How to set due dates for many Canvas assignments at once
Short answer: go to Assignments → ⋮ Options → Edit Assignment Dates, type a date into each row, and Save; Batch Edit there can only shift or remove dates. Or open Course++ and type: “Set due dates for Weeks 1–8: reading checks Tuesdays at 11:59 pm, labs Thursdays at 11:59 pm. Week 1 starts Monday, January 11, 2027.”
The problem
Forty assignments, and none of them has a date.
Edit Assignment Dates shows every item in one list, so you don’t open each assignment. But you still type a date into every row yourself, and Canvas has no setting for “every Tuesday.”
a date typed per rowno weekly pattern
The fix
Describe the pattern once. Course++ fills in the dates.
It reads your modules, matches each item to the pattern you gave, and sets the dates. If your titles don’t show which item is which, say so in the prompt.
1 sentencethe whole pattern
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.
Set due dates for Weeks 1–8: reading checks Tuesdays at 11:59 pm, labs Thursdays at 11:59 pm. Week 1 starts Monday, January 11, 2027.
A weekly pattern across many weeks.Give the Week 3 reading check, quiz and lab report due dates on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of the week of January 25, 2027, all at 11:59 pm.
One week, different days.Make every Weeks 1–8 assignment lock at 11:59 pm on the Sunday after its due date.
To set the until date to match.Which assignments in this course have no due date? List them by module. Don’t change anything.
A read-only check, before or after.
How to set due dates in bulk in Canvas by hand
- Click Assignments in Course Navigation.
- Click the Options icon (three dots) beside +Assignment and choose Edit Assignment Dates.
- Find an item’s row and type its date and time into the date field. Quizzes and graded discussions are in the same list.
- Repeat for each row.
- Click Save and wait for the success message.
Good to know
- Batch Edit is for moving, not setting. Shift Dates adds a number of days to the items you tick, and Remove Dates clears them. See move every due date in a unit.
- Setting a date publishes nothing. Unpublished items stay unpublished, in Canvas and with Course++.
- Tell Course++ how to tell items apart. Names like “Reading check” or a module title are enough. For a whole copied course, see shift dates to a new semester.
Questions teachers ask
Can I set due dates on many assignments at once in Canvas?
Yes, in the Edit Assignment Dates list, where every item has its own date fields. You still type each date yourself.
Can Canvas put every assignment on the same weekday?
Not as a pattern. Batch Edit can shift dates by a number of days, but each date has to exist first. Course++ can apply a rule like “reading checks on Tuesdays.”
Will setting due dates in bulk publish my assignments?
No. Setting a date doesn’t change whether an assignment is published.
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.