How Do I Add a User to a Course
Students and the instructor of record are automatically enrolled in your Canvas course, but you can manually invite additional users if the Add People button is available on the People page.
Course Invitations
- When you manually add a user to a course, Canvas sends them an invitation. However, users in roles other than “Instructor” won’t be able to access the course until it is published.
- Users must accept the invitation to participate; until then, their status remains pending.
- If your +People button is greyed out, then your course is most likely concluded, and you cannot add someone manually. For assistance, contact canvas@montana.edu.
Open People
In Course Navigation, click the People link.
Add People
Click the Add People button.
Select User Search
To add a user, you can search for users with up to one of three options: email address, login ID, or SIS ID.
To select a search option, click the circle next to your preferred search method.
Notes:
- If you are copying and pasting user information from a spreadsheet, you do not have to filter out information that does not apply to your search option. For instance, if you copy in a line with an email address and login ID and select the login ID search option, Canvas will disregard the email address and only search for users with the entered login ID.
- To add multiple users, separate user information using a comma or a line break.
Search by Email
By default, the search field is set to search by email address [1]. In the text field [2], enter the email address for the user. You can copy and paste multiple users at one time, such as from a comma separated value (CSV) file, by placing a comma or line break between users.
When searching by email address, the user's institution-assigned email address should be used whenever possible. For the majority of institutions, each user should have an email address associated with the user's account and may be the same as the user's login ID.
Instructors can add users through one of several formats, which also support user names:
- "A User" buser@example.com
- buser@example.com B User
- "User, C" cuser@example.com
Email addresses can be enclosed by less than ( < ) or greater than ( > ) symbols, although it is not required.
Search by Login ID
To add a user by login ID, click the Login ID circle. [1].
In the text field [2], enter the login ID for the user. You can copy and paste multiple login IDs at one time by placing a comma or line break between login IDs.
The Login ID, refers to a user’s NetID (the same one they use to log in to university systems). If you know someone’s NetID, you can use this field to add them. However, if you don’t have that information, feel free to use one of the other available options instead.
Search by SIS ID
To add a user by login ID, click the SIS IDcircle. [1].
In the text field [2], enter the SIS ID for the user. You can copy and paste multiple login IDs at one time by placing a comma or line break between login IDs.
You’ll also see an option to add users by SIS ID, which refers to a user’s GID—an eight-digit identifier assigned to each student upon admission. This is a valid and supported method for adding users in Canvas. Since you should have access to students’ GIDs through our systems, feel free to use this option if it’s most convenient. Alternatively, you can also use one of the other methods listed above.
Select User Details
In the Role drop-down menu [1], assign the user(s) a role for the course based on available course roles.
In the Section drop-down menu [2], assign the user(s) a section in the course.
If you want to limit the user(s) to only interact with other users in their section, click the Can interact with users in their section only checkbox [3].
Click the Next button [4].
Note: If you are adding multiple users at the same time, all users inherit the same role and section.
Add Users
If Canvas finds an existing user, you can confirm the user before adding the user to the course [1].
The user's name displays in the page along with the user's information you used in the user search. Although Canvas may display additional search columns, existing information in a user's account will not be displayed.
When you are ready, click the Add Users button [2].
If Canvas did not find your intended user, you can click the Start Over button [3].
View Search Results
If Canvas is not able to find a match for the user(s), Canvas will notify you that a match was not found.
To try a new search, click the Back button.
View Pending Enrollment
Until the user accepts the course invitation, the user's status will display as pending. Note that observer invitations will only show as pending if the invited observer does not already have a Canvas account.
If you added a user without a Canvas account, the user can create an account as part of the course invitation process.
Once the user has accepted the course invitation, you can interact with the user in the course. You can also send messages to the user via Conversations.
If necessary, you may be able to edit a user's role in Canvas.
Note: It could take up to 24 hours for users to receive their invitations. Canvas will not consider the user to be enrolled—and won't recognize the user anywhere in Canvas—until the invitation has been accepted. If necessary, you can resend course invitations.
+People Button is disabled
Once a term has concluded, the +People button in the People tool will be disabled (greyed out), preventing you from adding users. If you need to add someone to a concluded course, please contact us at canvas@montana.edu, and we’ll be happy to assist.