Create Groups in Canvas

Last updated on June 30, 2026

Canvas makes it easy to create small and large groups of students for projects, assignments, discussions, and more! Groups can also increase student-to-student interactivity and engagement in your online course.

When creating group assignments in Canvas, you will need to begin by creating a Group Set. Group Sets are how you will organize and assign your groups. You can use a Group Set for a single assignment or reuse the same groups for multiple assignments.

Once your Group Set is created, view our tutorials, Create a Group Assignment, or Set Up Small Group Discussions for guidance on how to use the Group Set.

Directions

Create Group Set

1. Log in to your Canvas Account.
2. Select the Course you’d like to work in.
3. Click People in the navigation menu on the left side of the page.
4. Click the + Group Set button in the top right of the screen.
5. Enter a Name for your Group Set.
   • Enter a name that is easily identifiable and related to the assignment/assignments it will be used for (eg., Final Project Groups).

Allow Students to Choose their Own Groups

1. Select the checkbox next to Allow self sign-up if you want students to choose their own groups.
2. Enter the number of groups in the Create groups now field.
3. Enter the number of students allowed in each group in the Limit group members to field or leave at 0 if there is no limit.
4. Select the checkbox next to Automatically assign a student group leader if desired.
   1. Select whether you wish to Set first student to join as group leader or Set a random student as group leader.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the pop-up.

Automatically Assign Students to a Group

1. Do not check Allow self sign-up.
2. Select your desired Group Structure from the drop-down menu.
   • Create groups later: Select this option if you wish to manually assign students to groups. See below for more details.
   • Split students by number of groups: This option allows you to choose the total number of groups, and Canvas will split students as evenly as possible among the number of groups chosen. 
   • Split number of students per group: This option allows you to specify how many students are in each group, and Canvas will automatically create as many groups as needed. 
3. Select the box next to Automatically assign a student group leader if desired.
   • Select whether you wish to Set first student to join as group leader or Set a random student as group leader.
4. Click Save.

Manually Assign Students to Groups

1. Do not check Allow self sign-up.
2. Select Create groups later from the Group Structure menu.
3. Click Save.
4. Click + Group at the top right of the screen.
5. Enter a Group Name for the Group (e.g., Group A).
6. Enter the Number of students allowed in the group in the Group Membership Limit field.
   1. Leave the Number field blank if you would like to have no limit to the number of students in each group.
   2. Note: If you enter a number for the Group membership limit, the number must be greater than 1. 
7. Click Save.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each group in the group set.
9. Drag and drop a Student Name from the list of Unassigned Students on the left side of the screen into their appropriate groups.
   1. Alternatively, click the + Icon to the right of a Student Name, and select the appropriate group.
10. Repeat step 9 until every student is assigned a group.
11. Click the arrow to the left of a Group Name to view the students in each group.

Edit Groups

1. Click People from the left-hand course navigation menu.
2. Select the Group Set you wish to edit from the tabs at the top of the page.
3. Click the three dots to the right of a group, and select edit to change the Group Name of Membership Limit.
4. Click the Arrows to the left of a Group Name to view the students in the group.
5. Click the three dots to the right of a Student Name to move the student to a new group.
   • Select Move To.
   • Select the Group you wish to move them to from the Groups drop-down menu.
   • Click Move.

Have questions?

Need additional support on this or other teaching and learning topics? Please visit us for drop-in support (10am-3pm, M-F) or try one of our self-help tutorials. 

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