A lot of students assume Canvas will warn them before something is due. Usually it doesn't, at least not in a way you'll notice. Here's what Canvas sends, what it doesn't, and how to set up reminders that actually show up on your phone in time.
What Canvas notifications do
In Canvas, go to Account, then Notifications. You can choose how you hear about things like:
- New announcements and messages.
- Due date changes and new assignments.
- Grades and feedback.
These are mostly about changes. They're useful, but they don't reliably ping you a few hours before work is due. Depending on your school's version of the Canvas Student app, you may be able to set a reminder on a single assignment, but you have to do it one by one.
How early should a reminder be?
It depends on the task, which is why one reminder rarely works for everything:
- Homework and quizzes: a few hours ahead is enough to finish or at least submit something.
- Papers and projects: you need a heads-up days ahead, not hours. Break them into steps with their own dates. See how to plan your week.
- Exams: a week out to start studying, plus the night before to pack and sleep.
A daily check-in fills the gaps. One notification at the same time each day that says "here's what's next" catches almost everything else.
Don't drown in notifications
Turning on every Canvas notification as a push alert usually backfires: you get so many that you start ignoring all of them. A good setup is quiet most of the time and loud right before something matters. Keep announcements and grades as emails or a daily summary, and save phone alerts for deadlines.
Troubleshooting phone alerts
- No alerts at all: check that notifications are allowed for the app or browser in your phone's settings.
- iPhone web apps: alerts only work after you add the site to your Home Screen and open it from there.
- Focus or Do Not Disturb: these can silence alerts. Allow the app in your Focus settings if you want deadlines to break through.
Three better ways to get reminded
1. Put Canvas into your phone's calendar
Subscribe to your Canvas Calendar Feed in Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, then add a default alert to that calendar. It works, but calendar apps can take hours to refresh the feed, so last-minute changes may be late. See our calendar guide.
2. Set manual alarms
Fine for one big exam, but nobody keeps this up for every homework.
3. Use an app that reads your Canvas feed and reminds you
lum9a reads your Canvas Calendar Feed and sends a phone alert when something is due in 3 hours. You can also turn on a daily check-in at a time you choose. Setup:
- Open lum9a and sign in with any email. Tap the link we send you.
- Paste your Canvas Calendar Feed link in Settings.
- Turn on Phone alerts. On iPhone, add lum9a to your Home Screen first, since iPhones only send web alerts to apps on the Home Screen.
Make reminders work for you
- Pick a daily check-in time you'll be free, like right after your last class.
- Don't snooze the 3-hour alert. If you can't finish, at least submit something.
- Look at tomorrow tonight. Most stress comes from surprises in the morning.