What activity records can a teacher open in Canvas?
These are the student records Instructure’s instructor guides describe. Each one has its own section below.
| Record | Where the teacher opens it | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Last Activity | People page | “the date and time of a user’s most recent interaction in the course” |
| Total Activity | People page | Time in the course, counting “page navigation only” |
| Last login | Your context card | “the student’s last Canvas login” |
| Access report | People, then User Details | Each item you viewed, how many times, participations, and when you last viewed it |
| Course Analytics | Course Analytics link | Weekly page views and participations, grades, Inbox messages |
| Submission details | SpeedGrader | “each individual submission and the date and time that it was submitted” |
| Feedback views | SpeedGrader | When you opened a file your instructor annotated in DocViewer |
Can teachers see when you were last on Canvas?
Yes, in two places. The People page shows Last Activity, which “displays the date and time of a user’s most recent interaction in the course.” Instructure says it “updates when a user navigates through the course using the Course Navigation menu, replies to a discussion or submits an assignment or quiz, and when they access course files and pages.”
Clicking your name opens your context card, which shows your last Canvas login: just the time if it was today, the day of the week if it was this week, and the full date otherwise. The card also shows your current posted grade, your number of missing and late assignments, up to your last 10 graded items, and activity stars that compare your participation and page views with the rest of the class. Instructure says the star rating is “not meant to be an exact comparison.”
Can teachers see how long you spend on Canvas?
They see an estimate for their course. The People page’s Total Activity column “allows you to see how long users interact within a course and counts page navigation only,” shown in hours, minutes and seconds. Instructure spells out how it is counted:
- It “records any time spent viewing course content that exceeds two minutes.”
- “If the time between a new activity and the last completed activity is under ten minutes, all time between these two events will also be included.”
- It “does not include group activity or page views for videos that do not include intermediate page requests, such as a half-hour recorded lecture.”
The number comes from page requests, with the gaps between them filled in by those rules. For page-by-page detail, Instructure points instructors to the access report.
Can teachers see what you do on Canvas, page by page?
Yes, through the course access report. Instructure says it “shows a summary of user participation in your course and complements the Total Activity column in the People page.” For each item it lists:
- “The content the user has viewed.”
- “The number of times the user viewed the content.” A view is counted “each time a user navigates to the URL where the content resides or downloads an attachment.”
- “The number of times the user participated (if applicable, such as posting to a discussion or submitting an assignment).”
- “The last time the user viewed the content.”
Icons mark each kind of item: Course Home, Grades, Syllabus, Outcomes, Modules and People, then Assignments, Discussions, Quizzes, External Link, Pages and Files. The People entry “also displays a student name when the user views information for another student in the course.” Submitting an assignment and replying to a discussion count as participation, and so does starting a quiz, “even if they do not submit any answers.” Access older than two years shows a message without details. The report is a course permission, so some teachers may see fewer columns.
Can teachers see if you open a file on Canvas?
For course files, yes. In the access report, the Files icon “displays next to views or previews of course files,” and downloading an attachment counts as a view. Instructure adds that “Participation is not recorded if a user views files,” so opening a file adds a view and no participation. Course pages are counted the same way.
Feedback files are tracked too. When your instructor annotates your submission in Canvas DocViewer, “SpeedGrader shows the date and time that the student opened the file and viewed your feedback.”
What do Course Analytics show your teacher?
Instructure lists “course grade, weekly online activity, and communication.”
- Weekly Online Activity: page views and participations by week, Monday to Sunday. Participations include submitting an assignment or quiz, starting a quiz, posting to a discussion or announcement, joining a web conference, loading a collaboration and creating a page. “Passive behaviors like viewing a page do not count as participation.”
- Course Grade: a table of each assignment’s name, due date, submitted date, status and grade.
- Communication: the number of Canvas Inbox messages between you and your instructors.
The same guide adds two caveats. “Data is refreshed in Course Analytics every 24 hours,” so it can lag behind what you just did. And: “Page view data should not be used to assess academic integrity.” Schools can also switch Course Analytics off; when the link isn’t available in Course Settings, Instructure says “your institution has disabled this feature.”
Is there anything teachers can’t see?
Your What-If grades. Instructure says “Only students can enter and view What-If scores,” and instructors see your current and total scores in the Student Interactions Report instead. Our What-If grades guide covers how they work. Beyond that, what a given teacher can open depends on permissions. Instructure’s People page guide says “Depending on your permissions, you may not be able to view all available information in the People page.”
Can you see your own Canvas activity?
If your school allows it. Instructure’s student guide says “If you have permission from your institution, you can view your own analytics in an active course.” Open People, click your name, then click Analytics. You get four graphs: Activity by Date, Communication, Submissions and Grades. “Students cannot view analytics in concluded courses,” and if your page looks different from the guide, Instructure says your course is using New Analytics.
Where Silent Student fits
We make Silent Student, a desktop app for Mac and Windows from El Dorado Ignition LLC that signs in to your Canvas as you, in its own browser, and works assignments in due-date order. What it does happens in your account, and it does not hide from, clear or change any of the records on this page. Your school’s academic-integrity policy and Instructure’s Acceptable Use Policy still apply.
More: Silent Student on Canvas.
Questions people ask
Can teachers see how long you spend on Canvas?
They see an estimate. The People page’s Total Activity column shows time in the course from page navigation, counting viewing time over two minutes and gaps of under ten minutes between activities.
Can teachers see what you do on Canvas?
They can see which course pages, files, assignments and discussions you viewed, how many times, and when you last viewed each one, in the course access report.
Can teachers see if you open a file on Canvas?
Yes for course files. The access report marks views and previews of course files, and downloading an attachment counts as a view.
Can professors see when you last logged in to Canvas?
Yes. Your context card shows your last Canvas login, and the People page shows the date and time of your last activity in the course.
Can teachers see your What-If grades on Canvas?
No. Instructure says only students can enter and view What-If scores.
How often does Canvas update activity data for teachers?
Last Activity updates as you move through the course. Course Analytics refresh every 24 hours, so they can lag behind recent work.
Sources
All fetched and checked October 20, 2026.
- How do I use the People page in a course as an instructor? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I view the course access report for an individual user? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I view Course Analytics for a student in a course? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I view a context card for a student in a course? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- How do I view the details of a submission for a student in SpeedGrader? (Instructure, instructor guide)
- What are What-If Grades? (Instructure)
- How do I view my course analytics as a student? (Instructure, student guide)
How this guide was made. We read each Instructure guide listed above on October 20, 2026 and quote them directly. This guide covers only the activity records those guides describe. We wrote the guide with AI assistance and checked each quote against its source.
Related guides: What happens when you resubmit on Canvas? · Can you unsubmit an assignment on Canvas? · Does SafeAssign detect AI? · 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.