Creating a Quiz in Canvas

Canvas allows you to create quizzes, add a variety of question types, configure quiz settings, and publish assessments for your students. Follow the steps below to create and publish a quiz in your course.

Important: Choose Your Quiz Engine

When creating a quiz, Canvas may ask you to choose between Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. Choose the option appropriate for your course. You can select Remember my choice if you want Canvas to continue using the same quiz engine.

1. Get Started

The first step is to open your course and create a new quiz.

Open your course in Canvas.
Select Quizzes from the course navigation menu.
Select the + Quiz button.
If prompted, select Classic Quizzes or New Quizzes.
Select Submit to continue.

Tip: If you regularly use the same quiz engine, select Remember my choice when Canvas gives you that option.

2. Set Up Quiz Details

Configure the basic information and availability settings for your quiz before adding questions.

Enter a descriptive quiz title.
Use the Rich Content Editor to add instructions, images, or media.
Select the appropriate Quiz Type, such as graded, practice, or survey.
Select an Assignment Group, if applicable.
Choose your preferred grading display options.
Set the Due, Available From, and Until dates under the Assign settings.

Tip: Double-check your availability dates before publishing so students have access to the quiz during the intended period.

3. Add Questions

Add questions to your quiz and configure the correct answers and point values.

For Classic Quizzes, select the Questions tab. For New Quizzes, select Build.
Select New Question or choose a specific question type.
Enter the question text.
Select or enter the correct answer, as appropriate.
Assign the appropriate point value.
Select Update Question or Done to save the question.
Repeat these steps until all questions have been added.

Common question types include Multiple Choice, True/False, and Essay.

4. Preview and Publish Your Quiz

Before making the quiz available to students, preview it to make sure the questions, instructions, and settings appear as expected.

Select Preview to see how the quiz will appear to students.
Review the questions, answers, point values, instructions, and quiz settings.
Return to the quiz editor if changes are needed.
Select Save or Save & Publish when the quiz is ready.

Remember: Preview your quiz before publishing it. Check that all questions, correct answers, point values, and availability dates are correct.

5. Quick Checklist

Quiz title entered
Instructions reviewed
Quiz type and assignment group selected
Due and availability dates set
Questions and point values added
Correct answers verified
Quiz previewed
Quiz saved and published

Need More Help?

For official Canvas instructions and technical documentation, review the Instructure Community Guides and Canvas training resources.