Where does Canvas show missing assignments?
In three places in a web browser, plus the iPhone app. Instructure’s student guides describe each one:
| Where | How to open it | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| List View Dashboard | Dashboard, Options icon, List View | “Once a graded item is past the due date, the item displays a Missing indicator and a Missing label.” |
| Alert menu | The Alert Menu button on the List View Dashboard | Lists “graded past-due items across all your courses” |
| Course Grades page | Course, then Grades in Course Navigation | A Missing or Late label in the Status column |
| Canvas app on iPhone | Course, then Grades | Labels “such as Submitted, Graded, Missing, Not Submitted, or Late,” and a filter by status |
To Do items also appear on the Card View and Recent Activity dashboards, but Instructure describes the Missing label in List View.
How do you find missing assignments for all your courses at once?
Use the List View Dashboard. Instructure’s To Do guide gives these steps:
- On the Dashboard, click the Options icon and select List View. Some schools already default to it.
- List View opens on today’s date. Scroll up to see earlier dates; the Today button brings you back.
- Look for the Missing indicator and Missing label on graded items whose due date has passed.
- For a single list, click the Alert Menu button. It shows graded past-due items from every course, with New and Dismissed links.
- Click an item’s name to open it.
Dismissing an alert only hides it. Instructure says it “does not affect its status or mark it as completed.” Graded items are marked complete on their own once you submit them.
How do you check missing assignments in one course?
Open the course’s Grades page. Assignments are sorted by due date, and each row shows the due date, the date you submitted, the status and the score. Instructure’s icons guide explains the Status column: “If an assignment has not been submitted by the due date, it is identified as missing. If an assignment was submitted after the due date, it is identified as late.” Some schools add custom statuses there too.
On an iPhone, open the course, tap Grades, then tap the Filter icon to show only assignments with a chosen status. Instructure’s Android grades guide doesn’t list status labels, so use the Grades page in a browser if you can’t see them there.
What does Missing mean in Canvas?
It means three things are true at once. Instructure’s instructor guide says: “A submission is labeled missing when the assignment is an Online submission type, the due date has passed, and it has not been submitted.” An assignment due tonight is not missing yet, and one you submitted on time never becomes missing.
Assignments set to On Paper or No Submission don’t turn Missing on their own, because Canvas has nothing to wait for. Your instructor can still add the label by hand in the Grade Detail Tray, so a paper worksheet can show Missing if they mark it that way. The statuses Canvas uses:
| Status | What Instructure says it means |
|---|---|
| Missing | “An online assignment that has not been submitted and is past the due date.” |
| Late | “An assignment that was submitted after the due date.” |
| Excused | “The student has been excused from making a submission.” |
| None | That “no status exists, or that the assignment was turned in before the due date.” |
Why does a missing assignment already have a score?
Usually your instructor turned on a Missing Submission policy. Instructure says it “lets you automatically apply a grade for all missing submissions,” set as a percentage of the points possible. Instructure’s own example: at 20% on a 10-point assignment, “all missing submissions for that assignment will be awarded a grade of 2 points.” At 0%, every missing submission gets a zero. On Complete/Incomplete assignments the policy gives Incomplete with a score of 0, whatever percentage is set. An instructor can also type a score by hand, and when they added the Missing label themselves, Instructure says “Entering a score does not remove a manually-applied missing label.”
Without a policy, a missing assignment has no score, and which grade view you use decides how much it hurts. Canvas’s current grade counts only graded work, and its total grade counts every assignment. A made-up course where you have 180 of 200 points on graded work, plus one 50-point online assignment that went missing:
| Course setting | The missing assignment gets | Your grade |
|---|---|---|
| No missing policy | No score | Current: 180 ÷ 200 = 90%. Total: 180 ÷ 250 = 72% |
| Policy at 0% | 0 of 50 | 180 ÷ 250 = 72% |
| Policy at 50% | 25 of 50 | 205 ÷ 250 = 82% |
The 90% in the first row is the one that can mislead you, since it ignores the missing work. Our free Canvas grade calculator handles weighted groups and drop rules if your course uses them.
What happens when you submit a missing assignment late?
The label changes, but the score may not change right away. Instructure’s policy guide says: “If a submission is received after the due date, the Missing label will be automatically replaced by the Late label.” It also says: “When a missing assignment is submitted, the new submission must be updated in the gradebook or the grade will not change.” So the policy score stays until your instructor grades what you turned in. If your course has a late policy, Canvas may also take a percentage off the late work, and the submission details page shows the deduction.
Why does Canvas still say Missing after you submitted?
- The submission didn’t go through. Check the submission date on your Grades page. If it’s blank, Canvas has nothing from you.
- Your instructor added Missing by hand. Instructure says a manually applied label “is removed by a new submission or manual removal.” If you handed the work in outside Canvas, only your instructor can change it.
- It’s an external tool assignment. Instructure notes that some external tool assignments “may display a dash instead of a submission icon” after you submit. The tool’s own site shows whether it got your work.
If none of these fit, message your instructor. Instructure documents status changes only in the instructor’s Gradebook.
Where Silent Student fits
We make Silent Student, a desktop app for Mac and Windows from El Dorado Ignition LLC that works Canvas quizzes, essays, discussion posts and file uploads in due-date order, with written work held for your approval. It signs in as you, so it sees the same To Do list and Grades page you do, and it can’t change a status, a due date or a missing-work score. Plans are $11.99, $24.99 or $49.99 a month with no free plan, and Instructure’s Acceptable Use Policy and your school’s academic-integrity policy still apply.
More: Silent Student on Canvas.
Questions people ask
What does missing mean on Canvas?
It means an online-submission assignment is past its due date and Canvas has no submission from you. Instructors can also add the Missing label by hand, including to paper assignments.
How do I see all my missing assignments on Canvas?
Switch your Dashboard to List View and scroll back to past dates, where graded past-due items show a Missing label. The Alert menu button lists graded past-due items from all your courses.
Does a missing assignment count as a zero in Canvas?
Only if it has a score of zero. With no score, it is left out of your current grade but counts against the total grade. If your instructor set a Missing Submission policy, it gets that set percentage of the points.
Will a missing assignment change to late if I turn it in?
Yes. Instructure says a submission received after the due date replaces the Missing label with Late. Any score the policy gave it stays until your instructor grades the new submission.
Can I remove the Missing label myself?
No. Instructure documents status changes only in the instructor’s Gradebook. Dismissing an item from the Alert menu does not change its status or mark it complete.
Why is my paper assignment marked missing in Canvas?
Canvas does not mark On Paper or No Submission assignments missing on its own, so your instructor most likely added the label. Ask them, since only they can change it.
Sources
All fetched and checked October 20, 2026.
- How do I use the To Do list for all my courses in the List View Dashboard as a student? (Instructure, student guide)
- How do I use the icons and colors in the Grades page? (Instructure, student guide)
- How do I view my grades in a current course? (Instructure, student guide)
- How do I apply a Missing Submission policy in the Gradebook? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I change the status of a submission in the Gradebook? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I view Course Grades in the Canvas app on my iOS device? (Instructure, iOS app guide)
How this guide was made. We read each Instructure guide listed above on October 20, 2026 and quote them directly. The worked example is a made-up course calculated with Instructure’s published rules for current and total grades and the Missing Submission policy. We wrote the guide with AI assistance and checked each quote against its source.
Related guides: How does the Canvas late penalty work? · What does Excused mean on Canvas? · Why is my Canvas total grade hidden? · How do What-If grades work in Canvas? · All guides · Canvas · Canvas grade calculator
Written by the company that makes Silent Student. Silent Student is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instructure. Canvas and Instructure are trademarks of Instructure, Inc.