How do I use grading periods in a course?

When you create an assignment, by default each assignment is assigned to everyone. However, the assignment can be differentiated among course sections, course groups, or individual students.

When grading periods are enabled, the due date of the assignment determines the grading period where the assignment appears in the Gradebook. If no due date is set, the assignment defaults to the last grading period available for the course.

When grading periods are weighted, assignments outside of grading periods do not count toward the final grade.

Note: The Assign field cannot be edited for anyone if the due date is in a closed grading period. However, you can add additional differentiated assignments with due dates outside the closed grading period. Assignments with due dates in open grading periods cannot be edited from an open grading period to a date in a closed grading period, but the due date can be edited to any date within an open grading period. These restrictions do not apply to availability dates, which can be set to overlap a grading period.

To view the Grading Period filter, click the View option in the Gradebook menu [1]. Then select the Filters option [2] and click the Grading Periods option [3].

The Grading Period filter lists grading periods for the course in a drop-down menu. By default, the Gradebook displays the current grading period. However, you can view and filter grades by previous or future grading period.

When using the Multiple Grading Periods feature, you may be able to view total grades in the All Grading Periods view. This grades view also includes displaying assignment group totals. Viewing total grades in a course is managed by your Canvas administrator.

By default, viewing total grades in the All Grading Periods view is disabled in a course and affects the global Grades view, courses Grades view, and the instructor Gradebook.

When viewing total grades is disabled, students can still view total grades for an individual grading period unless you hide student totals in Course Settings. When this setting is enabled, students will not be able to view any totals in their global grades page or course grades page.


At the course level, Canvas validates all assignments against closed grading periods in Canvas. You cannot edit assignments in closed grading periods. If an assignment is in a closed grading period, the assignment shows that the submission is in a closed grading period. Learn how to view the date range of a course grading period.

Students are not affected by closed grading periods in their Grades page.

Note: For current limitations associated with the close date feature, please view the Close Dates for Grading Periods document in the Canvas Community.

When you download scores from the Gradebook, you can export assignment scores and total grades for all grading periods or for specific grading periods.

To export Gradebook scores for all assignments associated with a specific grading period, select the grading period from the Grading Period drop-down menu [1]. Then click the Actions menu and select the Export option [3]. The CSV includes any selected grading period information; however, assignment group totals in the CSV calculate based on all grading periods.

The CSV file displays a total grade for the specific grading period being viewed. However, if the instructor exports the All Grading Periods Gradebook view, the CSV honors whether or not total grades can be viewed.