Navigating Canvas

Canvas provides several key navigation areas that help you navigate both your all your course but also within individual courses.

The Canvas Dashboard gives you a quick overview of all your current courses, including recent activity, to‑do items and announcements. It’s your starting point for accessing any course you’re teaching.

Global Navigation is the main menu that remains visible no matter where you are in Canvas. From here, you can access important tools such as your Account settings, Inbox, Canvas Calendar, and the global ‘Courses’ area.

Course Navigation appears within each specific course and provides links to the tools and content unique to that module—such as Assignments, Discussions, Modules, Pages and People. This is where you’ll build your course structure and interact with students’ work.

The Canvas Dashboard is the main landing page you’ll see when logging into Canvas, giving you a clear overview of your courses and key activity at a glance. It displays course cards that provide quick access to each of the modules you’re teaching, along with visual indicators such as announcements, recent activity and publishing status. On the right‑hand side, the To‑Do list highlights upcoming marking tasks.

For more information on how to use the Dashboard, visit the How do I use the Dashboard as an instructor? guide.

The Global Navigation bar appears on the left side of every page in Canvas, giving you a access to different areas of Canvas no matter where you are. From here, you can quickly move between key features across all your courses. The menu includes links such as Account, Dashboard, Courses, Groups, Calendar, Inbox, History, and Help.

To learn more about what you can access using the Global Navigation bar, visit the How do I use the Global Navigation Menu? guide.

The Course Navigation Menu appears on the left side of your course and provides the key links you’ll use to manage and organise your course. From here, you can access different areas of your course—such as Modules, Assignments, Discussions, Pages, and People. This menu is specific to each course you teach.

To learn more about to use the course navigation menu in your courses, visit the How do I use the Course Navigation Menu as an instructor? guide.