Want help, have a question, or want to double-check something? Use Canvas Inbox!

If you want to get a quick response from me, use the Canvas Inbox, not my SeattleColleges.edu email.

How to send me a message through Canvas Inbox

Video tutorial:

Video Transcript

How do I use the Inbox as a student?

Open Inbox In Global Navigation, click the Inbox link. If the Inbox link includes a numbered indicator, the indicator shows how many unread messages you have in your Inbox. Once you read the new messages, the indicator will disappear.
View Toolbar The toolbar includes global message options.
Course or Group To load conversations, filter your messages by course or group and type. Filtering by type lets you filter messages by Inbox, Unread, Starred, Sent, Archived, and Submission Comments.
Search by User You can search for conversations by user in the Search by user field.
Compose a Message To compose a message, click the Compose icon.
Conversation Options Once you have selected a conversation, you can use the other options in the toolbar to: Reply to a conversation. Reply-all to a conversation. Archive a conversation. Delete a conversation. You can also use the More Options icon to forward, mark a conversation as read or unread, and star conversations.
View Inbox Panels Conversations for your selected course and Inbox filter appear in the left Inbox panel.
View Conversations Chronologically The Inbox is organized chronologically from newest to oldest with the newest conversations appearing on top and the older conversations at the bottom.
Mark Conversations as Read or Unread You can manually mark a conversation as read or unread by hovering over the conversation and clicking the circle to the left of the conversation.
Star Conversations To star a conversation, hover over the conversation and click the star to the right of the conversation.
View Conversation Thread When you select a conversation, all messages in the conversations thread appear in the right Inbox panel.
View Message Details The conversation thread displays the title of the conversation. Each message within a conversation displays the names of the message participants, with the name of the sender in bold. You can view the course name, the author's personal pronouns (if enabled), and the date and time the message was sent. You can also view the message content.
De-Select a Conversation To de-select a conversation, click the Return icon.
Reply to Latest Message To reply to the latest message in a conversation, click the Reply icon.
Manage Conversation Thread To reply-all, forward, archive, star, or delete the entire conversation thread, click the More Options icon. Then click one of the options.
Reply to Individual Message You can manage an individual message within a conversation. To reply to a message within a conversation, click the Reply icon.
Manage Individual Message To reply-all, forward, or delete a message within a conversation thread, click the More Options icon. Then click one of the options.
Select Multiple Messages To select multiple message conversations to archive, delete, mark as read, mark as unread, or star, click the checkbox for each message. Then click the Inbox toolbar More Options icon, and select an option. Select Multiple Messages This guide covered how to use the Inbox as a student.

Back to Top

Step-by-Step:

Want to get a notification when I respond? See how to set those up here: How do I manage my Canvas notification settings?

✉️Tips for writing really good messages to instructors. ✉️

Start your email with why you are writing. What is the outcome you need from this message? Ex: I'd like to meet to talk about.... or I'm writing to see if I understand X correctly...
Be specific! Some ways you can be super specific:
- What assignment are you writing about? Copy and paste the title of the exact assignment so we know we're talking about the same thing.
- If you're asking to meet, when are you available in the next few days? List some days and times.
- What outcome do you want from this email? What would be most helpful?
Don't let frustration or stress make you send an email before thinking it through. If you're doing something at the last minute, you may feel like writing with a lot of frustration and emotion. In my classes, you can let me know you're confused or need more time without a penalty, so take a breath and take your time writing to me.
Treat a Canvas Inbox message like an email, not a message. Don't assume it will be read instantly, so write out what's going on and what you need knowing that the recipient may not get back to you in the next 12 hours.

Back to Top

This page was made in collaboration with Caitlin Carle.