Canvas includes default notifications you can receive at your ORCA email address for each of your courses. However, you can change the default settings for one or all of your courses by selecting your own notification settings. In this article, we will walk through the different types of notifications and the recommended notification settings for students.
To change your notification settings, click on Account in the left side navigation, then select Notifications. You can also click here: https://orca.instructure.com/profile/communication
Notification Types
Notifications are sent as one of four delivery types: Notify immediately, Daily Summary, Weekly Summary, or Notifications Off. If you change a setting, the change is made immediately to your account.
| Icon | Description |
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Notify immediately: Receive notifications right away. Immediate notifications may be delayed by up to one hour in case an instructor makes additional changes, which prevents you from being spammed by multiple notifications in a short amount of time. |
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Daily summary: Receive all notifications in a daily email. Daily notifications will be delivered around 6pm. |
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Weekly summary: Receive all notifications in a weekly email. Weekly notifications will be delivered Saturday between 3am and 5am. |
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| Notifications off: Do not receive notifications for that item. |
You can control notifications at the account level OR at the course level using the drop-down at the top of the page. Canvas will also display an information banner describing what settings you are changing:
Note: Each set notification setting automatically applies 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. For this reason, it is recommended that you only modify your notifications at the account level.
Recommended notification preferences
Below is a list of notification preferences we recommend. Please note that these are only suggestions: you are encouraged to set your notifications to better serve your own Canvas experience.
| Notification type | What triggers a notification | Recommended setting |
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| Course Activities | ||
| Announcements | A new announcement is posted in one of your courses |
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| Grading | Assignment/submission grade entered/changed, grade weight changed |
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| Invitation | Invitations for web conferences, groups, collaborations, and peer review & reminders |
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| Submission Comment | An instructor comments on your assignment submission |
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| Discussions | ||
| New Reply | New reply on a topic you're subscribed to |
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| New Mention | New mention in a discussion |
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| Conversations | ||
| Added To Conversation | You are added to a conversation |
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| Conversation Message | New Inbox messages |
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| Alerts | ||
| Global Announcements | Institution-wide announcements (also displayed on Dashboard pages) |
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