannot see the Start Assignment link, your instructor may not want you to submit your assignment online.

Your instructor will decide what kinds of submissions are appropriate for each assignment. In the case below, the instructor is allowing the student to upload a file. Not all file types may be available for your Assignment, depending on the assignment submission type set by your instructor. 

5. To submit a file upload, click   Upload File  or if you have already uploaded your assignment to Canvas and want to select it for our assignment submission, click the Click here to find a file you've already uploaded link. If you want to submit a photo you can use the Use Webcam option. See instructions here .

6. To submit a text entry, type or copy and paste text into the Rich Content Editor. Click Submit Assignment . You can submit up to 16384 characters in the Text Entry field. 

7. After you have submitted your work, you will see information in the Sidebar about your submission. If you choose and your instructor has allowed for this capability, you may resubmit another version of your assignment using the Re-submit Assignment  link. You will only be able to view the details of your most recent submission in the sidebar, but your instructor will be able to see all of your submissions.  

Once your instructor has graded your submission, you will be notified via the channels that you specified in your Notification Preferences. You can also see details about your assignment and links to additional feedback in the Gradebook. 

• How do I submit an assignment using Google Docs?
• How do I complete a peer review?
• How do I use my webcam to take a photo or an assignment?
• How do I view instructor feedback?

California State University Fullerton

Canvas resource center.

Welcome to the Canvas Resource Center where you may find self-help guides on a wide range of topics regarding teaching and learning using Canvas. Begin by typing in a keyword and clicking on Search.

How do I submit a student's assignment on their behalf?

You will learn how you can submit/upload a file attachment for an Assignment in your course in Canvas on behalf of a student.

The Assignment submission type must be for a file upload.

For example, if a student missed a deadline or submitted the wrong paper or you are allowing the student to re-edit the paper, you can submit the assignment on their behalf without having to go through the steps of changing any deadllines or allowed attempts.

1. Navigate to the Gradebook for your course.

2. Locate the student with the missing submission.

Tip: You can also re-submit an Assignment for a student. For example, if a student submitted an incomplete assignment or submitted the wrong file, you can upload the correct file for that student even if it is past the due date and the until date for a particular Assignment.

You can use the Search tool or simply scroll down the list of students.

3. Click on the desired cell.

4. Click on the Arrow.

5. Click on Submit for Student.

6. Drag and drop the file.

7. Click on Submit.

8. Click on SpeedGrader.

Note that the cell now shows that the Assignment needs grading.

9. In the SpeedGrader, you can see when the submission was made and by whom.

You can see the date and time and by whom the Assignment was submitted (1). You can apply all of your regular grading, rubric, comments, etc. that you would do a for a student-submitted Assignment.

Article Summary

You have now learned how to submit an Assignment on behalf of a student.

• Prev: How do I give extra credit in a course?
• Next: How do I hide student grades while I am grading that Assignment?

Last Updated

Nov 01, 2023

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• Student: How do I submit an Office 365 document to an assignment?

Students can submit files from their Office 365 One Drive to  Canvas Assignment.

Go to Assignments

Click on the name of the Assignment

Click Submit Assignment

This displays the Submit Assignment dialogue box

Click Office 365 tab

This displays the Office 365 dialogue box.

NOTE: You may have to log into your Tufts Office 365 account

Checkmark the file you want to submit, then click Attach File

This returns the display to the Canvas submit assignment dialogue box.

Add a comment (if wanted) then click Submit Assignment

This submits the Office 365 file to the Assignment.

NOTE: You may see a message "Canvas is currently processing your submission". If so, click "OK"

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• How do I create a Reading List?
• How do I structure the list by weeks or topics?
• How do I add items to the reading list?
• How do I add links to electronic articles?
• How do I share the list with students?
• How do I re-use a previous semester's list?
• How can I save favorite resources to use on my lists?
• Can my teaching assistant work on my list?
• Where can I get help and training for using the Reading List tool?
• Students - Reading Lists Help
• What happens to my Canvas content when I leave Tufts?
• How do I record my screen with Kaltura Capture?
• How do I make a screen recording using QuickTime on a Mac?
• How do I edit or trim a QuickTime video on a Mac?
• What is TidyUP?
• How do I activate TidyUP?
• How do I mange my Canvas site content using TidyUP?
• Overview of Tufts Box Integration with Canvas
• Instructor: How do I link to a Tufts.Box.Com document in a Canvas text box?
• Instructor: How do I link to a Tufts.Box.Com document in a Canvas Module?
• Instructor: How do I add a link to Tufts.Box.Com to the course site navigation panel?
• Student: How do I submit a document from my Tufts.Box.Com to a Canvas Assignment?
• Student: How do I link to a document from my Tufts.Box.Com in a Canvas text box?
• Turnitin Plagiarism Detection Service
• How do I use the Turnitin plagiarism service to check the originality of student submitted papers?
• Student: How do I submit a paper to a Canvas Assignment that uses Turnitin?
• How do I view a TurnItIn Originality Report?
• How to add VoiceThread to your Canvas course
• Using VoiceThread in Your Course on Canvas
• Instructor - How do I create a webcam video in a Canvas text box?
• How do I add a webcam comment to a student's grade in the Canvas SpeedGrader?
• Student - How do I create a webcam video in a Canvas Discussion text box?
• How do I embed a YouTube video in a Canvas Page and link it in a Module?

Canvas @ Yale

• Canvas Assignment Tool: Overview

Updated on Mar 22, 2022

The Canvas Assignments tool is one of several native Canvas tools that allows instructors to collect student work for grading. Through the Canvas Assignment tool, students can submit their completed work and instructors can easily collect and score the work either offline (by downloading all submissions with a single button click) or online through the Canvas SpeedGrader function. Canvas Assignments can also be used to create columns in the gradebook for grading student work that is not submitted online.

Several of the External Applications integrated into Canvas work in coordination with the Canvas Assignments tool. For these tools, you will still create the Canvas Assignment as normal, but you will need to follow the detailed instructions for the specific external application to properly link it to the Canvas Assignment. Visit our Instructional Tools support page and click on the appropriate tool for details.  

Table of Contents

This article will address the following information:

Why use Canvas Assignments?

Use cases for assignments, how do i use canvas assignments in my course, what will my students see, additional resources, for students.

Canvas Assignments are a great centralized location to find and submit their coursework.  It can provide students with detailed instructions for each assignment, due dates, template files for students to use when applicable, and rubrics to help students understand what is expected to achieve full credit for their work. Canvas' online grading via the SpeedGrader tool is a core feature of the Canvas Assignment tool, which allows students to quickly receive and reply to instructor comments on their work. Canvas Assignments also work hand-in-hand with the Canvas Grades area, so students can quickly see how well they did on each assignment and how they are doing overall in the course in one place.

For Instructors

Canvas Assignments streamlines the way that student work is collected. Instead of receiving digitally completed homework in the form of individual emails from each student for each assignment, instructors can create a Canvas Assignment to collect the work of all students. With Canvas' online grading tools, instructors can use rubrics for consistent grading and can use the Canvas SpeedGrader tool to provide detailed annotations on student-submitted files or simply use the one button download all submissions button to export all student files at once to their local computer. The Canvas Assignments tool also allows instructors the flexibility to assign activities to specific due dates for individual students or even create activities that are only available to certain students.

Canvas Assignments can be used in many ways—below are just a few examples of how assignments can be used in your course:

• Homework Assignments
• Research Papers
• Written Exams
• Handwritten Student Work (check out our help article for students on  how to create a PDF of handwritten work )
• Overall grade for course (that differs from the Canvas-calculated Totals column)
• Grade for an oral exam or other activity that does not require students to hand in work
• Class participation grade
• Peer Review Assignments – students can be assigned to read and comment on one or more of their classmates' submissions
• Group Assignments – require one submission for a group of students

Instructor and TA level users can always access the tool to create and organize activities, but the tool can be hidden from students if desired. To learn more about how to use Canvas Assignments to facilitate your online course work, please reference:

• Creating an Assignment
• Grading Assignments Using the SpeedGrader
• Due Dates versus Display Dates
• How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I view student peer review comments as an instructor?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
• Turnitin Assignment Settings Options
• Viewing a Turnitin Report (Instructor)

The actual view your students see will depend on the settings you set on your assignments. Below you can see what a student would see for an online, file upload submission type assignment.  

On each assignment, instructors can set an " Available From " date, which is the date when the assignment will open for students to start submitting their work. Even though an assignment may not yet be open, students will be able to see that there is an assignment and will be able to click on it.  

When a student views an assignment that has not opened for submissions yet, they will see a message showing that the assignment is locked and the date when the assignment will open, which is the " Available From " date.

When going to submit a file, the students will see the assignment instructions, points, due / available from / until dates, and the rubric (if one exists). The students will submit by clicking the " Submit Assignment " button and following the process to upload and submit their file(s).

Creating Assignments

• Duplicating an Assignment
• How do I exclude an assignment from the course's final grades?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I add a rubric to an assignment?
• Rubrics (Vendor Guides)

Assignment Groups (For organizing assessments and weighting grades)

• How do I add an assignment group in a course?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment?
• Creating Weighted Assignments Groups

Grade Posting Policies

• How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the Gradebook?
• How do I select a grade posting policy for an assignment in the Gradebook?
• Using the Grade Posting Policy

Student Resources

• How to create a PDF of hand written assignments
• How do I submit an online assignment?
• How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I submit a text entry assignment?
• How do I enter a URL as an assignment submission?
• How do I submit a media file as an assignment submission?

For more help, please contact  [email protected] .

Discover Instructional Tools

• Assessment Finder Tool
• Canvas @ Yale External Applications: Overview
• Feedback & Accessibility Barriers Tool: Overview
• Panorama: Overview
• FeedbackFruits: Overview
• Canvas Quizzes: Overview
• Gradescope: Overview
• Respondus LockDown Browser: Overview
• Turnitin: Overview
• LabArchives: Overview
• WordPress: Overview
• Canvas Collaborations: Overview
• Canvas Groups: Overview
• Canvas Announcements: Overview
• Canvas Inbox: Overview
• Canvas Modules: Overview
• Canvas Pages: Overview
• Canvas Syllabus: Overview
• Photo Roster: Overview
• Canvas Discussions: Overview
• VoiceThread: Overview
• Ed Discussion: Overview
• Perusall: Overview
• Mid-Semester Feedback: Overview
• Post'Em: Overview
• Qualtrics LTI: Overview
• Poll Everywhere: Overview
• Media Library (Panopto): Overview
• LinkedIn Learning: Overview
• Zoom: Overview

Other Resources

• Accessibility
• Inclusivity
• Canvas @ Yale Settings
• Enrollment & Permissions
• Technical Support Guides
• Updates & Known Issues
• Canvas @ Yale Admin / Registrar
• Instructor Getting Started Guides
• Course Management
• Assessments, Feedback and Grades
• Canvas @ Yale External Applications
• Instructor FAQ
• Student Getting Started Guides
• Student Assessment Guides
• Student FAQ

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