Last updated on September 9, 2026
The Dashboard functions as a central hub of Canvas, allowing you to view and make changes to all of your courses. This section allows you to publish/unpublish courses and provides quick links to each of your courses’ announcements, assignments, discussions, and files. For instructors teaching multiple courses, this section will likely be the easiest way to view all courses at once and switch between courses and sections.
Directions
[Length 3:19, CC Available]
Access the Dashboard
- Go to MSU Denver’s Faculty and Staff Hub.
- Click Quick Links on the top right of the page.
- Click Canvas from the menu options that appear.
- Log in to your Canvas Account.
- Click Dashboard on the global navigation menu on the far left.
- A list of your favorited Canvas courses will appear. Published courses will be at the top, and unpublished courses at the bottom.
- Click on a Course Card to open the course.
- Click the More Options Menu (three vertical dots) in the upper right corner to change the Dashboard view.
- Card View: View each of your courses as an interactive card.
- List View: View upcoming tasks, assignments, and due dates across all your courses.
- Recent Activity: View recent notifications across all courses, including announcements, messages, and course updates.
- Color Overlay: Tints the course card with an applied color, even if the course has a custom image.
- Click any of the four icons at the bottom of each card to access that section directly within the course.
- Note: Icons appear based on the content of the course. Not every course will have all four icons.
- Bullhorn: Access announcements for that course.
- Pencil and Paper: Access assignments for that course.
- Chat Boxes: Access discussions for that course.
- Folder: Access files for that course.
Add or Remove a Course from your Dashboard
- Click Courses in the left-hand global navigation menu.
- Click All Courses at the top of the panel.
- Locate the Course that you’d like to add or remove from your dashboard.
- Click the Star icon to the left of the course to favorite or unfavorite the course.
- Yellow Star: A Yellow star means the course is favorited and will be on your Canvas Dashboard.
- Start Outline: A Start outline means the course will not be on your dashboard.
Manage Course Cards
- Click on the More Options (3-Dots) icon in the top left-hand corner of any card.
- Enter a Nickname to change the name that will appear on the course card for your personal dashboard.
- Note: This will not change the name of the course for anyone else.
- Click on any of the Colored Squares to change the color of the card.
- Note: This will only change the color for the card on your dashboard.
- Click on the Move tab to find options to move a card up or down without dragging.
- Alternatively, click and drag a Course Card to move it to a new location.
- You can also unfavorite a course from this menu.
Add or Change Course Image
Adding a course image to a course will change the image for the course card on the dashboard for both you and your students, making it easier to identify the course.
- Click the Course on the dashboard that you want to add an image to.
- Click Settings at the bottom of the left-hand course navigation menu.
- Click Choose Image to add a course image.
- Note: If your course already has an image that you would like to change, click the three dots at the top right of the image, and select Choose Image.
- Click Upload Image.
- Locate and select the image on your computer that you would like to upload.
- Note: Canvas may change the format of your image if the size does not have the correct dimensions. For best results, use an image that is 262 pixels wide by 146 pixels high, or a 16:9 ratio.
- Click Open.
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.
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