Why can’t students reply to each other in my Discussions?

Last updated on March 23, 2026

Canvas Discussions allow students to “respond in thread” by default, meaning students can respond to the prompt or to someone else’s response to the prompt. This is an option that can be disabled in the Discussion setting by checking the box next to “Disallow threaded replies”.

Another setting that can block students from replying to each other in discussions, is making the discussion a Peer Review. Peer Reviews in Discussion assign students a peer for students to review and complete structured feedback that only the instructor and original poster can see. For discussions where you want students to freely reply to each other for everyone to see, you will need to ensure this setting is turned off.

Allow Threaded Replies

Note: Following the major Canvas update to Discussions in July 2024, we have received some comments that this box may be checked by default for some preexisting Discussions. This prevents students from responding to one another. If this is the case, you can edit the Discussion by clicking the three dots in the top-right hand corner, clicking Edit, and unchecking “Disallow threaded replies” box. The problem should not reoccur in the future.

1. Open the Discussion Topic that student’s can’t reply in.
2. Click the three dots at the top left of the discussion
3. Select Edit.
4. Uncheck Disallow threaded replies if it is checked.
5. Click Save at the bottom right.

Turn Peer Review Off

1. Open the Discussion Topic that student’s can’t reply in.
2. Click the three dots at the top left of the discussion
3. Select Edit.
4. Scroll down to Peer Reviews.
5. Select Off.