Extend a Due Date for an Individual Student

Last updated on May 26, 2026

As instructors, you want to provide your students with the best chance at succeeding in your courses. Chances are you have had a student ask for a deadline extension. Maybe the student needed accommodations in your course, or maybe life (or in some cases technology) just got in the way of the student’s time management.

Regardless of the reason, if you decide to excuse your student’s late work, Canvas provides options for extending assessment deadlines for just one student without changing the deadline for the rest of the class.

Extending assessment deadlines for individuals lets you grade and give feedback to your students without being penalized or losing access to an assignment, quiz, or discussion because they are past the deadline set in Canvas. It also lets you provide your students with additional opportunities to be successful in your course when they need some flexibility.

Best Practices

• Have a consistent deadline-extension policy in place that you communicate clearly to students to prevent inequities in class.
• Provide feedback to students even though their work is submitted late.
• Encourage your student to make use of campus resources such as the Writing Center or TutorMe (available 24/7 through Canvas) if they need help completing an assessment.

Let’s walk through it together

1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
2. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
3. Click Modules in the left-hand course navigation menu.
4. Click the Assignment you wish to extend the due date for.
   • You may follow the same steps for assignments, quizzes, and discussions.
5. Click Edit at the top right. 
   • For Discussions, click the three dots to the right of the discussion name, and select edit.
6. Scroll to the Assign Access window at the bottom of the screen.
7. Click + Assign To.
   • A new Assign To box will appear. You do not need to change anything in the original Assign To box.
8. Enter the Student Name you wish to extend the due date for and select their name from the options that appear.
9. Click on the Due Date fields to select a new date and time for the student.
10. Optionally, click on the Until fields to select a date and time the student will lose access to the assignment.
    • Note: If you set an Until date, it must be the same as or after the Due Date.
11. Click Save at the bottom right of the page.

Have questions?

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