Canvas Inbox

The Canvas Inbox can be used as a type of email system. Inbox is a two-way messaging tool that can be used instead of email to communicate with a course, a group, or an individual user inside of Canvas. You can communicate with other people in your course at any time. Unlike announcements, the inbox tool allows you to talk back and forth with the people you are communicating with. Although you have one inbox for all your courses, you can filter by course and by section.

On this Page

This page will address the following information:

Why use the Canvas Inbox?

  • Send important communication to your students either in a group or individual message
  • Allows students to communicate with you privately through Canvas
  • Users receive an email notification that a message has been received

Use Cases for Canvas Inbox

A non-exhaustive list outlining what Instructors can use the Canvas Inbox tool to facilitate include:

  • Provide ongoing feedback to a group of students about their project
  • Converse privately with a student about their performance / other aspects of their work
  • Discuss course design and facilitation strategies with co-teachers / Teaching Fellows
  • Coordinate meeting with a student for office hours or other appointments

How do I get started?

To learn more about how to use Canvas Inbox to facilitate your online course work, please reference:

What will my students see?

When students receive a message from someone in their Canvas Inbox, they will receive an email with the message and a link to see the conversation “in context” back on Canvas.

  1. On Canvas, the “Inbox” button in their Global Navigation bar will have a number badge denoting how many unread Inbox messages the student has received.
  2. Students will then see their Inbox messages along the left-hand side and the message content to the right when selected.
Canvas inbox with the 'Inbox' highlighted, showing 9 unread messages. A message titled 'Welcome' for the course 'Sample 101 Sandbox' is selected, displaying its content on the right.

Additional Resources

Need Help?

For more help with Canvas Inbox, please reach out!

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