How To See All Grades On Canvas: The Ultimate Student Navigation Guide

To see all your grades on Canvas simultaneously, log in to your portal and click the "View Grades" button located at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar on your main User Dashboard. For a detailed, assignment-level breakdown within a specific class, select the course from your Dashboard and click the "Grades" link in the left-hand Course Navigation Menu. These two paths allow you to monitor your cumulative academic standing and deep-dive into individual instructor feedback across all active enrollments.

Essential Requirements for Accessing the Canvas Gradebook Portal

Before navigating the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) to check your academic progress, verify that your browser configuration, account permissions, and hardware meet the standard technical specifications required by Instructure Canvas.

• Active Institutional Credentials: You must have your school-specific Single Sign-On (SSO) login credentials or direct Canvas platform URL (e.g., schoolname.instructure.com).
• Compatible Web Browser: Use the two most recent versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge. Ensure Javascript and cookies are enabled in your browser settings.
• Canvas Student Mobile App (Optional): If monitoring grades on a mobile device, download the official "Canvas Student" app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Avoid using basic mobile web browsers, as they can misalign the gradebook formatting.
• Instructor Permission Settings: Note that individual course instructors retain administrative control over grade visibility. Instructors can hide grade totals, mute specific assignments, or disable the grades tab entirely.
• Estimated Resolution Time: 1 to 3 minutes.
• Financial Cost: Free (Access is included with your institutional enrollment).

Step-by-Step Navigation Paths for Viewing Global and Course-Level Grades

Step 1: Access the Canvas Dashboard and Configure Your View

To begin, launch your preferred web browser, navigate to your institution's Canvas login portal, and enter your credentials. Once authenticated, you will land on the Canvas User Dashboard.

The layout of your Dashboard affects where navigation elements reside. Ensure your Dashboard is set to Card View by clicking the three vertical dots (the Options icon) in the upper-right corner of the screen and selecting Card View. This is the standard layout for desktop systems and optimizes the positioning of academic sidebar menus.

Warning: If your web browser window is scaled down or zoomed in beyond 100%, the right-hand sidebar containing key grade links will automatically shift to the very bottom of the web page. If you do not see the sidebar on the right side of your screen, scroll to the bottom of the page to find it.

Step 2: Access the Global Grades Dashboard for an All-Course Overview

If you want a high-level summary of your current standing in every course you are actively enrolled in, use the Global Grades feature:

1. Look at the right-hand sidebar of your Canvas Dashboard.
2. Locate the section labeled To Do or Coming Up. Below or adjacent to these lists, find and click the button labeled View Grades (accompanied by a small chart or checkmark icon).
3. Canvas will load a consolidated page titled Linked Accounts or Courses I'm Taking.
4. This screen lists every active course alongside your current cumulative percentage grade.
5. To see concluded courses from past semesters, scroll to the bottom of this list to find the Completed Courses section.

Pro-Tip: The letters or percentages displayed here represent your current running grade based only on graded submissions. Unsubmitted assignments that have not been graded or marked with a zero may artificially inflate this percentage.

Step 3: Drill Down into Course-Specific Gradebooks

For a granular look at individual assignments, quizzes, discussions, and specific teacher feedback, you must open the gradebook for an individual course:

1. Return to the main Canvas Dashboard.
2. Click directly on the course card of the class you wish to inspect.
3. Locate the white navigation panel on the left-hand side of the screen, known as the Course Navigation Menu.
4. Click on the Grades link.
5. You will be redirected to the student gradebook page for that specific course, which contains a table organizing assignments by due date, group category, score, and total points possible.

Step 4: Interpret Gradebook Status Icons and Assessment Feedback

Once inside the course-specific gradebook, you will see various columns: Name, Due, Status, Score, and Out of. Understanding how to read these icons is vital to evaluating your academic performance:

• Speech Bubble Icon: Click this icon to view text-based feedback, media comments, or general evaluation notes left directly by your instructor.
• T-Shirt or Rubric Icon: Click this to open the scoring rubric used for the assignment, displaying exactly how points were allocated across different criteria.
• Double-Document Icon: This indicates a file submission that has been successfully uploaded but has not yet been graded by the instructor.
• Exclamation Mark inside a Circle: This alerts you that a Turnitin plagiarism report or similar external tool report is ready, or that there is a grading anomaly.
• Blue Dot: A blue dot next to an assignment name indicates that the grade has been recently entered or updated since your last visit to the page.

Step 5: Utilize the "What-If" Grading Tool to Project Final Scores

Canvas allows students to approximate their final grades using a simulation tool. This is highly useful for calculated forecasting before final exams:

1. In the course-specific gradebook, locate any graded or ungraded assignment.
2. Click directly on the score field (the dash or the current score) in the Score column.
3. Type in a hypothetical score (e.g., typing "95" on a 100-point final exam).
4. Press Enter or click outside the box.
5. Scroll to the bottom of your gradebook or look at the sidebar on the right. Your total grade percentage will recalculate based on this simulated score.
6. To revert to your actual, real-time grades, click the Revert to Actual Score button that appears in the blue banner at the top of the screen or in the sidebar.

Step 6: View Grades on the Canvas Student Mobile App

For quick checks on iOS or Android devices, use the dedicated application:

1. Open the Canvas Student app on your device.
2. Select your school district or university from the institution finder list.
3. Log in using your student credentials.
4. On the landing page, your courses will appear as individual cards. If enabled by your school, your current cumulative grade percentage will be displayed directly on the front of each card.
5. Tap on any course card and select the Grades tab from the inner menu to view individual assignment marks, feedback comments, and submission status details.

Performance Matrix of Canvas Grading Views and Settings

Resolving Common Canvas Gradebook Anomalies

Missing "Grades" Link in Course Navigation Menu

• Root Cause: The course instructor has intentionally disabled the "Grades" tab in the navigation menu settings, or the course has concluded and permissions have defaulted to read-only status.
• Actionable Fix: Try accessing your grade summary through the Global Grades view by clicking View Grades on your main Dashboard sidebar. If the course grade is still inaccessible, send a message directly to your instructor via the Canvas Inbox to request a manual status update.

The Appearance of a Diagonal Eye Icon Next to Grades

• Root Cause: This icon indicates that the instructor has set a manual grade posting policy (previously known as "muted" grades). The instructor has entered a grade or feedback, but has hidden it from student view while finishing evaluations for the rest of the class.
• Actionable Fix: You must wait for the instructor to post the grades globally. Once the instructor selects "Post Grades" in their gradebook interface, the eye icon will vanish, and your score will update in real-time.

Total Grade Percentage Displays a Mismatch or Shows as Blank

• Root Cause: This occurs when the instructor has chosen to hide the overall course total in the student grade summary, or when weighted assignment groups are set up incorrectly without any grades in them yet.
• Actionable Fix: Review the bottom of your course grades page to see if weighted groups (e.g., Exams 50%, Homework 30%) are listed. You can manually calculate your grade by adding your total points earned in each category and multiplying them by the assigned weight, or you can contact your instructor to ask if they can enable the overall percentage toggle.

Submission Status Marked "Missing" Despite Submitting Work

• Root Cause: The assignment was submitted via an external tool (like Google Docs, Turnitin, or McGraw-Hill Connect) that did not pass the submission receipt back to the Canvas Gradebook API, or the submission was completed past the designated lock date.
• Actionable Fix: Take a screenshot of the submission confirmation page inside the external tool showing the date and time of completion. Email this evidence to your instructor and ask them to manually clear the "Missing" flag in their Canvas Gradebook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I see my overall grade in Canvas?

If your overall class percentage is missing or replaced with a padlock icon, your instructor has checked the box to hide grade totals in the course settings. Instructors sometimes do this to prevent confusion when grades are heavily weighted, or to encourage students to focus on individual feedback rather than running averages.

What does a dash (-) mean in my Canvas gradebook?

A dash indicates that you have not submitted the assignment or that the instructor has not yet entered a score. Unlike a zero, a dash does not penalize your overall grade percentage in the Canvas system calculation. However, if the assignment remains ungraded past the course deadline, it will eventually be replaced with a zero, which will cause your total grade to drop.

How do I see my old or past grades in Canvas?

To see grades from previous terms, click on Courses in the global navigation menu on the left side of the screen, and then click All Courses. Scroll down to the Past Enrollments section. If your institution keeps past courses archived, you can click on the course name and access the grades tab in a read-only format.

Can my parents see my grades on Canvas?

Yes, but only if they are registered as an "Observer" on your account. Your institution must allow parent observer roles, and you must generate a unique student pairing code from your Canvas user settings page to link your profile to their parent observer account.

Optimize Your Academic Path Through Canvas

Actively monitoring your grades on Canvas is the most reliable way to stay ahead of academic challenges and optimize your study habits. Log into your dashboard today to check your running averages, address missing assignments, and use the "What-If" tool to secure your desired academic outcomes.