How Do I Troubleshoot Common Gradebook Issues?

The Canvas Gradebook usually behaves the way you’d expect — until a weighting setting, a blank cell, or a leftover policy from a copied course throws a grade off. This guide walks through the most common issues instructors run into and how to fix each one. 

Weighted Grades Don’t Add Up the Way You Expect

Issue: Final grades look off, and you’re using weighted assignment groups.

Solution: Open Assignments and check that your assignment group weights add up to exactly 100%. If the total is under or over, every grade shifts unpredictably — weights that total more than 100% inflate grades, and weights under 100% deflate them.

Blank Cells Are Inflating a Student’s Grade

Issue: A student’s current grade looks higher than you’d expect, given how much of their work is still ungraded.

Solution: The current grade only counts scored work — blank, ungraded cells are excluded from the calculation entirely rather than counted as zero. Score the missing work directly, use Set Default Grade to apply zeroes across an assignment at once, or set up a Missing Submission policy so this happens automatically going forward.

A Missing Submission Policy Isn’t Catching Everything

Issue: You’ve set up a Missing Submission policy, but some assignments still show blank past their due date.

Solution: The policy only applies to assignments with a due date that accept online submission — it skips “on paper” and “no submission” assignment types. Use Set Default Grade on those columns to manually apply zeroes.

A Submission Still Shows “Missing” After You Fixed It

Issue: An assignment’s status marker still reads “Missing,” even after you graded it or adjusted your policy.

Solution: Open that student’s submission tray for the assignment (click the cell, then the expand arrow) and change the Status dropdown from Missing to None or another accurate status directly.

Students Can’t See a Grade You Entered

Issue: You entered a score, but students say they can’t see it.

Solution: Check your Grade Posting Policy in Gradebook Settings — it’s likely set to Manually Post Grades, which hides new scores from students until you post them. Open that assignment’s column options and choose Post grades.

Grades Look Wrong After Copying a Course

Issue: A freshly copied course shows zero grades on assignments nobody has even submitted to yet.

Solution: A Missing Submission policy likely carried over from the old course along with due dates that are already in the past. Turn off Automatically apply grade for missing submissions temporarily, use Set Default Grade with a blank value and Overwrite already-entered grades checked to clear the stray zeroes, then re-enable the policy once your new due dates are set. Next time, use Adjust events and due dates during import to shift or remove old dates before they can trigger penalties.

You Need to Excuse an Assignment for One Student

Issue: A student has a legitimate reason to skip an assignment entirely.

Solution: Type EX directly into that student’s cell for the assignment to mark it as Excused. Canvas excuses it from the grade calculation completely, rather than scoring it as zero or leaving it blank.

You Want to Hide the Total Column from Students

Issue: Students are anxious about a running Total that doesn’t reflect the full picture yet.

Solution: Go to Course Settings, scroll to the checkbox section below the course description, and check Hide totals in student grades summary. Click Update Course Details to save. Note that if you use weighted assignment groups, Canvas already hides the overall total from students by default.

You’d Rather Edit Grades Outside Canvas

Issue: Making a lot of changes directly in the Gradebook interface feels slow or error-prone.

Solution: Export your grades to a CSV, make your changes in a spreadsheet program, and use the Import button in the Gradebook to bring the revised file back in. Double-check the column headers match before importing, so Canvas matches each column to the right assignment.

Additional Resources

• Instructure Community: How do I use the Gradebook?
• Chapman University: Canvas Gradebook Troubleshooting
• Fullerton College Distance Education: Fixing Your Canvas Gradebook

Need Extra Support?

If something in your Gradebook still isn’t adding up, reach out to the TLC.