Making Your Course Visible to Students

To make a Brightspace course active, you change its status from Inactive to Active in the course settings. When a course is active, students can see it in their course list and access all the content you have published. An inactive course remains hidden from students even if they are enrolled.

The process takes about one minute and requires you to be logged in as an instructor or course administrator with permission to edit course settings. You do not need to republish content or notify students separately — the change takes effect when ready once you save it.

Key Takeaways

  • Course status is found in the course settings menu, not in the content area or gradebook.
  • Changing a course from inactive to active makes it visible to all enrolled students right away.
  • Students cannot see an inactive course even if they are enrolled, so they will not know it exists until you set up it.
  • You can set a course to active or inactive as many times as you need — there is no limit to how often you change the status.

Step-by-Step: Activating Your Course

Log in to Brightspace and open the course you want to make active. In the top navigation bar, look for the Course Admin menu — this is usually located in the upper right area of the screen, sometimes labeled as a gear icon or dropdown arrow.

Click Course Admin and select Course Settings from the dropdown menu. You will see a page with several tabs or sections. Look for the tab labeled Basic Information or Course Details — the exact name varies slightly depending on your Brightspace version.

On that page, find the field labeled Course Status or Status. It will show a dropdown menu with options such as "Active" and "Inactive." Click the dropdown and select Active. Then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save button. Your course is now active and visible to students.

What Happens When You set up a Course

Once you set a course to active, all enrolled students will see it in their Brightspace dashboard or course list the next time they log in. They can access the course home page, view any content you have published, and see announcements. The change is when ready on the back end, though students may need to refresh their browser or log out and back in to see the updated list.

Activating a course does not automatically send notifications to students. If you want them to know the course is ready, you can post an announcement in the course or send a message through your institution's email system. Many instructors post a welcome announcement on the course home page before activating so students see it as soon as they enter.

When to Use Inactive Status

You might keep a course inactive while you are still building it — adding content, setting up the gradebook, or organizing modules. This prevents students from seeing an incomplete course. Once everything is ready for them to start, you set up it.

Some instructors also use inactive status at the end of a term to archive a course while keeping it in the system. This prevents accidental changes and keeps the course list clean for students in current courses. You can reactivate an archived course at any time if you need to make updates or if the course runs again.

Troubleshooting: Course Still Not Showing

If you have set the course to active but students still cannot see it, check that they are actually enrolled. A student must be enrolled in the course to see it, even if it is active. You can verify enrollment in the Course Admin menu under Manage Classlist or Classlist.

Another common issue is browser cache. Ask students to clear their browser cache or try logging out completely and logging back in. Sometimes Brightspace takes a few minutes to update across all servers, so if you just activated the course, wait five to ten minutes before troubleshooting further.

If the course is active and the student is enrolled but still cannot see it, contact your institution's Brightspace support team. There may be a permission issue or a system-level setting that is preventing visibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set up a course if no students are enrolled yet?

Yes. You can set up a course at any time, whether or not students are enrolled. Once you set up it, any students who are enrolled after that point will be able to see it when ready. You do not have to wait for enrollment to be complete.

Will activating a course delete any of my content?

No. Changing the course status does not affect your content, grades, or any other course data. All your materials remain exactly as they are. The status change only controls whether students can see the course.

What if I accidentally set up a course that is not ready?

You can set it back to inactive right away using the same steps. Go to Course Admin, Course Settings, change the status back to Inactive, and save. Students will no longer see the course. You can set up it again whenever you are ready.

Do I need to set up the course every semester?

If you are reusing the same course shell, you may need to reactivate it if it was set to inactive at the end of the previous term. Check the course status at the start of each new term and set up it if needed. Some institutions automatically reset course status each term.