Latest revision: 2022-01-24

The first thing you see when you log in to Canvas is the dashboard. Here you will find your displayed courses and here you will get control quickly over what needs to be done in each course. It is however wise to keep the dashboard updated so that you clearly can see which courses are up to date.

This is how you orient yourself

Canvas main menu
Furthest to the left is Canvas’ main menu. It stays put even when you are inside a course. In the main menu you will find:
- Account: Here are your settings, i.a. your email, profile picture, preferred language, time zone and your preferred notifications.
- Dashboard: The first page that is shown when you log in to Canvas.
- Courses: Here you will find all courses you have access to and here you can set which courses to be displayed.
- Groups: This is only shown if you are a student in a course and in groups in that course.
- Calendar: Here you will find a calendar for all your courses. You can “light up” and “switch off” different calendars.
- Inbox: Here you will find all the messages that are personally sent to you. You can use this tool if you want to if you would like to send messages to a colleague, student or group.
- Commons: Canvas Commons is a part of Canvas where teachers can share material.
- Studio: Create and collaborate on video and audio media. (Please note: your institution may use another video tool than Studio).
- Help: Here you will find links to help resources. Exactly what type of material that should be here will be set up by your university's administrator.
Course cards for your displayed courses
In the middle of the page, you will see the course cards for your displayed courses. Click on the card to enter the course. At the bottom of every course card, there are small symbols that will light up when something new has happened.
To do and coming up
On the right, you will see assignments and quizzes that need to be graded in those courses where you are a teacher. If the task is not for you to grade, you can close the notification by clicking on the cross. Directly under, you will find your upcoming tasks.
Minimize the main menu
By clicking on the arrow at the bottom left, you will make the main menu smaller if you need more space on the screen.

Get a clearer digital work environment

The dashboard in Canvas is personal and there is a lot you can do to customize it. You will in that way get a clearer environment and can thus work more effectively. Observe that the changes you do here only effects what only you see. You can therefore not ask a colleague to “click on the orange course” – it might have a completely different colour in the colleague’s view.

Different menus

Choose which courses you would like to see on the dashboard
Click on Courses and choose All courses so that a list of all the courses you have access to appear. By clicking on the star, mark which courses you would like to be displayed. The chosen ones will be shown on your dashboard and they will also appear as a fast option the next time you click on courses.
Choose colour and move courses
Click on the three dots in a course card to choose a colour for the course. This affects its layout both on the dashboard and in the calendar. You can change in which order the course cards are shown in the tab Move. It is also possible to change the order by clicking and dragging. Observe that the pictures on the course cards are not personal settings. The picture for the course is uploaded by a course coordinator or teacher from inside the course. When a picture is chosen it is visible to everyone.
Choose view and remove colour overlay
Click on the three dots and you will find some more views to choose between. It is here you can choose to remove colour overlay – i.a. removing the colour of the course pictures that often exists as an automatic setting.