How to submit an online assignment in Canvas

How to submit an online assignment in Canvas

Open Assignments


In Course Navigation, click the Assignments link.

Note: You can also access your Assignments through your user or course dashboard, the Syllabus, Gradebook, Calendar, or Modules


Open Assignment

Click on the assignment you would like to open.




Choose a Submission Type

Scroll to the bottom of the assignment page and choose a submission type, either Text or Upload. 











Submission Type: Text

Let's first look at the Text method of submission. With this method, you do not need to upload a document. You complete the assignment entering text directly in the Canvas assignment page.

Select Text

The Rich Text Editor appears and you can begin entering the text of your assignment in the box. If you are worried about submission errors, type your assignment in a separate text editor you are comfortable using, and then copy and paste the text into the assignment submission box.





When you are finished, click the purple Submit Assignment button.

How will you know if your assignment submission has gone through? Look at the green progress circle at the top of the assignment page.

It will say Submitted along with the date and time of submission.




Submission Type: Upload


Now let's look at how to upload a document as an assignment submission. Scroll to the bottom of the assignment page and select Upload




From here you have two options for bringing in your document:
  1. Use the "drag and drop" option to click on the doc in your files pane and drag it to the area inside of the dotted line
  2. Or, click Choose a file to upload. A file pane will open and you can navigate to the file location on your computer. Click on the file to highlight it, then click Open

A progress bar will indicate that your file is being imported. A green check mark means that the import is complete and your file is ready to submit. If you make a mistake and choose the wrong file, no problem! Click on the trash can icon to remove that from the import window, then repeat the steps to import a new file choice.



When you have imported the correct file and you are ready to submit, click the purple Submit Assignment  button .

How will you know if your assignment submission has gone through? Look at the green progress circle at the top of the assignment page.

It will say  Submitted along  with the date and time of submission.



Please note that after you submit your assignment, the purple Submit button will now read: Try Again. 

This does not mean that your 1st submission was unsuccessful. It means that if you would like to use another attempt to upload a corrected or revised submission, you can by simply clicking Try Again and repeating the process for Text or Upload.


Do not attempt to submit an assignment via the Feedback box. Comments here are not readily seen by your instructor. If you are having issues with assignment submission, reach out to eDGH IT @ edgh@uw.edu 









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