What combining courses in Canvas means and when you need it
Combining courses in Canvas means linking two or more separate course shells so that students see them as one unified space, share the same gradebook, and access the same content and assignments. Canvas calls this course cross-listing. When you cross-list courses, students enrolled in any of the linked sections appear in a single roster, and grades flow into one gradebook instead of separate ones.
You typically combine courses when you teach multiple sections of the same class and want to manage them together—for example, two sections of Biology 101 meeting at different times, or an online section and an in-person section of the same course. You might also combine courses when one course is a lab or discussion section paired with a lecture, and you want students to see both as one unit.
The key point: cross-listing happens at the institution level, usually through your registrar or Canvas administrator. You cannot create a cross-list on your own as an instructor. However, you can request one, and you can manage the combined course once it exists.
Key Takeaways
- Cross-listing courses requires a request to your institution's registrar or Canvas administrator—instructors cannot create cross-lists independently.
- Once courses are cross-listed, all enrolled students appear in a single roster and share one gradebook, even if they are in different sections.
- You can manage a cross-listed course from any of the linked course shells, and changes appear across all sections.
- If your institution does not support cross-listing, you can manually add students from one course to another or use course imports to share content.
How to request a course cross-list from your institution
Start by contacting your registrar's office or your Canvas administrator—they are the ones who can actually create the cross-list. Tell them which course sections you want to combine and provide the course codes or Canvas course IDs for each section. Your registrar will have a process for this, which may be a form, an email request, or a ticket system.
The timing matters: cross-listing is usually done before the term starts or early in the term, not mid-semester. If you realize you need a cross-list after students have already started working in separate courses, ask your administrator whether they can merge the gradebooks retroactively—some systems can, some cannot.
Once the cross-list is created, you will see all linked courses listed together in your Canvas dashboard, and when you open any one of them, the roster and gradebook will show all students from all sections.
Managing a cross-listed course in Canvas
After your courses are cross-listed, you work in Canvas the same way you would with a single course. You can enter the course through any of the linked sections—they all lead to the same gradebook, content, and student roster. When you post an assignment, all students in all sections see it. When you enter a grade, it records for that student regardless of which section they are enrolled in.
If you need to give different assignments or due dates to different sections, you can use sections within the cross-listed course. In Canvas, a section is a subdivision of students within a single course. You can create sections that match your original course sections, then set section-specific due dates or restrict content to certain sections only. This way you keep one gradebook but still differentiate the experience by section.
To create or manage sections in a cross-listed course, go to the course, click Settings, then Sections. You can add new sections or edit existing ones. Then, when you create an assignment, you can set different due dates for different sections using the Due Date for dropdown.
What to do if your institution does not support cross-listing
Some institutions do not use Canvas cross-listing, or the feature may not be available for your courses. In that case, you have two workarounds: manually adding students or importing course content.
Manual student addition: You can add students from one course to another by going to the course, clicking People, then Add Users. You will need to know their Canvas usernames or email addresses. This creates a single roster across courses, but you still have separate gradebooks. You would need to manually copy grades between courses or use a spreadsheet to reconcile them.
Course import: If you want to share assignments, discussions, and content between courses without merging rosters, use Canvas's Import Content feature. Go to Settings, then Import Content, and select another course as the source. You can import all content or choose specific items. This is useful if you teach the same course multiple times and want consistent materials, but students remain in separate courses with separate gradebooks.
Combining a lecture course with a lab or discussion section
If you teach a lecture section and a separate lab or discussion section, and you want them to appear as one course to students, cross-listing is the right approach. Request that your registrar link the lecture course code with the lab course code. Once linked, students see one course in Canvas with one gradebook.
You can then use sections within that combined course to separate lecture students from lab students. For example, create a "Lecture" section and a "Lab" section, then post lecture content and assignments to the lecture section only, and lab content to the lab section only. Students in the lab section will not see lecture assignments, and vice versa, but both groups appear in your single gradebook.
This setup is cleaner than managing two separate courses and manually syncing grades, because Canvas handles the organization for you.
Common problems when combining courses
Duplicate enrollments: If a student is enrolled in both course sections before they are cross-listed, they may appear twice in the roster after cross-listing. Contact your registrar or Canvas administrator to remove the duplicate enrollment. This is usually a one-time fix.
Gradebook confusion: If you combined courses after students had already submitted work in separate courses, grades from the old separate courses may not automatically merge. Ask your administrator whether they can manually combine the gradebooks or whether you need to re-enter grades. Plan ahead to avoid this.
Content not appearing in both courses: Remember that once courses are cross-listed, they are the same course in Canvas. Content posted to one appears in all. If you see content in one section but not another, check whether you restricted it to a specific section using the Restrict Access feature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cross-list courses that meet at different times?
Yes. Cross-listing is about combining rosters and gradebooks, not about scheduling. Students in different sections can meet at different times, in different rooms, or online. Once cross-listed, they all appear in one Canvas course and share one gradebook.
What happens to grades if I cross-list courses mid-semester?
Grades entered before cross-listing stay in the old separate gradebooks. After cross-listing, new grades go into the unified gradebook. Your administrator may be able to merge the old grades, but this is not automatic. Cross-list before the term starts if possible.
Can I uncross-list courses after combining them?
Yes, but it is complicated. Contact your registrar or Canvas administrator. Uncross-listing splits the course back into separate shells, but grades and content may not split cleanly. Avoid uncross-listing mid-semester if you can.
Do students have to do anything to see a cross-listed course?
No. Once they are enrolled in any of the linked sections, they automatically see the combined course in Canvas. There is nothing they need to do on their end.
Can I use cross-listing if I teach the same course at two different institutions?
No. Cross-listing only works within a single Canvas instance (one institution). If you teach at two schools, you will have two separate Canvas accounts and two separate courses. You can import content between them, but you cannot cross-list them.