Manage Course Navigation Links in Canvas

Canvas Course Navigation links appear in the left-hand menu of every course and help students access different parts of your course content. As the instructor, you can reorder these links or hide ones you don’t use to create a focused and intuitive learning experience.

Things to Consider

Students cannot see links that lead to empty areas, even if you enable them.
The Home link is always visible and cannot be disabled.
Hiding Files also hides access in the Rich Content Editor file selector for students.
Some links, like Grades and Discussions, are still accessible by direct URL even if hidden.
Only add what you need. Avoid overwhelming students with too many course links.

Step 1: Open Course Settings

In your Canvas course, select Settings at the bottom of the Course Navigation menu.

Step 2: Select the Navigation Tab

From the top of the Settings page, choose the Navigation tab. This displays all the tools currently enabled or disabled for your course.

Step 3: Enable or Disable Navigation Links

To show a tool to students, drag it from the bottom section (labeled “Drag items here to hide them from students”) into the top section. Alternatively, select the three dots next to the tool name and choose enable.

To hide a tool from students, drag it into the bottom section, or select the three dots and choose disable.

Step 4: Reorder Links

Click and drag items in the top section to place them in the order you want students to see them in the Course Navigation. You can also use the Options icon and select Move to adjust placement using drop-down menus.

Step 5: Save Changes

After enabling, hiding, or reordering links, scroll down and click Save to apply the changes.

Canvas Navigation FAQ

Why do some links appear gray, or have an eye icon, in my navigation menu?

Gray links indicate tools that are hidden from students. As the instructor, you can still access them even if they're not visible to students.

Can I rename the navigation links?

No. Default Canvas links cannot be renamed.

Why can’t I see the tool I want to add?

If the tool you are looking for is missing from the Settings > Navigation area, contact Canvas Support for assistance.

Why isn’t a link visible to students even though it’s enabled?

Canvas automatically hides links to areas with no content. For example, if no Pages have been created, or there are none that are published, the Pages link will not display for students even if enabled. This is a common issue for modules. Even though modules may exist in the course, if none are published, the link will be hidden.

Does the order of links affect other areas?

Yes. The order you set for Announcements, Assignments, Discussions, and Files affects how students see those sections in their Dashboard course view as well.

Can I hide the navigation menu completely?

No. You can reduce the number of visible links, but the menu itself remains a required part of the Canvas interface for all users.

Video Overview

00:07: How do I manage course? Navigation links. 00:10: In course, navigation, click the settings link 00:14: Click the navigation tab. 00:16: Navigation, links that are visible to all users display in the top of the page. 00:21: The order they display in the list is the order in which they display in course, navigation. 00:27: Navigation links that are hidden from students display in the drag items here to hide 00:31: them from student section. 00:34: To reorder navigation, links, click the navigation link. 00:37: You would like to move. Drag and drop the navigation link to the desired 00:41: location. 00:43: You can also use the move option to reorder a navigation link within its current section 00:47: either visible or hidden. Click the options icon. 00:52: And then click the moving. 00:55: In the move navigation, item sidebar, click the place, drop down menu. 01:01: Select the placement of the navigation link. 01:03: You are moving, you can move the link so it is located at the top of the list 01:07: before a specific navigation link after a specific navigation link 01:11: or at the bottom of the list. 01:15: If you selected the before, or after option, click the second drop down 01:19: menu. 01:21: Select the navigation link that should be before or after the link. 01:24: You are moving as indicated by the option selected in the previous menu. 01:28: If you want to move the navigation link to another location. 01:31: Change, the sidebar placement options as needed. 01:36: Click the move button. 01:38: To hide a navigation link from students, click the link options icon. 01:43: And then select the disable option, the navigation link moves to the drag 01:48: items here to hide them from students section. 01:50: You can also drag and drop the link to the drag items here to hide them 01:54: from student section. 01:56: To enable a link in the hidden section, click the options icon. 02:01: And then select the enable option. You can also drag and drop the link 02:05: out of the Hidden section. 02:08: Click the save button. 02:10: View the course, navigation, menu, navigation, links display in the same 02:14: order that you have designated in course settings. 02:18: Any course, navigation, link that is hidden from students displays the visibility icon. 02:24: A link may be hidden to students because the feature area has no content. 02:30: Or because the link is disabled. 02:33: Links, that are manually disabled by a course, instructor display at the bottom of the 02:37: course, navigation menu, above the settings link. 02:40: If you disable or hide a course navigation link to an external tool, its 02:45: link does not display in course, navigation, and is hidden to all courses including 02:49: instructors. 02:52: This guide covered how to manage course navigation links.

Need Help?

For assistance adding or managing Course Navigation links, contact canvas@uiwtx.edu.