To help you better connect with your classmates, and to help you make sure you are receiving course announcements in your email, we strongly recommend checking and editing your Canvas profile, settings, and notification preferences. This document includes directions for updating your:
- Profile picture
- Biographical information
- Pronouns
- Default email address
- Notification settings
Profile
To update your profile from anywhere in Canvas, click on the “account” item on the far-left menu and then click the “profile” menu item. From the profile page, click the “edit profile” button on the top-right of the screen.
This will allow you to add a biographical statement, as well as links to any relevant websites or social media accounts you would like your classmates to see. If you have a LinkedIn account, this might be a good place to include that. When you have completed your update, click the “save profile” button.
To update your profile picture, hover over your existing profile image and then click the pencil icon when it appears. You can upload a picture from your computer or take a picture directly in your web browser using your webcam. Once you have uploaded your desired picture, you can drag and resize the image selection with your mouse in order to crop it as desired. Once you are done, click the “save” button.
Learn more about updating your profile and adding a profile picture from the Canvas Student Guide.
Settings
To update your pronouns in Canvas, click on the “account” item on the far-left menu and then click the “settings” menu item. By clicking the “edit” button in the right-hand column, you can change your personal pronouns, as well as your default language and time zone. Once you have completed your update, click the “update settings” button to save.
To update your default email address, click “+ email address” in the “ways to contact” section of the right-hand column. A dialog box will pop up asking you to enter a new email address. Enter your preferred address, then click “register email” to save. Canvas will send you an email asking you to confirm your new address. Once it is confirmed, you can make it your default address by hovering over the blank space to the right of the new email address. A star icon will appear. Click it to make your new address the default.
Learn more about selecting your pronouns and setting a default email address from the Canvas Student Guide.
Notifications
Your Canvas notification settings determine what course communications you receive via email, SMS text message, or as push notifications on your phone or tablet. Canvas includes a set of default notification preferences for the frequency and mode of communication with which you receive communications. The main reason to alter these defaults is if you are not receiving course announcements immediately via email.
To check your notification settings in Canvas, click on the “account” item on the far-left menu and then click the “notifications” menu item. This will allow you to change your notification settings in several categories for each of your contact methods. In each category, you can choose to:
- Be notified right away
- Receive a daily summary of notifications
- Receive a weekly summary of notifications
- Not to receive notifications at all.
We strongly recommend that for course announcements, you choose to receive notifications right away. In addition, you may want to change your notification settings in other categories.
To learn what each category of notification includes, hover over its name. To change your notification preferences in each category, click on the icon for each contact method and a dropdown menu will appear.
Learn more about setting your notification preferences from the Canvas Student Guide.
This 4-minute video provides an overview of how to update your settings and notifications in Canvas.