Canvas provides a Student View feature that lets you see your course as it will appear to your students. While you are in Student View mode, you can also complete activities you will require your students to complete (upload a file for an assignment, take a quiz, etc.) to test how the process will work for them.

Before your course launches and whenever you have made significant changes, like adding new assignments or finalizing a module, viewing your course as your students will see it is a great way to identify some details you might have missed as you were building your course. Common ones include forgetting to publish all of the modules or items you intended to make available or missing a setting on a quiz or an assignment.

NOTE: Enabling Student View mode creates a test student in your course. Attendance, Inbox conversations, groups, peer reviews, and profiles will not work for the test student; you will see only what is available to all students in your course.

Turn on Student View Mode

Click Student View. It appears at the top-right side of many areas of Canvas: Home, Modules, Assignments, Announcements, Discussions, Quizzes, Pages, and Syllabus. You will always see it in the same spot, directly to the right of your course title.
Review all sections of your course, and note any changes that you will need to make when you leave Student View mode.
Click Leave Student View at the bottom-right side of the page when you are done reviewing your course. The purple box will disappear, and you will return to having instructor access to Canvas.

TIP: If you are uncertain whether you are in Student View mode, look for a purple box around your browser window and a “You are currently logged into Student View” message at the bottom of the page. Both will be visible while you are in Student View mode.