Using the Canvas Late Policy to Automatically Enter a 0

Note: If you set the late policy at the end of the semester or after the submission, you will need to manually enter a ‘0’ in that column. So, it is best to set this at the beginning of the semester.

1. Go to your Canvas course.
2. Select Grades in the course navigation menu.
3. Select the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner of the grade center. The Late Policies tab will appear.
4. Select automatically apply grade for missing submissions.
5. Enter 0% in the box for Grade for missing submissions (See Fig. 1).
   Figure 1: Late Policy options
6. Select Apply Settings.
7. Canvas will now insert a 0 into any missing assignment cells after the due date has passed; however, students can still submit/resubmit if the assignment is still available.

Why should I set this? 

Every cell in the Canvas grade center should have a number or value. If you have a cell that does not contain a grade, Canvas is not counting that assignment toward the final grade in your total column (See Fig. 2).

Figure 2: Gradebook values