Last updated on September 16, 2026
A Sandbox is a private, unpublished Canvas course. It is called a “Sandbox” because it is a place for instructors to “play around” by building new things. Instructors can create content and test out settings in a Sandbox course without worrying about accidentally deleting or altering content in their live course.
What Can I Do with a Sandbox?
A Sandbox has all of the capabilities of a regular course shell; it just doesn’t have any students enrolled in it. Sandboxes can be used for creating course content such as modules, pages, assignments, discussions, and quizzes. A Sandbox is a great place to experiment with different settings, such as notification settings and module prerequisites and requirements, as well as advanced features, such as third-party app integrations. Also, if you are importing content from another platform (such as Blackboard) into Canvas, we highly recommend that you import the content into a Sandbox to clean it up before moving it into your published course.
All of the self-help tutorials on our Ready site apply to Sandboxes as well. The pages below will be especially helpful when building course content:
- Modules Tutorials
- Assignments Tutorials
- Discussions Tutorials
- Quizzes/Tests Tutorials
- Videos Tutorials
Can I Move Content from My Sandbox to My Published Course?
Yes! Many instructors choose to build their course in a Sandbox, then copy the content into their published course shell when it is ready. One benefit of this method is that the Sandbox can then serve as a backup course with copies of all content. Please refer to the tutorial, Copy a Canvas Course for more information.
How Can I Get a Sandbox?
All MSU Denver instructors are automatically enrolled in five Sandbox courses. If you would like an additional sandbox course, you can submit a ticket to ITS.
If your Sandboxes are not listed on your Canvas Dashboard:
- Click Courses in the global navigation menu on the left side of the screen.
- Select All Courses.
- Locate your Sandbox Courses. They are called “Sandbox Course [#] – [Your Name].”
- If you would like to add Sandbox courses to your dashboard, please refer to the Edit Your Course Dashboard tutorial.
How Can I Reset a Sandbox?
If you’d like to completely clear out a Sandbox and start over with a blank slate, you can request a Canvas Course Reset through ITS. This will erase all existing content in the Sandbox so you can rebuild it from scratch.
To request this, submit a Canvas Course Reset ticket to ITS, noting which Sandbox course you’d like reset. Please allow 1-2 business days for the reset to process. Since this permanently erases all content in the course, only request a reset if you’re sure you want to start over. If you just want to remove a few items rather than everything, deleting that content directly in the Sandbox is a faster option.
Have questions?
Need additional support on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit us for drop-in support or try one of our self-help tutorials.
Ready to take your teaching to the next level? Opt into our Connections with CTLD newsletter!