Overview
Canvas allows students and instructors to customize how they receive notifications about course activities, announcements, assignments, grades, discussions, and messages.
You can manage notification preferences for all your courses or customize settings for individual courses.
Access Your Notification Settings
- Sign in to Cedar Crest College Canvas.
- Select Account from the Global Navigation menu on the left.
- Select Notifications.
- The Notification Settings page will display your available notification types and delivery methods.
By default, the Settings for menu is set to Account, which applies your preferences to all courses unless you customize an individual course.
Understanding Notification Options
Canvas offers four email notification frequency options.
| Setting |
Description |
| Notify immediately |
Sends notifications as soon as possible, although some may be delayed |
| Daily summary |
Combines notifications into a daily email |
| Weekly summary |
Combines notifications into a weekly email |
| Notifications off |
Disables email notifications for that activity |
Note: Not all notification types support every delivery option. Changes to your notification preferences are saved automatically.
Change Notification Settings for All Courses
- Open Account > Notifications.
- Confirm that Settings for is set to Account.
- Locate the notification category you want to change.
- Select the notification icon under your email address.
- Choose your preferred notification frequency.
- Repeat for any additional notification types.
Your changes will apply to all courses that do not have separate course-specific settings.
Recommended Notification Settings
The following settings are recommended to help students stay informed about important course activities.
| Notification Type |
Recommended Setting |
| Announcements |
Notify immediately |
| Conversation Messages (Inbox) |
Notify immediately |
| Due Date Changes |
Notify immediately |
| Grading |
Daily summary |
| Submission Comments |
Notify immediately |
| Course Content Updates |
Daily summary |
| Discussion Replies |
Daily summary |
These are suggested preferences, not required College settings. Instructors may wish to customize notifications based on their teaching responsibilities.
Important: Turning off notifications does not remove course activities or announcements from Canvas. You will still need to sign in to review course information.
Customize Notifications for an Individual Course
You can override your account-level notification preferences for a specific course.
- Open Account > Notifications.
- Select the Settings for dropdown menu.
- Choose the course you want to customize.
- Review the available notification settings.
- Change the notification frequency for the desired activities.
Alternatively, open the course and select View Course Notifications from the course home page, if available.
Note: Course-specific settings override account-level settings. Once you customize a notification for a course, you must manage that preference within the course.
Disable Notifications for a Course
On the course's Notification Settings page, you can use the Enable Notifications toggle to disable notifications for that course.
We do not recommend disabling notifications for active courses because you may miss important announcements or assignment updates.
Manage Mobile Push Notifications
If you use the Canvas mobile application, you may also receive push notifications on your phone or tablet.
To manage mobile notifications:
- Open the Canvas mobile app.
- Open the app's Settings.
- Locate Push Notifications.
- Enable or disable notifications for the available activities.
You may also see a Push Notification column in the browser version of Canvas after enabling mobile notifications.
Push notifications support immediate delivery or off; daily and weekly summaries are not available for push notifications.
Note: Changes made to notifications in the mobile app may override corresponding settings configured in your browser.
Troubleshooting Missing Notifications
If you are not receiving expected Canvas notifications, check the following:
- Notification preferences: Open Account > Notifications and verify that the appropriate activities are enabled.
- Course-specific settings: Confirm that notifications have not been disabled or overridden for the affected course.
- Email address: Open Account > Settings and verify that your email contact method is correct and confirmed.
- Junk or spam folders: Check whether Canvas notifications were filtered by Outlook.
- Mobile device settings: Confirm that your phone allows notifications from the Canvas application.
Some Canvas notifications may be delayed or combined into summaries depending on your selected preferences.
Notification settings also do not control every activity displayed in your Canvas Dashboard or course activity stream.
Additional Resources
For more information, visit the official Canvas documentation:
Need Additional Assistance?
If you experience technical problems with Canvas notifications, submit an IT Support Request.
Include a description of the issue, the affected course, and any troubleshooting steps you have already completed.