Use Announcements for information everyone in the course needs. Students can read announcements in the course at any time, and Canvas notifies them when an announcement posts in a published, active course. For step-by-step instructions, see Canvas Announcements Overview and How do I add an announcement in a course?

Tips for Announcements

• Publish your course first. Students cannot see announcements in an unpublished course, and no notification is sent. Publishing the course later does not send notifications for announcements that were already posted.
• Time your first announcement. Announcements posted before the term starts do not trigger notifications, even once the term begins. To notify students on the first day, schedule your welcome announcement to become available on or after the term start date.
• Schedule ahead. Set an Available from date (shown as Delay posting in older versions of the editor). Students are notified when the announcement becomes available, as long as the course is published and active.
• Post to specific sections. If your course includes more than one section, such as a metacourse, use the Post to field to reach only the sections you choose.
• Let students know when to open Canvas. Embedded Kaltura videos and other embedded media do not play in notification emails. Add a short line, such as "Open this announcement in Canvas to watch the video."
• Expect attachments to require sign-in. Students must log in to Canvas to open a file attached to an announcement. The file is also saved to your course Files.
• Feature recent announcements. You can show recent announcements at the top of your course Home Page.
• Decide whether to allow replies. Replies are public to the class. You can allow or disallow announcement replies for your course.
• Review copied or migrated announcements. Announcements brought in through a course copy or migration may show a "U" in place of a profile picture and no post date. Edit, delete, or repost them before you publish your course.
• Keep announcements accessible. Use headings, descriptive link text, and alt text for images. See the Lane Accessibility Quick Guide.

The Inbox works like email inside Canvas. Select Inbox in the Global Navigation menu, select Compose, choose your course, and then choose recipients in the To field: an individual student, a group, a section, or everyone in the course. For details, see How do I use the Inbox? and How do I send a message to all course users in the Inbox?

Tips for the Inbox

• Publish your course first. Students do not appear as recipients in an unpublished course. Once the course is published, you can message students before the term starts, and they will be notified.
• Send end-of-term messages before the course concludes. Canvas does not allow Inbox messages to students in a concluded course. Lane courses conclude at 12:00 a.m. on the day after final grades are due; see Schedule Changes and Grading Important Dates.
• Protect student privacy. When messaging several students, select Send an individual message to each recipient. Each student receives a separate message, cannot see who else received it, and replies only to you.
• Message students based on their work. In the Gradebook, use Message Students Who on an assignment column to contact students who, for example, have not submitted or scored below a set value. Each student receives a separate message. See How do I send a message to students from the Gradebook?
• Reply from email or Canvas. Students and instructors can reply directly from a notification email, and the reply is added to the conversation in Canvas.
• Know where attachments go. Files you attach to an Inbox message are saved to your personal Files, not your course Files.
• Set expectations in your syllabus. By default, students can message you, classmates, and groups, but cannot message the whole class at once. Let students know how you prefer to be contacted and how quickly you typically respond.

Canvas sends a notification whenever you post an announcement or send an Inbox message. By default, students receive both by email right away, at the email address on their Canvas account. Each person can change how often they are notified, add other contact methods such as push notifications in the Canvas Student app, or turn notifications off.

• Encourage students to keep notifications on. If certain messages are essential, say so in your syllabus or a Getting Started module, and share How do I manage my Canvas notification settings?
• Get a copy of what you send. In your own notification settings (Account > Notifications), set Announcement Created By You and Conversations Created by Me to notify you right away.
• Adjust settings for one course. You can manage notifications for a single course without changing your settings for every course.
• Learn more. Instructure's Canvas Notifications resource lists each notification type and its default setting.

Use this reference to check whether students can see your message and whether Canvas will notify them, based on your course's publishing status and dates.

Posting an announcement or sending an Inbox message automatically triggers a Canvas notification. By default, students receive these notifications by email right away. Each student, and each instructor, controls their own notification settings, including: Whether they are notified at all, how often they are notified (right away, daily, or weekly), where notifications go (ie. email, mobile app, etc).

Your course's publishing status and dates also determine whether Canvas sends a notification in the first place. The flowcharts in the next two sections show how.

Messages

Start at the top and follow the path that matches your course.

Notifications

Start at the top and follow the path that matches your course.

Tip: To make sure students are notified on the first day of the term, schedule your welcome announcement with an Available from date on or after the term start date. To reach students before the term starts, publish your course and send an Inbox message instead.