How to open your Canvas course early - Faculty Guide

Faculty guide.

Canvas courses become accessible to students on the official first day of the term unless other wise opened early.

Note: Students will not receive notifications or messages from the course until the students have access to the course.

Manually opening a Canvas course early to your students can be done with the steps below.

1. Log into Canvas
2. Go to the course you wish to open early
3. Publish your course
4. Go to the "Settings" of the course
   
   
   
5. Under the "Course details" tab scroll down to the "Starts" field.
6. Change the start date to desired date and time.
7. Check the option for "Students can only participate in the course between these dates"
   
   
   
8. Leave the "Ends" date blank.  The course will automatically close at the end of the term.
9. Scroll down and "Update Course Details"

Your course will now be accessible to students before the official start date of the term.