Using the Canvas Inbox
Learning Intentions
Participants who complete this module will gain an understanding of how to use Canvas to connect with students and parents.
Success Criteria
Participants will know they are successful when they can:
- send message to students and/or their entire class through Canvas Inbox.
Accessing the Canvas Inbox
Task: Compose and send a message to your students using the Canvas Inbox.
The Inbox is split into two panels and displays messages chronologically. You can view and reply to conversations and sort them by course or inbox type. The Inbox itself does not have any file size limits; however, attachments added to a conversation are included in the sender's personal files.
Notes:
- If you right-click or option-click on the Inbox link, you can open your Inbox in a new browser tab to keep it handy while you are doing other tasks in Canvas.
- Users display in the Inbox once they have an active enrollment in the course, and users cannot join a course unless it is published.
- Once a course has concluded and its term date has passed, you can no longer message students in that course.
Open the Inbox
In Global Navigation, click the Inbox link.
If the Inbox link includes a numbered indicator, the indicator shows how many unread messages Links to an external site. you have in your Inbox. Once you read the new messages, the indicator will disappear.
Additional Resources
- How do I find my unread messages in the Inbox as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I filter conversations as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I star a conversation as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I send a message to a user in a course in the Inbox as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I send a message to a user in a group in the Inbox as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I send a message to all course users in the Inbox as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I attach a file to a message as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I attach a media comment to a message as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I reply to a message in the Inbox as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I privately respond to one individual in a group message as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I reply to submission comments in the Inbox as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I forward a message from a conversation as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I add new people to an existing conversation as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I delete a conversation as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I delete a message from a conversation as an instructor? Links to an external site.
- How do I archive a conversation as an instructor? Links to an external site.
Inbox Toolbar
View Toolbar
The toolbar includes global message options. To load conversations, filter your messages Links to an external site.by course or group [1] and type [2]. Filtering by type lets you filter messages by Inbox, Unread, Starred, Sent, Archived, and Submission Comments. You can compose a message Links to an external site. at any time using the compose icon [3].
You can also search for conversations by user in the Search by user field [4].
Once you have selected a conversation, you can use the other options in the toolbar to:
- Reply Links to an external site. to a conversation
- Reply-all to a conversation
- Archive Links to an external site. a conversation
- Delete Links to an external site. a conversation
- Forward Links to an external site., mark a conversation as read or unread, and star Links to an external site. conversations
Inbox Views
View Inbox Panels
Conversations for your selected course and Inbox filter appear in the left Inbox panel.
View Conversations
The Inbox is organized chronologically from newest to oldest with the newest conversations appearing on top [1] and the older conversations at the bottom.
You can manually mark a conversation as read or unread by hovering over the conversation and clicking the circle to the left of the conversation [2]. To star a conversation, hover over the conversation and click the star to the right of the conversation [3].
View Conversation Thread
When you select a conversation [1], all messages in the conversations thread appear in the right Inbox panel [2].
Managing Your Canvas Inbox
Within each conversation, you can reply, reply-all, forward, or delete the entire conversation thread [1]. You can also hover over an individual message and use the same commands within the individual message [2].
Select Multiple Conversations
To select multiple messages to archive, delete, mark as read, mark as unread, or star, click the check box for each message [1]. You can also press the command key (Mac) or the control key (Windows) while clicking each message you want to select. In the Inbox toolbar [2], click the desired option.
To select all messages, click the command + A keys (Mac) or the control + A keys (Windows).
To select a range of messages, click the first message you want to select, hold down the Shift key, and then click the last message you want to select. All messages between the first and the last messages will be selected.
Note: You can also click the message check box or use the same keyboard command to deselect a message.
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