How do I send an email to my class in Canvas?

One of our increasingly common Canvas questions this term is: How do I send an email to my class?

It’s really easy! With a few caveats, of course…

1. Your class must first be Published – how to publish your course.
2. The term must have begun.  (Classes are able to be published and made available to students one week before the official start of the term.  Need to change this? Follow these steps.)
3. Canvas refers to email as “Conversations” within the platform. So if you see a notification that you have a new “Conversation-” it means email!

After that, it really is simple!

1. Click on Inbox
   
2. Click on the Compose New Message button
   
3. Select your course from the Select Course drop down menu
4. Click the People icon to add recipients from the address book
   
5. From here, you can select recipients by role, or drill down further to select individual recipients
6. To send to your whole class, click on Students > All in Students
7. Write a subject line and body of email
8. Click Send

UPDATE! Now you can email your class from within your course site.  Find the “Course Inbox” button on the Home screen of your course site on the top right hand side.

If you’d like to receive copies of all sent emails, read this blog post on how to modify your notification preferences.

Questions? Contact us at canvashelp@wpi.edu, or contact Canvas support 24/7 by clicking the Help button in the bottom left hand corner of your course site.