Faculty Resources > Canvas FAQ

How do I temporarily or permanently prevent students from accessing a Canvas course site?

Instructors can temporarily or permanently make their course sites unavailable to students. This is especially helpful during exams or at the end of the semester when instructors want to restrict students from accessing online course material.

If a Canvas course does not contain grades an instructor can click the "unpublish" button on the course site home page (How do I publish and unpublish a course?). If the "unpublish" button does not appear on your course home page, please see instructions below on how to proceed. Unpublished or restricted course sites will still appear on the instructor's Canvas Dashboard. 

In this example, the instructor wants to prevent students from accessing Canvas course material during an exam scheduled on May 20th starting at 2pm. Note: The instructor will need to take action to restore course site access after the exam. 

1. In your Canvas course site, click Settings at the bottom of the course menu.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Course Details tab.
   
   
   
   
3. Scroll down on the page, and enter a course End Date and Time that matches the start of the exam (e.g. May 20th, 2019 at 2pm).
   
   
   
   
4. Click the box next to Students can only participate in the course between these dates.
   
   
   
   
5. Click the box next to Restrict students from viewing the course after end date.
   
   
   
   
6. Scroll down to the bottom on the page, and click Update Course Details.
   
   
   
   

The Canvas course site will now be unavailable for students to access.

1. In your Canvas course site, click Settings at the bottom of the course menu.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the Course Details tab.
   
   
   
   
3. Remove the End Date and Time.
   
   
   
   
4. Remove the checkmark next to Students can only participate in the course between these dates.
   
   
   
   
5. Remove the checkmark next to Restrict students from viewing the course after end date.
   
   
   
   
6. Scroll down to the bottom on the page, and click Update course details.
   
   
   
   

The Canvas course site will now be available for students to access.