How to keep track of every Canvas assignment
Canvas spreads due dates across courses, modules, the syllabus and outside tools. Here's how to see everything that's due in one place, and stop missing work.
Canvas is where most of your coursework lives, but it doesn't make it easy to see everything that's due. Each instructor sets up their course differently, some due dates only appear in a syllabus PDF, and work in tools like Gradescope may never show up at all.
Here's how to build a reliable view of what's due, using Canvas's own features first.
Why assignments slip through
Before fixing it, it helps to know where things go missing:
- The To Do list is short. The sidebar on your Canvas dashboard only shows a handful of upcoming items, so a busy week pushes things out of view.
- Not everything is an assignment. Some instructors list readings, quizzes or exam dates on a module page or in the syllabus instead of creating a Canvas assignment with a due date.
- Due dates move. An instructor pushes a deadline back or forward, and unless you check the assignment again, you won't notice.
- Outside tools. Gradescope, publisher homework sites and course websites often have their own deadlines that Canvas doesn't know about.
1. Use the Canvas calendar, with every course turned on
The Calendar (in the left-hand menu) shows assignments from all your courses on one grid. Check the list of calendars on the right side of the page and make sure every course is ticked; courses you've never turned on won't appear.
Switch to the Agenda view for a plain list of everything coming up, sorted by date. It's the closest thing Canvas has to a single to-do list.
2. Try the List View dashboard
On the Canvas Dashboard, the three-dot menu at the top right lets you switch from Card View to List View. List View shows upcoming work from every course in date order, with checkboxes to mark items done. Many students find it far more useful than the course cards.
3. Subscribe to your Canvas calendar feed
At the bottom of the Calendar page there's a Calendar Feed link. Copy it and add it to Google Calendar ("Other calendars" → "From URL") or Apple Calendar ("File" → "New Calendar Subscription").
Your Canvas due dates will then show up next to your classes, work and everything else. One catch: calendar apps refresh subscribed feeds on their own schedule, which can take hours, so a deadline your instructor just changed may not show up right away.
4. Turn on the right notifications
In Account → Notifications, set alerts for:
- Due Date, so you hear when a due date changes
- Announcement, since instructors often post new work or changes there
- Grading, if you want to know when scores come in
You can send them by email or push them to the Canvas Student app. A daily summary keeps this from getting noisy.
5. Read every syllabus in week one
This step catches what Canvas can't. In the first week, go through each syllabus and write down every exam, project and recurring deadline. Compare it with what Canvas shows, and add anything missing to your own list or calendar.
Do the same for outside tools: log into Gradescope and any homework sites and note their deadlines too.
6. Check once a week
Pick a time each week, Sunday evening is common, to look over the next seven days in the Calendar's Agenda view, compare with your own list, and plan when you'll do each thing. Ten minutes a week catches most surprises before they become late work.
Or let Soma keep the list
Doing all of this by hand works, but it means checking several places and keeping them in sync yourself.
Soma connects to Canvas, either with your Canvas calendar feed link or with the Soma for Canvas browser extension, which also reads Gradescope. Every course's work lands on one Deadlines page; with the extension, new assignments and moved due dates are flagged too. Then you can ask Soma to fit it all into your week. For the planning side, see how to make a study schedule you'll actually follow.