What happens when a Canvas quiz time limit runs out?

Yes. In Classic Quizzes, Instructure’s student guide says: “If you do not submit a timed quiz before the time runs out, Canvas displays a pop-up box telling you that your quiz time has expired. The quiz automatically submits after the ten-second countdown, or you can click the Ok, fine button, or Close icon to submit your quiz.”

In New Quizzes, the New Quizzes guide says a countdown appears on screen and that “a warning displays when there are only two minutes left, and another warning displays 30 seconds before the timed quiz ends.” Instructure’s resume guide covers both engines: “If you navigate away from an unfinished timed quiz, the timer will continue running and the quiz will autosubmit when time runs out.”

What gets submitted is what Canvas saved. The Classic guide says “Canvas will save your quiz as you go through it,” so the answers already saved when the clock hits zero are the ones that count.

Yes. Closing the tab or leaving the page does not pause a time limit. Instructure: “If you leave a timed quiz, the timer will keep running and the quiz will be automatically submitted when time runs out.” Its resume guide adds: “If you left a timed quiz and returned after the limit passed, the quiz was likely auto-submitted. Check your ‘Grades’ or ‘Submissions’ to see if a finished attempt exists.”

Instructors see one more detail. Instructure’s instructor guide says that when a student is viewing a timed Classic quiz and time expires, Canvas auto-submits it, but “if a student navigates away from the quiz page, the quiz submission remains outstanding” until the instructor submits outstanding attempts or an event such as the end of the availability dates triggers grading. So a quiz you walked away from can show as not yet graded for a while.

An untimed quiz is different: you can leave and come back, and “the quiz will resume where you left off,” as long as it is still available.

Whichever is earlier. In Classic Quizzes, the due date in the sidebar “refers to the autosubmit date, which can be a specified Until date or the last day of the course.” Start a 60-minute quiz 20 minutes before it closes and you get 20 minutes.

Extra time does not get around it. Instructure’s guides for both engines say the same thing: “If the Until date passes when students are taking the quiz with extended time, the quiz auto-submits even if the student’s time extension has not expired” (Classic extra time), and in New Quizzes, “any in-progress quizzes auto-submit and the quiz closes, even if the student’s attempt has not expired” (New Quizzes accommodations).

A changed date does not help a quiz already in progress either: “If your instructor changes the due date of a quiz that you have already begun, the quiz will auto-submit based on the date and time of the original due date.”

The due date is when work becomes late; the Until date is when the quiz closes. Instructure’s New Quizzes guide gives an example: a quiz due 27 February at 10:59 pm with a last available date of 2 March at 10:59 pm. “If you were to miss the due date, you could still take the quiz until March 2 at 10:59 pm for late credit. If you do not submit the quiz by the last available date … Canvas will automatically submit the quiz on the last available date.”

Late penalties can reach earlier attempts. The Classic guide warns: “If a quiz allows multiple attempts and you make an attempt after the due date has passed, deductions are taken from all attempts, including attempts you may have made before the due date.” If you already have a score you are happy with, a late extra attempt can cost you.

For what a late penalty or a zero does to your grade, try the Canvas grade calculator.

Ask your instructor or your school’s disability services office; students cannot change a time limit themselves. In Classic Quizzes, the instructor uses the Moderate Quiz page to add “Extra Time on Every Attempt,” in full minutes (Instructure). In New Quizzes, accommodation settings “include adding or removing time for all quiz attempts and multiplying time limits by a set multiplier,” and a course accommodation applies to every quiz in that course (Instructure).

An instructor can also give an extra attempt; in Classic Quizzes, “when extra attempts are given via the Moderate Quiz option, Canvas keeps the highest quiz score” (Instructure). The Until date still applies to extra time and extra attempts alike.