Canvas Tip: Get Notified of Broken Links Image based on an online illustration by Storyset External links in our Canvas courses can break when a web hosting service removes the link or changes the web address without cr…

Image based on an online illustration by Storyset

External links in our Canvas courses can break when a web hosting service removes the link or changes the web address without creating a redirect. Our internal course links can break as well. For example, if you rename a course file or replace it but forget to update the link. When students run into a link that doesn't work, their task comes to an abrupt halt. Students may not tell you about a broken link. Or, you start getting email after email as different students email you in confusion. 

Canvas can notify you when a student clicks a broken link in your course. Then, you can address the problem before receiving multiple befuddled emails. To enable this goodness, turn on the Content Link Error Notification.

How to enable Content Link Error Notifications

This is a global notification for all courses.

• In Canvas, navigate to Account > Notificiations.
• Under "Settings for," choose Account.
  
  
  
  
  
• Scroll to the Alerts section near the end of the page.
• In the Content Link Error row, change your notification setting to Notify Immediately.
  
  
  

Once you turn the notifications on, you'll receive an email as soon as a student clicks a broken link. The email will contain a link to the content item where the broken link is located, so you can quickly view it, find a replacement link, or decide how you will handle the problem.

What triggers the notifications?

From the Canvas Notifications documentation: 

Content Link Error

• Description: Location and content of an invalid or broken link clicked by a student.
• Default setting: Daily
• User restrictions: Applies to Instructor and Admin roles

Notification Trigger	Notification Setting	Course Activity Stream
Student clicks a link to unpublished content^	✔️	✖️
Student clicks a link to content with permission errors^	✔️	✖️
Student clicks a broken link^	✔️	✖️

^ = Email notifications for these actions will be delayed, even if the user has set their notification settings for emails to be sent right away.