How to Manually Create Groups in Canvas Across Sections

How to Manually Create Groups in Canvas Across Sections

How-to-Guides

In a Group Set, you can choose to automatically or manually create groups. When choosing to manually create groups, you can create groups in a Group Set or create groups by importing a CSV file. Both of these options are demonstrated below.

Note: The “Require group members to be in the same section” option available in self sign-up and automatically created groups is broken. We do not have any information from Canvas on when this will be fixed. For now, you must use a CSV file to manually distribute groups across sections. 

For instructions on how to create a Group Set, please read How to Create Groups in Canvas.

Related Topics: Canvas People & Groups

Manually Create Groups within a Group Set

Click the People link in the Global Navigation Menu.

Click the + Group Set button and create a new Group Set if you haven't already. Be sure to check the I'll Create Groups Later button. Save Group Set.

Canvas people link and add group set button

 

 

 

Click the + Group button [1].

Name the group by typing in the Group Name field [2]. If you want to limit groups to a specific size, enter the maximum number of group members in the Group Membership Limit field [3]. Click the Save button [4].

Note: If your group set allows self sign-up and you set a group limit for the entire group set, the group limit will apply to each individual group you create. The option above allows you to modify the limitations within an individual group, such as changing one group to allow a few more members than the other groups. However, at a later time if you decide to edit the entire group set and change the group set limitations, Canvas will override all member limitations created within individual groups.

To create another group, click the + Group button again. You can create as many groups as you need.

 

Canvas add group button and group details tab

 

Once you have created your groups, you can add students manually by [A] clicking the + next to a student's name and selecting a group

Canvas add students to groups

 

or [B] dragging and dropping a student's name into one of the groups.

Canvas drag students to groups

Adding Groups Using the Import Feature

Click the Add Group Set button and create a new Group Set if you haven't already. Be sure to select the Create groups later option in the Group Structure drop-down menu. Save Group Set.

canvas group structure create groups later option

 

To import groups, click the + Import button.

Canvas add import button

 

On the Import Groups page, you can download a template CSV file by clicking the Download Course Roster CSV link.

Canvas import groups download course roster csv link

The Course Roster CSV includes information for each student in the course where applicable, including student name, canvas user ID, user ID, login ID, sections, canvas group ID, and group ID.

Note: Pay close attention to the Section details. Sometimes the same section is listed two ways within the parentheses: CRN # first, or CRN # last. Make sure you sort the cells so that all the students within the same section CRN are grouped together. This will allow you to more easily sort them into groups.

Example of CSV Course Roster

 

To assign students to a group, enter group names in the "group_name" column.  If you are trying to ensure that groups only contain members within the same section, pay close attention to the sections and make sure groups don't overlap. It can help to use the editing tools in the program you're using (Excel, Sheets, etc.) to separate information using lines or colors.

Example of CSV Course Roster with students assigned to groups

 

When you're finished editing, save the file as a CSV (Comma Separated Values) in a convenient location on your computer.

On the Import Groups page, you can upload your CSV file by clicking and dragging the file or clicking the Upload CSV File area to browse files on your computer. A progress bar will display the status of the group creation. This could take a few minutes depending on the size of your class and the number of groups being created.

Screenshot of the Upload CSV File page on Canvas

For further assistance, UO Online & Canvas Support are available.

  • In-Person: Room 68 PLC
  • By phone: (541) 346-1942
  • By email: uoonline@uoregon.edu
  • Submit a Service Portal Ticket (opens in a new tab). This form can also be accessed in Canvas from the Help button at the bottom of the Global Navigation Menu.