View Your Course in Student View

Last updated on November 13, 2025

By default, you will be using your Canvas courses from the “instructor view,” which shows some options not available to students, including hidden pages, grading/feedback options, and content editing options. When building a course, you may find it useful or necessary to try using your course as a student would, to help alleviate issues with navigation, access, and your learners’ cognitive load.

Directions

1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
2. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
3. Click Home in the course navigation menu to the left.
4. Click View as Student in the top right corner of the screen.
   • Note: This will put you in Student View, indicated by a pink border around the screen. You may then navigate and access various sections of the course as the student would. 
5. Click Reset Student on the bottom right to clear the Test Students data and access the course as a new student.
6. Click Leave Student View on the bottom right to return to instructor view.