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Canvas Spotlight

Communicate with Students – Send Messages to Students in Canvas

Last updated on September 16, 2026

Student success in your online course depends on prompt, reliable, and efficient communication with you, their instructor. Fortunately, Canvas gives you an array of messaging tools you can use to keep your students informed and engaged. Understanding these different systems, and the best use-case for each, will help you keep communication with your students clear and easy to manage. In this Canvas Spotlight, we’ll cover using the Inbox, Gradebook, and Announcements for sending different types of messages to your students.

Proactive communication is a great way to keep students on track in a course, and it can improve your own teaching experience by addressing problems before they grow in size or complexity. Using these tools, you can make sure that students who may need extra attention or help know how to improve and what resources are available. For instance, if you notice a student has missed the past couple assignments, you can reach out and offer support or offer accommodations if some exigent circumstances warrant it.

Please note that while students do receive email notifications for Announcements and messages sent in Canvas by default, they can disable these notifications. Sending a message on Canvas is not the same as sending an email.

Best Practices

  • Use the Canvas Inbox to message specific students, all students in a course, and read messages from students.
  • Use Canvas Gradebook’s “Message Students Who…” feature to send messages based on assignment completion or performance. You can use this function to message a student who’s falling behind on coursework or to offer advice on how to improve their grades.
  • Use Announcements on Canvas for general course news or for information that you would like students to be able to publicly respond to and discuss. Announcements are great tools for posting office hours or a link to a Teams meeting.

Let’s walk through it together

Note: This video is outdated. Please refer to the written directions below for updated steps.

[Length 8:53, CC Available]

Click to view in fullscreen

Use the Canvas Inbox to Message Students

  1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
  2. Click the Inbox icon in the left-hand Global Navigation menu (blue bar).
  3. Click Compose in  the top right corner of the screen.
  4. Click the drop-down menu next to Course to select the course with students that you’d like to message.
  5. Select the Course you want to message students in.
    • You can start to type the course name in the text field to narrow the options in the drop-down menu.
  6. Optionally, check the box next to Send an individual message to each recipient if you would like the recipients to not be aware which other students received the same message.
    • This can be useful to ensure privacy when discussing grades or other sensitive topics.
  7. Click the To field.
  8. Select Students from the drop-down menu. A list of students in the course will appear in the drop-down menu.
    • You may also choose to message student groups or other teachers in the course.
  9. Select the Student you wish to message or select All in Students to message every student in the course.
    • You can select more than one student to send the message to.
  10. Enter a Subject for the message.
  11. Enter the Text of your message.
    • Note: The Canvas inbox does not allow for text formatting options such as bolding, italics, headings, etc.
  12. Click the Attachment (paperclip) icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the window to select files from your computer to attach to the message.
  13. Click the Media (play) button in the bottom left-hand corner of the window to either record video/audio for the message or to select video/audio files from your computer to use.
  14. Click Send in the bottom right-hand corner of the window to send the message to the selected recipients.

Use the “Message Students Who…” Feature in the Canvas Gradebook

  1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
  2. Select the course you want to message students in.
  3. Click on Grades in the left-hand navigation menu of your Canvas course.
  4. Find the Assignment that you would like to message students in regards to.
    • This can be any graded work that shows up in the Gradebook, including Quizzes and Discussions.
  5. Hover your cursor over the Name of the Assignment.
  6. Click the More Options (3-dots) icon to the right of the assignment name.
  7. Select Message Students Who from the drop-down menu.
  8. Click the For student who… drop-down menu.
  9. Select a criteria to message specific groups of students. A list of the students who match the criteria you choose will be automatically generated.
    • Haven’t submitted yet could be used to remind students that they still need to submit a specific assignment.
    • Have submitted could be used to provide students with an update for when grades will be ready.
    • Haven’t been graded could be used to let students know that their submissions have been received but you’re still working on grading.
    • Scored less than could be used to provide reassurance or extra resources to students who may have struggled with a particular assignment.
    • Scored more than could be used to congratulate students who did particularly well on an assignment.
    • Reassigned could be to let students know they need to resubmit the assignment.
  10. Enter a Score Value if you selected the “Scored less than” or Scored more than” options or select a submission option if you selected “Have submitted.”
  11. Click on Show all recipients to see the names of the students who will receive the email.
  12. Click the X next to the name of any student who you would like to exclude from this message.
  13. Revise the Subject if desired. This will auto-fill with the criteria and assignment name.
  14. Enter the Message for the students.
    • Note: The Canvas inbox does not allow for text formatting options such as bolding, italics, headings, etc.
  15. Click Send in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.

Create an Announcement

  1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
  2. Select the course you want to create an announcement in.
  3. Click Announcements in the left-hand navigation menu.
  4. Click + Announcement in the top right-hand corner of the page.
  5. Enter a Title for the Announcement.
  6. Enter the Announcement Text in the rich content editor.
    1. View our spotlight, Use the Rich Content Editor to Modify Text, Insert Links, Attach Files, and Connect Apps, for guidance on formatting your announcement.
    2. View our tutorial, Insert Images with Alt Text in the Rich Content Editor, for guidance on adding images to your announcement.
  7. Click the checkbox next to any Options you would like to enable.
  8. Select an Available from Date and Time to post the announcement on a specific date.
    • Note: If an Available from Date is not selected, the announcement will post immediately after clicking Publish.
  9. Optionally, select an Until Date and Time to make the announcement disappear after a specific date.
  10. Click Save or Publish in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

Have Questions?

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