Grades Reset to Zero After Canvas Course Copy

Quick Links: | Environment | Solution | Root Cause |

When copying a Canvas course with due dates in the past, and the course is set to automatically assign zeros for late submissions, all students’ grades are set to zero. This issue disproportionately impacts instructors with large courses or numerous assignments, as clearing these grades manually becomes time-consuming and error-prone.

Environment

This issue may affect you if:

  • In Canvas, you copied a course from a previous term
  • The course has assignments with due dates
  • Those due dates are in the past
  • You did not adjust due dates during the course copy

Solution

To fix the issue and clear the incorrect grades, follow these steps:

  1. In the Canvas gradebook, select Export and choose Export Entire Gradebook. A CSV file will download to your computer.
  2. Open the downloaded CSV file using a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel.
  3. Locate and select all the zeros in the gradebook that were automatically entered for late submissions.
  4. Clear the selected cells.
  5. Save the updated CSV file.
  6. Return to the Canvas gradebook and select Import.
  7. Select Browse and upload the updated gradebook CSV file.
  8. Select Upload Data to review grade changes.
  9. Review the changes and confirm the updated updates. Canvas will redirect you back to your gradebook.

    Note: No changes will appear in the gradebook, but Canvas will process the grade changes in the background. This can take several hours in the largest courses.

Now, the grades for affected assignments have been cleared, and you can manually assign new grades or re-evaluate as needed.

Root Cause

When an instructor copies a course in Canvas with past due dates, the system triggers the automatic "Assign Zeros for Missing Submissions" feature. This is because, from Canvas's perspective, the assignments were already "late" when the course copy was created. As a result, all student submissions for these assignments default to a grade of zero. To prevent this from happening, always Adjust Events and Due Dates before copying course content.

Still need help? Reach out to Canvas support or the Technology & Learning Program for further assistance.

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