Canvas, Prevent Students from Creating Their Own Groups

By default, the ability for students to create their own groups is enabled in all Canvas courses. This can be disabled by faculty by using the following instructions.

By default, students can create their own groups in Canvas courses (see How do I create a group as a student?). These can be used to independently create study groups, discussions, etc. that are not part of graded course assignments. However, instructors may want to prevent this ability to create groups in some courses. You can prevent this ability by either hiding the People tab in the course navigation menu or adjusting the course settings.

Hide the People Tab

To hide the People tab, you'll need to manage the Course Navigation links to disable People or move People below the "Drag items here to hide them from students" area.

Adjust Course Settings

  1. Select Settings in the Course Navigation menu.
  2. Select the Course Details tab.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page to select more options to view additional settings.
  4. Uncheck the Let students organize their own groups option.
  5. Select the Update Course Details button to save changes.