Canvas@Illinois, Problems with Email Notifications from Canvas
Review account-level notification settings
By default, the most important notifications are enabled on all new accounts (for example, Announcements and Inbox/Conversation messages are set to "Notify immediately" by default). However, each user has the ability to change this if they choose. If you find that you’re not receiving notifications, you should review your Account-Level Notification Settings:
- In your Global Navigation Menu, select Account.
- Select Notifications from the tray.
Your overall account settings will now display. If you are concerned about receiving email notifications and announcements, make sure the following are enabled in the Email column (and set to either Notify immediately, Daily summary, or Weekly summary):
- Announcement
- Conversation Message
Optionally, if you would like to receive notifications to confirm that announcements or inbox messages were sent by you, you should also enable the following:
- Announcement Created By You
- Conversation Created By You
For example, in the screenshot below, the account-level settings are displayed. Announcement is set to immediate notification (indicated by the green bell icon in the Email column) as well as an immediate notification to the Canvas mobile app (indicated by the green bell icon in the Push Notification column). For extra confirmation, Announcement Created By You is also set to an immediate email notification but no mobile app notification is enabled because it is unsupported (indicated by the gray circle with a line through it).
Review course-level notification settings
Similar to your overall account settings, you can adjust notification settings for specific courses. It is important to note that your course-level settings will override your account-level settings for that specific course. This means that if you turn off your announcement notifications at the course-level, even though you have announcements enabled at the account-level, you will not receive announcement notifications for that specific course.
To view your course-level notification settings:
- In your Global Navigation Menu, select Account.
- Select Notifications from the tray.
- Under Settings for, select the drop down menu and select your course.
Similar to the account-level settings, ensure that the following settings are enabled for email notifications for your course (either Notify immediately, Daily summary, or Weekly summary):
- Announcement
- Conversation Message
- Announcement Created By You (optional)
- Conversation Created By You (optional)
Review email notification preferences
If your notification settings are set correctly and you're still not receiving emailed notifications, review your contact methods in account settings by doing the following:
- In your Global Navigation Menu, select Account.
- Select Settings from the tray.
- Under Ways to Contact, you should see your Illinois email address with a star icon.
Red exclamation icon under "Ways to Contact"
If you see a red exclamation point next to your email address, this means your email notifications are suppressed and this is the reason you are not receiving notifications. This issue may happen if an email notification sent by Canvas bounces back because the email address is incorrect or due to temporary issues with Instructure's/Canvas' servers. This icon means that you are on Canvas' suppression list (in other words, you won't receive notifications) for two weeks from the initial bounce.
To correct this issue, submit a ticket to the Technology Services Help Desk at consult@illinois.edu so the case can be escalated to the Canvas Support & Operations team. They will need to contact the vendor (Instructure) to get your email removed from the suppression list.
