How do I lock an Assignment before or after the due date?

If you want to keep students from submitting an assignment until a specific date, set an Available From date.

For example, if you set an assignment as due on September 19 at 11:59 pm, but you do not want students to submit the assignment until September 9 at 12 am, set the Available From date as September 9 at 12 am.

Canvas views and scores the assignment as follows:

• Canvas opens the assignment to all student submissions on September 9 at 12:00 am (according to course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is on time if submitted by September 19 at 11:59 pm (according to course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is marked late if submitted on or after September 20 at 12:00:00 am (according to course time zone)
• Canvas closes the assignment to all student submissions on the last day of the course (according to term date and course time zone)

If you want to allow students to submit an assignment until a specific date, set an Until date. The date you set depends on whether you want to accept late submissions. When the Until date has passed, students can still view or download their submissions and view any submission comments.

No late submissions—Some instructors do not allow any late submissions by setting the Until Date as the Due Date. For example, If you want to allow students to view the assignment at any time with a due date of September 19 at 11:59 pm, but you do not want to accept any late submissions, also set the Until Date as September 19 at 11:59 pm.  

Canvas views and scores the assignment as follows:

• Canvas opens the assignment to all student submissions on the first day of the course (according to term date and course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is on time if submitted by September 19 at 11:59 pm (according to course time zone)
• Canvas closes the assignment to all student submissions on September 20 at 12:00 am (according to course time zone)

Allow late submissions—Some instructors allow late submissions within a specific period of time after the due date. For example, if you want to allow students to submit a late assignment up to three days after the due date, set the Until Date as September 22 at 11:59 pm.

Canvas views and scores the assignment as follows:

• Canvas opens the assignment to all student submissions on the first day of the course (according to term date and course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is on time if submitted by September 19 at 11:59 pm (according to course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is marked late if submitted between September 20 at 12:00:00 am and September 22 at 11:59:59 pm (according to course time zone)
• Canvas closes the assignment to all student submissions on September 23 at 12:00:00 am (according to course time zone)

Note: In Quizzes, the autosubmit feature is tied to the Until date, which may affect student submissions. For more details, view the Quiz availability dates lesson.

If you want to allow students to submit an assignment only in a specific date range, set both availability dates for the assignment.

For example, if an assignment is due September 19 at 11:59 pm, but you only want students to be able to submit the assignment between September 9 and September 22, and you want to allow late assignments for 3 days, set the Available From date as September 9 at 12 am, and the Until date as September 22 at 11:59 pm.

Canvas views and scores the assignment as follows:

• Canvas opens the assignment to all student submissions on September 9 at 12 am (according to course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is on time if submitted by September 19 at 11:59 pm (according to course time zone)
• In the Gradebook, the assignment is marked late if submitted between September 20 at 12:00 am and September 22 at 11:59:59 pm (according to course time zone)
• Canvas closes the assignment to all student submissions on September 23 at 12:00:00 am (according to course time zone)