Unpublishing a course removes it from your students' view without deleting it

To unpublish a course in Canvas, go to Settings in the left navigation menu, scroll to the Course State section, and click the Unpublish button. The course will when ready become invisible to students, but all your content, grades, and course data remain intact in Canvas. You can republish the course at any time by returning to the same location and clicking Publish.

Unpublishing is useful when you want to pause a course temporarily, prepare it for a new term, or prevent students from accessing it while you make changes. Unlike archiving or deleting, unpublishing keeps everything editable and ready to use again. The action takes effect when ready—students will not see the course in their dashboard or course list within seconds of you clicking the button.

Key Takeaways

  • Unpublishing a course hides it from students but preserves all content, assignments, and grades inside Canvas.
  • The unpublish button is located in Settings under the Course State section.
  • Unpublished courses can be republished when ready without rebuilding any content.
  • Students cannot see or access an unpublished course, but you can still edit it as the instructor.
  • You can unpublish and republish a course as many times as needed without losing any data.

Step-by-step: unpublishing your course

Open your course and click Settings in the left navigation menu. This is usually near the bottom of the menu, below sections like Assignments and Grades. If you do not see Settings, check that you are logged in as an instructor or administrator—students do not have access to this menu.

Scroll down the Settings page until you see the Course State section. This section shows whether your course is currently published or unpublished. Click the Unpublish button. Canvas will ask you to confirm the action. Click Unpublish again to proceed. The button will change to gray or disabled while Canvas processes the change.

The course state will change to "Unpublished" when ready. Students will no longer see the course in their course list, and they cannot access any of its content, even if they have a direct link. You will still see the course in your instructor view and can continue to edit it.

What happens when you unpublish a course

All course content stays exactly as it was. Your syllabus, modules, assignments, quizzes, discussion boards, and files remain in Canvas and are not deleted or hidden from you. You can continue to edit assignments, add new content, reorganize modules, and make changes without students seeing them. This is one of the main reasons instructors unpublish courses—to work on updates without disrupting student access.

Student grades and submissions are also preserved. If students completed work before you unpublished the course, their submissions and grades remain in the gradebook. When you republish the course later, students will see their grades again, and nothing will be lost. The submission history and timestamps are unchanged.

Unpublished courses do not appear in your students' course list, in their dashboard, or in any Canvas navigation. They also do not receive notifications about an unpublished course. If you want students to know why the course is temporarily unavailable, you will need to contact them separately through email or another communication method.

When to unpublish instead of delete or archive

Unpublish when you want to pause a course temporarily or hide it while you work on it. Use this if you plan to reopen the course in the same term or a future term. Unpublishing is also the right choice if you are not sure whether you will use the course again—it keeps everything safe while removing it from view.

Archive when you want to keep a completed course for your records but do not plan to use it again soon. Archived courses take up less space and can be restored if needed. Archiving is a middle ground between unpublishing and deleting.

Delete only when you want to remove a course permanently. Deletion is irreversible and removes all content, grades, and submissions from Canvas. Most instructors should unpublish or archive instead, since those options preserve your work and allow you to change your mind later.

Republishing a course after unpublishing

To make an unpublished course visible to students again, return to Settings and scroll to Course State. Click the Publish button. The course will become visible to students when ready, and they will see all the content you created or edited while it was unpublished.

You can republish and unpublish a course as many times as you need. There is no limit to how many times you can change the course state. Canvas does not charge you for republishing or track how many times you have toggled the state. This makes unpublishing a safe, reversible action.

Unpublishing part of a course instead of the whole course

If you want to hide only certain content from students while keeping the course published, you can unpublish individual modules, assignments, or pages instead. Click on the item you want to hide, look for a Publish or Unpublish button (depending on its current state), and click it.

This approach is useful when you are working on new material or want to release content on a schedule. Students will see the published course, but they will not see unpublished items within it. You can also use this method to hide old announcements or outdated resources while keeping the course active.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can students see an unpublished course if they have the link?

No. Even with a direct link, students cannot access an unpublished course. Canvas blocks access based on the course state, not the URL. Only instructors and administrators can view unpublished courses.

Will students get notified when I unpublish a course?

Canvas does not send a notification when you unpublish a course. Students will straightforward notice the course is no longer in their course list. If you want to explain why, you can send them a message through Canvas or email.

Do I lose student work when I unpublish a course?

No. All student submissions, grades, and discussion posts remain in Canvas when you unpublish. They are hidden from students but visible to you. When you republish, students can see their work and grades again.

What is the difference between unpublishing and concluding a course?

Unpublishing hides the course from students completely. Concluding a course marks it as finished and moves it to a separate section in the student's course list, but students can still access it. Use unpublish to hide a course completely; use conclude when the term is over but students may need to review past work.

Can I unpublish a course if students are currently enrolled?

Yes. You can unpublish a course at any time, regardless of enrollment status. Students will lose access when ready, but their data remains safe. This is useful if you need to make major changes or if a course needs to be paused mid-term.