Set a Late or Missing Assignment Policy for Grades in Canvas

Last updated on July 1, 2026

Every instructor addresses late student submissions differently. You can use Canvas’ Gradebook to set your preferred late policy that applies to every student and every assignment in your course. You can also set Gradebook to assign a zero grade to assignments that are not submitted.

Directions

1. Go to MSU Denver’s Faculty and Staff Hub.
2. Click Quick Links on the top right of the page.
3. Click Canvas from the menu options that appear.
4. Log in to your Canvas Account.
5. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
6. Click on Grades from the Course Navigation Menu on the left. 
7. Click on Settings (gear icon) in the top right of the Gradebook window.
8. Check that the Late Policies tab at the top of the window is selected.
9. Click the checkbox next to Automatically apply grade percentage for missing submissions to set a score that is automatically applied for any assignments not submitted by the due date.
10. Enter a Percentage for how much you want missing work to be worth in a student’s grade.
    • The default value is zero percent.
11. Click the checkbox next to Automatically apply deduction to late submissions.
    • This will allow the Gradebook to automatically apply your late policies for you. When a student submits an Assignment, Quiz, or Discussion, you will grade it in SpeedGrader as normal and enter a score. Canvas will automatically deduct points based on how late the assignment was submitted.
12. Enter a Late Submission Deduction Percentage.
    • This is the percentage that will be deducted for each day/hour an assignment is late.
13. Select a Late Submission Deduction Interval.
    • You can select Day or Hour.
14. Enter a Lowest Possible Grade Percent.
    • This is the lowest grade a student can receive if they eventually submit the assessment.
15. Click Apply Settings at the bottom right of the settings panel.

Have questions?

Need additional support on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit us for drop-in support (10am-3pm, M-F) or try one of our self-help tutorials. 

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