Description
If you encounter issues accessing or using Canvas or one of the third-party integrations that are connected to Canvas, this article is here to help you troubleshoot those issues or determine if they may be related to a Known Issue.
Environment
Canvas in your web browser or the Canvas Mobile App
Solution
Definitions
- Issue: When something that should be working isn't working or isn't working as anticipated
- Troubleshooting: Taking steps to eliminate the common causes of most issues
- Known Issue: Sometimes an application will have a defect or bug that cannot be immediately repaired. When a vendor acknowledges such an issue it becomes a Known Issue. Vendors usually have a webpage that tracks these known issues and, when possible, provides a workaround for the issue. They will sometimes also include an expected date of repair for the issue.
- Workaround: A method of helping you to work around the issue and achieve your desired results differently. A temporary fix for the issue while a more permanent fix is being developed.
- Third-party integration: Third-party integrations are direct connections between vendor tools and our Learning Management System (Canvas). Some examples include publisher content, plagiarism detection tools, and multimedia tools such as Panopto or VoiceThread.
General Troubleshooting Steps
- Understand technical requirements: To access classes and complete coursework using the core features of Canvas, your system must meet minimum requirements.
- Use a current web browser: For best performance, Canvas should be used on the current or most recent releases of Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari. A quick visit to the Canvas Browser and Computer Requirements page can help you determine if you are using an appropriate browser.
- If you encounter an issue while using one of these browsers, switch to another and attempt the problematic task again. In most cases, you'll find you are able to proceed without further issue.
- Clear your browser's cache, cookies, and history: Clearing your web browser's cache is a simple and effective fix for problems of all sorts. For the best chance of success, include cached images and files, cookies, and browsing history, and select the "All Time" or "Everything" time range.
- Close all tabs of your browser and quit the browser: If you are running many tabs, especially if you are logged in to Canvas from separate tabs, this can be difficult for a browser to handle. Please note that simply exiting the browser completely is not sufficient, as when you reopen the browser, even after a restart, most browsers intentionally save your tabs to reopen them. Close all tabs and exit the browser for this to be a useful troubleshooting step.
- Check your Internet speed: You need a download speed of at least 1.5 Mbps. If you are using a satellite internet provider, you may experience timeouts, IP address issues, session problems, or course mail issues caused by latency. You can check your device’s download speed on speedtest.net.
- Enable cookies from third parties: Depending on which browser you are using, find the option for “Cookies” under Tools/Options or Preferences. This will be especially important for third-party content.
- Additional troubleshooting steps can be found in the Canvas Troubleshooting Guide.
Canvas Known Issues
Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, maintains a list of all known issues within all their products. Their Known Issues Page can be filtered by product and includes a key to help you determine where in the repair cycle the particular issue is.
- When creating your Folio account for Canvas, you must use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge as your browser. Otherwise, you will receive an error that LTI isn't working, and you cannot create your account.
Third-Party Integration Troubleshooting
- Enable pop-ups: Many third-party integrations require pop-ups to properly operate.
- Enable third-party and cross-content cookies: All third-party integrations in Canvas require third-party and cross-content cookies to be able to properly function.
- Enable JavaScript: Many third-party integrations require JavaScript to properly function.
- Try a different browser: Browsers often update their security settings when they release a new version of the browser. This will sometimes result in a version of a browser not being able to properly process third-party or cross-content cookies, which results in integrations not being able to properly launch. If this happens to you, try a different browser.
- Pro-tip: Safari seems to be the browser that is most often affected by this issue.
- Kritik: You must access Kritik from the link within your Canvas course. You will receive an error message if you try to access your course materials by going directly to Kritik.
- For VoiceThread help, see the VoiceThread Troubleshooting weboage.
Third-Party Integration Known Issues
- Turnitin Known Issues
- Panopto Known Issues
- Assignments from third-party integrations marked as late when they were submitted on time.
- You may notice that the Canvas Grade book lists student submissions for third-party integration assignments (such as VoiceThread) late when submitted on time. This known issue occurs when the instructor grades the third-party assignment after the due date.
- The workaround for this is to navigate to the cell in the grade book that contains the assignment grade.
- Select the arrow within the cell to open the grading side panel.
- Under Status, switch the radio button from Late to None.
- Click the X to close the grading side panel.
- The assignment will no longer be marked as late.
Get Help from Canvas
- Live chat with Canvas support (Faculty)
- Get 24-hours/7-days a week Canvas support
- Dial the Canvas Support Hotline number located under "Get Help" in the Canvas Global Navigation Menu
- Contact OIT at 740-593-1222 for questions related to logging in, test courses/manually created courses, or third-party tools (Panopto, VoiceThread, Inclusive Access, etc.)
Get Help From OIT
Additional Resources