How do you resubmit an assignment on Canvas?
With the New Attempt button on the assignment page. Instructure’s student guide lists the steps:
- In Course Navigation, click Assignments, then the assignment’s name.
- Click New Attempt. “If you choose, you may resubmit another version of your assignment using the New Attempt button.”
- Pick a submission type. “You can only select one submission type per submission,” and your instructor decides which types are allowed.
- Add the file, text, URL or media, then click Submit Assignment.
- Check the sidebar. After you submit, “you will see information in the Sidebar about your submission.”
If the assignment limits attempts, the page shows “the number of submission attempts you have made” and “the number of submissions allowed for the assignment.” If you are resubmitting for a better score, a What-If grade shows what that score would do to your total first.
Why is the New Attempt button missing or disabled?
Instructure’s guides give four reasons:
- You used every attempt. “Once you have used all your submission attempts, the New Attempt button displays as disabled.”
- The Until date passed. Instructure defines Until as “the date and time when students can no longer submit the assignment.” If no time is set, it “defaults to 11:59 pm for the course time zone.”
- It is an external tool assignment. “The option to resubmit an assignment may not be available for external tool assignments.”
- It isn’t submitted online. With no Start Assignment button, “your instructor may not want you to submit your assignment online or the availability date has passed.”
Only your instructor can change the attempt limit, the dates or the submission type. By default, “the Allowed Attempts setting is set to the Unlimited option,” and then “students will be able to resubmit the assignment as many times as necessary.”
Can teachers see previous attempts on Canvas?
Yes, every one. Instructure’s instructor guide says “All assignment submissions can be viewed in SpeedGrader.” When a student has more than one, the instructor picks from a Submission to view menu, and “If you view an older submission, Canvas will warn you that the submission you are viewing is not the most recent version.” Instructure adds: “By default, the date of the most recent assignment will always be shown first.”
For each attempt, the instructor will “see each individual submission and the date and time that it was submitted,” with a late label on any that came in after the due date. With anonymous grading on, the menu lists attempts by number, “Submission 1, Submission 2.” If the first attempt was already graded, SpeedGrader offers a Use this same grade for the resubmission link, which reuses the grade “without doing any additional work.”
| After you resubmit | You | Your instructor |
|---|---|---|
| Latest attempt | Its details, in the assignment sidebar | Shown first in SpeedGrader |
| Earlier attempts | Not on the assignment: “you can only access and view your most recent submission” | Each one, from the Submission to view menu |
| Time of each attempt | The most recent one | Every one, plus a late label if after the due date |
Can you see your old submission after resubmitting?
Not on the assignment page. Instructure’s student guide says “When you resubmit an assignment, you can only access and view your most recent submission. However, instructors can view all of your submissions.” The instructor guide gives one exception: students won’t see previous submissions “unless you reupload the assignments to Canvas,” meaning the instructor puts them back.
An earlier uploaded file stays in your own files. Instructure says attachments on a graded submission “are also copied to your user files,” and “Submitted files are stored in the Submissions folder.” Instructure describes that copy only for attached files, so save your own copy of a text entry before you replace it.
Does resubmitting after the due date make it late?
It can. Instructure’s late-policy guide says “A submission is labeled late when it has been submitted past the due date,” and each attempt in SpeedGrader carries its own time. A new attempt after the due date can be labeled late even when the first one was on time. With a late policy, “The late policy will be applied to a submission when it is graded.” The cutoff is exact: for a due time of 4:15 pm, Instructure says “any student submission made at or after September 19 at 4:15:01 is marked late.” How the deduction is worked out is in how the Canvas late penalty works.
Quizzes have their own rule. With a late policy on a multiple-attempt Classic quiz, “a student who makes a new attempt after the due date has passed will receive deductions on all attempts, including attempts made before the due date.” The Canvas quiz time limit guide covers the rest of quiz timing.
Does Canvas notify teachers when you submit or resubmit?
Not by default for on-time work. Instructure’s Canvas Notifications document lists the instructor notifications and their defaults:
| Notification | Triggered by | Default |
|---|---|---|
| All Submissions | “Submission is Turned In” and “User Resubmits an Assignment” (assignments, except quizzes) | Notifications off |
| Late Grading | “A Submission is Turned in Late” | Daily |
| Submission Comment | “Comment Added to an Assignment Submission” | Daily |
All Submissions and Late Grading apply to instructor and admin roles. Instructure adds that notification settings “only apply to you; they are not used to control how course updates are sent to other users,” so your instructor may have changed any of these defaults.
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. Essays, discussions and uploads are drafted and held for your approval, so you see the work before it becomes an attempt your instructor can open. Plans are $11.99, $24.99 or $49.99 a month, with no free plan.
More: Silent Student on Canvas.
Questions people ask
What happens when you resubmit on Canvas?
Your new attempt becomes the one you see on the assignment. Your instructor can still open every attempt in SpeedGrader, each with the date and time it was submitted.
Can teachers see previous attempts on Canvas?
Yes. Instructure says all assignment submissions can be viewed in SpeedGrader, where the instructor picks one from the Submission to view menu.
Can teachers see both attempts if you resubmit on Canvas?
Yes. SpeedGrader shows the newest attempt first and warns the instructor when an older one is open.
Does Canvas notify teachers when you submit?
Not by default for on-time work: the All Submissions notification for instructors is off unless they turn it on. Late submissions go out in a daily summary by default.
How many times can you resubmit an assignment on Canvas?
As many times as your instructor allows. The default is Unlimited; with Limited attempts, the assignment shows how many you have used and how many are allowed.
Can you see your previous submission after resubmitting on Canvas?
Not on the assignment. Instructure says you can only view your most recent submission, though uploaded files are also copied to the Submissions folder in your files.
Sources
All fetched and checked October 20, 2026.
- Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I submit an online assignment? (Instructure, student guide)
- How do I view the details of a submission for a student in SpeedGrader? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I limit submission attempts for an assignment? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- What is the difference between assignment due dates and availability dates? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I apply a Late Submission policy in the Gradebook? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- Canvas Notifications (Instructure, resource document)
How this guide was made. We read each Instructure guide listed above on October 20, 2026 and quote them directly. We wrote the guide with AI assistance and checked each quote against its source.
Related guides: Can you unsubmit an assignment on Canvas? · How does the Canvas late penalty work? · What can teachers see on Canvas? · What happens when a Canvas quiz time limit runs out? · How do What-If grades work in Canvas? · Why is my Canvas total grade hidden? · Canvas quiz answers after you submit · 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.