How to reuse one rubric on several Canvas assignments
Short answer: open each assignment, click Find Rubric, pick the course and rubric, and click Add. On the classic rubric screen, it’s Find a Rubric and Use This Rubric. Or open Course++ and type: “Build a 4-row lab report rubric, 20 points, and attach it to Labs 1 through 5.”
The problem
Same rubric, five labs, five trips through the same screen.
Canvas keeps a rubric after you build it, but it doesn’t attach it for you. You visit every assignment, search for the rubric and add it, and each one needs its own check.
one visit per assignmenteasy to miss one
The fix
Build it once. Attach it everywhere.
Course++ shows the plan, builds the rubric once, and attaches it to each lab. You still do all the grading.
1 sentencenothing skipped
Prompts you can copy
Open your Canvas course, open Course++ beside it, and paste one of these. Change the names and numbers to match your course.
Build a 4-row lab report rubric, 20 points, and attach it to Labs 1 through 5.
To make a new rubric and use it on a set.Attach the “Persuasive Essay” rubric to the Essay 2 and Essay 3 assignments.
To reuse a rubric you already built.Which assignments use a rubric, and which don’t? List them by module.
A check. It only reads; nothing changes.Add the same 3-row participation rubric, 10 points, to every graded discussion in Unit 2.
For graded discussions in one module.
How to reuse a rubric in Canvas by hand
- In Course Navigation, click Assignments, then click the assignment’s name.
- Click Find Rubric. On the classic rubric screen, click Add Rubric, then Find a Rubric.
- Pick the course the rubric lives in. Rubrics from this course and other courses where you teach are listed.
- Click the rubric’s name to see its rows and points.
- Click Add (classic: Use This Rubric).
- To grade with it, click the rubric’s Edit icon, tick Use this rubric for assignment grading, and save.
- Repeat on each assignment.
Good to know
- A shared rubric is locked. Once a rubric is on more than one assignment, Canvas won’t edit it in place. It makes a copy, and the copy replaces the rubric on the assignment you are editing.
- Match the points. If you grade with the rubric and its total differs from an assignment’s points, Canvas warns you and offers Change or Leave different. Check each assignment.
- Starting from scratch? See how to add a rubric.
Questions teachers ask
Can I use the same rubric on multiple assignments in Canvas?
Yes. On each assignment, click Find Rubric, pick the rubric, and click Add. On the classic rubric screen, the buttons are Find a Rubric and Use This Rubric.
Can I reuse a rubric from another course?
Yes. Find Rubric lists rubrics from other courses where you have an instructor role, so you can pick one and add it.
Can Course++ attach a rubric to many assignments at once?
Yes. Name the assignments, or a module, and it attaches the rubric to each one after you approve the plan.
Does Course++ grade with the rubric?
No. It sets up and attaches rubrics. It doesn’t grade or read student work.
250 FREE credits to try it. No credit card.
Canvas steps checked against Instructure’s own Canvas guides in October 2026. Canvas changes its screens from time to time, and schools turn features on and off, so a button may be named a little differently in yours.