What are the three ways a WebAssign test can be proctored?
Cengage’s WebAssign student guide has a page for each. Side by side:
| LockDown Browser | Respondus Monitor | Proctored through your LMS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you can tell | LockDown Browser icon, then a Launch LockDown Browser button | Opens in LockDown Browser, then asks you to set up your webcam | The exam link sits inside a Canvas, Blackboard or Moodle assignment |
| Camera | Not part of Cengage’s steps | Yes, it records you | Depends on the proctoring service |
| What is blocked | Other apps and websites, copying, printing and some WebAssign features | The same, since it runs in LockDown Browser | Services “often block you from opening any new tabs,” Cengage says |
| Devices | macOS, Windows or Chromebook; not iPad or Linux | Needs the latest LockDown Browser | Ask your instructor; an extension may be required |
| When it ends | When you close LockDown Browser | After Stop recording and exit, once processing finishes | When you submit the quiz in your LMS |
What does WebAssign LockDown Browser block?
Cengage’s guide says: “While you are working on an assignment that requires LockDown Browser, you cannot use other applications, view other Web sites, copy, or print. Also, certain WebAssign features are not available when using LockDown Browser.” The restrictions “help to provide a fair testing environment for all students” and “are lifted when you close the assignment by closing LockDown Browser.” If your instructor enabled it, a calculator is available inside. Cengage’s steps:
- From your Home or My Assignments page for the class, click the assignment name.
- If needed, read any notices, enter the assignment password, and click Launch LockDown Browser.
- When LockDown Browser opens, click the assignment name to start it.
- Complete the assignment and submit your answers.
- Close LockDown Browser. On a timed assignment, click the timer to collapse it first.
For how saving, submitting and timers work inside an assignment, see Does WebAssign automatically submit?
Does WebAssign LockDown Browser work on a Chromebook?
Yes. Cengage says you can open a LockDown Browser assignment “only from WebAssign supported browsers on” macOS, Windows or a Chromebook, and “You cannot open LockDown Browser assignments from an iPad or a Linux/UNIX computer.” You install it once, from Cengage’s install page:
- Windows: download the installer and run it.
- macOS: download the zip, double-click it to extract the installer, then run it.
- Chromebook: add the LockDown Browser extension in Chrome. Cengage marks this “WebAssign only”: the extension “cannot be used for MindTap assignments.”
If LockDown Browser is installed but doesn’t work when you open an assignment, Cengage’s fix is to uninstall it and install the latest version.
Does WebAssign LockDown Browser require a camera?
Not by itself. Cengage’s LockDown Browser steps don’t mention a webcam. The camera comes with Respondus Monitor, which Cengage says “uses the webcam on your device to record you during high-stakes assignments,” adding: “Your teacher can review your recordings to ensure academic integrity.” On a Respondus Monitor assignment:
- Open the assignment and click Launch LockDown Browser. “All Respondus Monitor assignments require the latest version of LockDown Browser.”
- In LockDown Browser, “follow the instructions to configure your webcam and verify your identity.”
- Complete the assignment and submit your answers.
- Click Stop recording and exit. A message says your recording is being processed. Don’t exit LockDown Browser until it closes; then click Return to course or close the window.
How do proctored exams through Canvas or Blackboard work?
Your instructor can give a WebAssign exam from a quiz in your LMS under a proctoring service. Cengage says the exam “will be linked from an assignment created in your LMS,” and “After you finish your exam in WebAssign, your browser will continue to be locked down until you submit the quiz in your LMS.” The order:
- Sign in to your LMS and open the assignment. If you didn’t download a required browser extension ahead of time, you are asked to now, and the proctoring service turns on.
- Click the exam link. WebAssign opens.
- Complete and submit the exam in WebAssign.
- Go back to your LMS and submit the LMS assignment. The proctoring service turns off.
Cengage calls these “third party services that we do not directly support,” and says “your process and results might vary.” Its setup notes for instructors name Proctorio as one example. Ask your instructor which service and browser to use, and download any extension ahead of time.
How can you tell before you start?
- Check the assignment list. An assignment that needs LockDown Browser shows the LockDown Browser icon.
- Check the first screen. A Launch LockDown Browser button means you need it. Webcam setup steps inside LockDown Browser mean Respondus Monitor will record you.
- Check where the link lives. An exam you open from a Canvas, Blackboard or Moodle quiz may run under your school’s proctoring service.
- Install early. LockDown Browser installs once, and Respondus Monitor needs the latest version. Some assignments also ask for a password from your instructor.
Where Silent Student fits
We make Silent Student, a desktop app for Mac and Windows from El Dorado Ignition LLC that works WebAssign homework from your Canvas course. It does not take proctored or LockDown Browser tests: those open only in LockDown Browser or under your school’s proctoring service, which its browser does not run, and it does not hide from or get around either. Those tests are yours to take, under your school’s academic-integrity policy. More: Silent Student on WebAssign.
Questions people ask
Is WebAssign homework proctored?
Only if your instructor set it up that way. Cengage says some of your assignments might show the LockDown Browser icon, which marks the ones that need it.
Does WebAssign record you?
Only on Respondus Monitor assignments, which use your device’s webcam to record you. Cengage says your teacher can review the recordings.
Can you use WebAssign LockDown Browser on an iPad?
No. Cengage says you cannot open LockDown Browser assignments from an iPad or a Linux/UNIX computer. Use macOS, Windows or a Chromebook.
What should you do if LockDown Browser won’t open a WebAssign assignment?
Cengage says to uninstall LockDown Browser and install the latest version. Respondus Monitor assignments require the latest version too.
When can you close LockDown Browser on a Respondus Monitor assignment?
After you click Stop recording and exit and the processing message closes. Cengage says not to exit LockDown Browser until processing is complete.
Does Cengage support third-party proctoring like Proctorio in WebAssign?
Not directly. Cengage says proctoring solutions are third party services it does not directly support, and that it cannot guarantee support for any of them. Ask your instructor.
Sources
All fetched and checked October 20, 2026 unless a line says otherwise.
- Work on an Assignment with LockDown Browser (Cengage Help, WebAssign Student Help)
- Work on an Assignment with Respondus Monitor (Cengage Help, WebAssign Student Help)
- Take Proctored Exams Through Your LMS (Cengage Help, WebAssign Student Help)
- Install LockDown Browser (Cengage Help, Common Help)
- LockDown Browser Is Not Working Properly (Cengage Help, WebAssign Student Help)
- WebAssign proctoring setup notes (proctoring-symbols page) (Cengage Help, instructor steps filed under Student Help)
How this guide was made. We read each Cengage page listed above on October 20, 2026 and quote them directly. The table is our summary of Cengage’s three student pages. We wrote the guide with AI assistance and checked each quote against its source.
Related guides: Is McGraw Hill Connect proctored? · Is MyLab Math proctored? · Where do you find a Cengage course key? · Does WebAssign automatically submit? · Is there a WebAssign answer key? · Respondus LockDown Browser: what to expect · All guides · WebAssign
Written by the company that makes Silent Student. Silent Student is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cengage or Respondus. WebAssign, MindTap and Cengage are trademarks of their owners; LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor are trademarks of their owner.