Renaming Your Canvas Account or Course

Canvas lets you change your name in two places: your user account (the name that appears across all your courses) and individual course nicknames (the name shown only in that specific class). Most readers need the account-level change, which takes about two minutes and shows up when ready everywhere you use Canvas.

The steps differ slightly depending on whether you use Canvas on a computer or phone, and whether your school has locked certain settings. If you cannot find the name field or it appears grayed out, your institution may have restricted changes — contact your school's Canvas administrator or help desk in that case.

Key Takeaways

  • Your Canvas account name appears across all courses and is changed in your user settings, not in individual classes.
  • On a computer, go to Account → Settings, find the name field, edit it, and click Update to save the change when ready.
  • On a phone or tablet, tap the menu icon, select Account, then Settings, and follow the same steps as the desktop version.
  • If the name field is locked or grayed out, your school controls that setting and you will need to contact your institution's Canvas support team.
  • Course nicknames (visible only in that one class) are changed separately in each course's settings, not in your account settings.

Changing Your Name on a Computer

Open Canvas in your web browser and log in. Look for your profile icon or initials in the top right corner of the screen and click it. A dropdown menu will appear with several options.

Click Account from that menu. You will see a page with tabs across the top — click the Settings tab. Scroll down until you find the field labeled Full Name or Name. Click inside that field, delete the current text, and type your new name exactly as you want it to appear.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Update button. Canvas will save your change when ready. Your new name will appear in all your courses within seconds — you do not need to log out and back in.

Changing Your Name on a Phone or Tablet

Open the Canvas app or Canvas in your mobile browser. If you are using the app, tap the three horizontal lines (menu icon) in the bottom right corner. If you are using the browser, tap the menu icon in the top left.

Tap Account, then tap Settings. Scroll down to find the Full Name or Name field. Tap the field to open the keyboard, clear the current text, and type your new name.

Scroll down and tap Update or Save (the button label varies by device). Your change will save right away. If the keyboard covers the Update button, swipe up on the screen to reveal it.

What Happens When Your Name Changes

Your new name appears when ready in your profile, in the gradebook (if your teachers have that view open), and in any discussion posts or assignments you submit going forward. Old posts and assignments keep the name they were submitted under — Canvas does not retroactively change the author name on past work.

Your instructors will see the change in their class rosters and gradebooks. If you have already submitted work under your old name, that work still shows the old name in the submission history, but your current profile displays the new name.

If Your Name Field Is Locked or Grayed Out

Some schools restrict name changes in Canvas because they sync student names from their official enrollment system. When this happens, the name field appears but you cannot click or edit it — it is grayed out or shows a lock icon.

If your name field is locked, contact your school's Canvas administrator, help desk, or registrar's office. They can either unlock the field for you or change your name in the enrollment system, which will then update Canvas automatically. Do not try to work around a locked field — the restriction is there for record-keeping reasons.

Changing a Course Nickname Instead of Your Account Name

Canvas also lets you set a different name for yourself in a single course — this is called a course nickname and appears only in that class. Your account name stays the same everywhere else.

Open the course where you want to change your name. Click your profile icon in the top right, then click Settings. Look for a field labeled Nickname or Course Nickname. Type the name you want to use in that course only, then click Update. This name will show only in that course's discussions, submissions, and gradebook.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The most common mistake is looking for the name change in course settings instead of account settings. Course settings control things like notifications and which assignments you see — your actual name lives in your account settings. If you change something in a course and your name does not change everywhere, you edited the wrong place.

Another mistake is typing your name with inconsistent capitalization or spacing and then not noticing until it appears in your gradebook. Type your name exactly as you want it to appear, including capital letters and any middle initials or suffixes. Canvas will not auto-correct or reformat it.

If you change your name and it does not appear after five minutes, try logging out completely and logging back in. Occasionally Canvas needs a fresh session to display the change across all pages. If it still does not appear, clear your browser cache or try a different browser — cached data sometimes shows the old name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my instructors be notified when I change my name?

No, Canvas does not send a notification to your instructors. If you have changed your legal name and want your teachers to know, send them an email directly. This is especially important if you have already submitted work under a different name.

Can I change my name back to what it was before?

Yes. Go back to Account → Settings, click the name field, type your old name, and click Update. Canvas keeps no history of name changes, so you can change it as many times as you need.

What if I only want to change my name in one class, not all of them?

Use the course nickname feature instead of changing your account name. Open that specific course, go to Settings, find the Nickname field, and enter the name you want for that class only. Your account name stays the same in all other courses.

Does changing my name affect my student ID or login information?

No. Your login username and student ID number stay exactly the same. Only the display name changes — the name that appears next to your posts, submissions, and in the gradebook.

My name field is completely missing from Settings. What do I do?

If you do not see a name field at all in Account Settings, your school may have hidden it or your account type may not allow name changes. Contact your school's Canvas support team or help desk — they can tell you whether the field is restricted and how to proceed.