Canvas still automatically applying a grade of "0" to missing assignments, even with setting turned

Question

Hello!

About 4 weeks ago, I turned off the setting that automatically gives students a grade of "0" on assignments that they have not yet submitted and are not yet due, but Canvas is still automatically applying the "0" grade to some students. The result is many students contacting me asking why their grades are so low when they have turned everything in.  As you can see in an attached screenshot, this is happening for some students, but not all. The assignment shown in the screenshot was just assigned and is not due yet. Thanks for your help!

Screenshot 2025-03-07 125450.jpg

Gabriel33 · Accepted Answer

I think those 0's might have come from the previous policy, and the difference between the students may be because those other students joined the class after the fix. Could that be it?

I had that issue because I copied assignments from a previous term, and only changed the due dates after the copy. So the students were automatically "late", and got the 0, even after I changed the due dates.

To fix it, you'd need to erase the current 0s. You can do that manually, but if too many (as was in my case), I recommend downloading the gradebook into Excel, then erasing the 0s, and then reuploading.

If the class is currently active, as it seems it is, you need to worry as well about students submitting assignments between your download and upload, so choose a time where that is less likely to happen.

cls334 · Accepted Answer

What has worked for me in the past is to set the default grade of the assignment to be blank, which removes the zero and resets the assignment grade. To do this, choose the menu option to set a default grade but leave the field blank where it asks for a grade, just check off the box to override existing grades and click Set Default Grade to save.

A guide for how to set the default grade for an assignment can be found on the page below:

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-set-a-default-grade-for-an-assignment-in-the-Gradebook/ta-p/747

Hope this helps!