Canvas Help

There are several ways to get help with Canvas, and our office is here to assist you. Sometimes it's difficult to know who to contact - our office, Canvas technical support or your instructor. Use the information below as a guide and explore answers to our most frequently asked questions.

Contact our office...
Monday - Thursday 8:30am-5:00pm, Friday 8:30-4:00pm
We can help with Canvas access issues and Canvas technical support.
408.864.8969
onlineeducation@deanza.edu
Or you can open a ticket/report a problem by clicking on Help in Canvas.

Contact your instructor...
If you are having difficulty accessing a file or you don't understand an assignment, you should contact your instructor with the method specified in the course syllabus.

Contact Canvas...
Canvas Chat is available 24/7. You can access chat in the Canvas Help Menu.
Canvas can provide after hours help for technical difficulties. They can't help with log on issues, however - accounts are managed by our college and you will need to contact our office if you are having difficulty logging in to Canvas.

Explore our Canvas Student Guide...
If you need instructions on how to perform common tasks in Canvas, the videos and information in our Student Guide will assist you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I log into Canvas?

If you are registered for an online or hybrid course that hasn't yet started, it's possible that the course has not been published yet. If you are registered for an online course and can't access Canvas by noon the first day of the quarter, please contact our office immediately.

If the quarter has already started, it's possible that you mistyped your MyPortal credentials when logging in. Try going to MyPortal first, and then clicking the Log Into Canvas link found on your Student tab. Contact our office immediately if it continues to be a problem.
If you receive an ACCESS DENIED message when logging into Canvas from any campus computer, it means the person previously using Canvas did not properly log out. Click on Account, then Log Out, quit the browser and then restart. You should be able to log in properly.

Why can't I log out of Canvas?

Because of our single sign-on system, logging out is a two step process. You must log out in Canvas and completely quit out of your browser. On a Windows machine, you can quit by clicking the X in the upper right corner of your window. On a Mac, you must go to the pull-down menu for your browser and select quit.

Why can't I see my class on the dashboard?

Once you log into Canvas, your courses will appear in your Canvas Dashboard once they are published. Instructors may publish their courses up to four days before the quarter begins, while others may wait until the first day of the quarter. If you are registered for multiple online classes but don't see all of them, don't panic. If your course is still not visible by noon the first day of the quarter, contact our office immediately.

Please note that if you are taking a hybrid course, your instructor may wait to publish until after your first class meeting.

Why do I get an error message when accessing a link in my course?

This error message is caused when your instructor forgets to publish a particular file, which happens from time to time. Contact your instructor and he or she will fix it.

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