How to check your grades on Canvas
See per-course and overall grades, read feedback, and use What-If scores to predict your total.
Last updated June 1, 2026
Canvas keeps your grades per course, plus feedback your instructor leaves on each assignment. Here's how to find both, and how to use the underrated 'What-If' tool to see where a grade could land.
- 1Per course: open Grades in the course menu
Go into a course and click 'Grades' in the left menu. You'll see every assignment, your score, the points possible, and your current total.
- 2See all courses at once
From the global navigation, click 'Grades' (the account-level one) to see your current grade across every active course on one screen.
- 3Read the feedback
Click the speech-bubble icon or the assignment name to open instructor comments, rubric scores, and any annotations left on your file.
- 4Try 'What-If' scores
On the course Grades page, click into a grade field and type a hypothetical score. Canvas recalculates your total so you can see what you'd need on upcoming work — it only shows to you.
Why your Canvas total might look off
A grade total that seems wrong usually comes down to:
- Ungraded assignments not yet counted (toggle 'Calculate based only on graded assignments')
- Weighted grade groups making some assignments worth more
- A missing assignment scored as 0 dragging the total down
Stay ahead of the grades that hurt
The grades that tank a total are usually missed submissions marked zero — not bad work. Minutely submits your Canvas assignments at the deadline automatically, so you're not losing points to a forgotten upload while you're watching your What-If scores.
The grades that hurt most are the zeros from missed submissions. Minutely auto-submits your Canvas assignments on the deadline so that stops happening.
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Frequently asked questions
How do I see my overall grade on Canvas?+
Click 'Grades' in the global navigation to see your current grade for every active course, or open a course and click 'Grades' for that course's breakdown.
What are What-If grades on Canvas?+
A tool that lets you type hypothetical scores into your Grades page to see how they'd change your total. Only you can see What-If scores — they don't affect your real grade.
Why is my Canvas grade different from what I expected?+
Common causes: ungraded work not counted yet, weighted grade groups, or a missing assignment scored as zero. Toggle 'Calculate based only on graded assignments' to check.