When viewing the People page in a live course, faculty may notice a number of students listing as "inactive." These are students who enrolled in the course and later dropped. This article covers some of the most common questions people have about these students.
How do I know if a student is inactive?
Inactive students have a tag of "inactive" next to their name on the People page.
Can these inactive students access my course?
No, even though they're listed on the People page, inactive students are not enrolled in the course. If a student is listed as inactive on the People page, they cannot access the course, receive announcements in the course, or be messaged by anyone in the course.
My course has student groups with inactive students. What happened?
When an instructor creates a group set and assigns students, Canvas will only pull from the active students in a course. However, if a student drops after groups are created, their group memberships remain intact. It is safe to remove inactive students from student groups in your course. Note that inactive students cannot access groups for a course they've dropped.
How do I remove inactive students from the People page?
Unfortunately, there isn't a way to remove or hide these students on the people page. However, the New Analytics tool may offer a better alternative to the People page, allowing you to see student emails, participation indicators, and more. New Analytics does not show students who dropped the class.
