I'm an instructor. I know how to reorder quizzes in Assignments (I grab the 8-dot 'drag handle'). But how do I reorder quizzes in Quizzes? Thanks!
Quizzes don't appear to have the functionality to reorder. They are organized by due date first. Then quizzes without a due date follow alphabetically. Any surveys are below the quizzes. Is there an organizational challenge you're facing that would benefit you to have some organization of certain quizzes? As an instructor I just always have them organized within my modules, so I've never thought about a need to sort them in the Quizzes space.
Hi @User3247983247 What you’re seeing in the Quizzes page is not manual order at all. It’s a fixed, rule-based sort. Canvas walks through your quizzes in layers, applying one rule at a time until everything has a place.
Think of it like a sorting conveyor belt:
First pass: Due date beats everything
Second pass: Numbers come before letters (within the same due date)
2 - Quiz
ZZ - Quiz
Third pass: No due date = second class citizen
1 - Quiz
AA - Quiz
Final pass: Surveys always sink to the bottom
So, compressed into one sentence:
Quizzes are ordered by due date first; within the same due date, titles starting with numbers come before letters; quizzes without due dates follow the same number-then-letter rule; surveys are always listed last.
This is also why experienced Canvas users rarely rely on the Quizzes index for sequencing. Modules are the only place where instructional order actually exists. The Quizzes page is more of a filing cabinet than a lesson plan - precise, literal, and completely indifferent to pedagogy.
Since the Quizzes page has no true instructional order - only sorting rules - clarity has to live in the title itself. Canvas will never infer pedagogy from intent; it only reads characters.
Here’s the organizing principle that works with Canvas instead of against it:
Treat quiz titles like coordinates, not labels.
For example, by leading with an ordinal (module → activity or lesson → checkpoint or description), you guarantee that:
Canvas isn’t “understanding” that 2.5 comes before 2.10. It’s simply sorting strings - but because we've embedded ordinal meaning into the string, the outcome aligns with instructional logic.
A few quiet rules that keep this system robust:
Unit 3
3.1
Lesson Three
Think of the Quizzes page as an index, not a syllabus. Indexes don’t teach; they point. Ordinal naming turns that index from a junk drawer into a map. Cheers, J
Hi Jeremy, thanks for all that, but I'm not asking about Canvas's automatic ordering. I'm asking about how to manually order them. In Assignments I can manually order them. I'd like to manually order them in Quizzes as well.
Hi Dianna, I find it convenient in general to be able to control the ordering of items so that I can locate them more quickly and also get a sense of how they are related to each other. I certainly don't see any advantage in prohibiting instructors from manually reordering quizzes in Quizzes, if you are right in your speculation that Canvas has for some reason removed this functionality.
t’s a fixed, rule-based sort, so you can't manually reorder quizzes.
That's extremely puzzling. I can manually reorder quizzes in Assignments. Why can't I manually reorder quizzes in Quizzes? Is it some sort of bug?
In Canvas, instructors can reorder quizzes directly from the Quizzes Index page using the same drag-and-drop functionality available in other Canvas areas, such as Assignments. However, this must be done within the Quizzes section, not the Assignments page.
Steps to Reorder Quizzes in Canvas
Access your course in Canvas.
From the Dashboard, click on the course that contains the quizzes.
Open the Quizzes Index page.
In the Course Navigation menu on the left, click Quizzes. This page displays all quizzes in the course.
Locate the drag handle.
To the left of each quiz title, you will see the drag handle icon (represented by eight dots).
Drag and reposition the quiz.
Click and hold the drag handle, then move the quiz up or down in the list to your desired position.
Release to save the new order.
Once you release the mouse, Canvas automatically saves the updated order.
The drag-and-drop reordering method in Quizzes is identical in function to the method used in Assignments, but it must be performed on the Quizzes page itself.
Reordering quizzes on the Quizzes page affects only their display order on that page.
If quizzes are organized within Modules, you must also reorder them separately within the Modules page, as Modules maintain their own independent sequence.
This functionality is available to users with instructor-level permissions and applies to both Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes.
Best Practice
For optimal course organization and improved student navigation, instructors are encouraged to arrange quizzes in a logical sequence (for example, by week, topic, or assessment progression) and to place them within Modules, which serve as the primary structured learning path for students.
This ensures clarity, consistency, and alignment with the overall instructional design of the cours
@Rajith_Priyanka Perhaps you have a different interface than I do, but in all my years of using Canvas, I've never seen a drag handle on the Quizzes page.
You are correct—there is no drag handle available on the Quizzes page itself. Canvas does not support manual reordering of quizzes directly within the Quizzes index. Instead, quiz order is controlled through the Assignments page because quizzes are treated as assignment items within assignment groups.
To reorder quizzes, you need to go to Assignments, locate the quiz, and use the 8-dot drag handle to move it within or between assignment groups. The order you set there will also determine how quizzes appear to students in modules and grade-related views, depending on your course structure.
Same here, I don't ever remember an option to reorder things on the quizzes page in the 12 years we've used Canvas at my institution. Just wanted to clarify that for anyone else who may come across this thread.
-Chris
Hi Rajith, thank you, but now I am very confused. At first it looked like you were saying I can reorder quizzes within Quizzes (not Assignments):
But now it looks like you're saying the exact opposite: I can't reorder quizzes within Quizzes, and I need to go to Assignments:
Canvas does not support manual reordering of quizzes directly within the Quizzes index. Instead, quiz order is controlled through the Assignments page because quizzes are treated as assignment items within assignment groups.
Can you please explain how both of these can be true?
If you cannot reorder quizzes directly from the Quizzes page, here are the most effective actions he can take to control quiz order and improve organization:
1. Reorder quizzes via the Assignments page
Since Canvas treats quizzes as assignment items, he should go to Assignments, locate the quizzes, and use the 8-dot drag handle to reorder them within the same assignment group or move them between groups. This is the primary method Canvas provides for manual ordering.
2. Use Modules for precise sequencing (recommended best practice)
Modules offer the greatest control over the order in which students access quizzes. He can:
→ Navigate to Modules
→ Drag and drop quizzes into the desired sequence
→ Optionally add requirements or prerequisites to guide student progression
This is especially useful when quizzes are part of a structured weekly or topic-based flow.
3. Rename quizzes with numbering for clarity
Adding prefixes such as:
→ Quiz 1: Introduction
→ Quiz 2: Data Types
ensures consistent ordering and helps students easily follow the intended sequence across Assignments, Modules, and Grades.
4. Organize quizzes using Assignment Groups
You can create groups such as:
→ Weekly Quizzes
→ Practice Quizzes
→ Major Assessments
and arrange quizzes logically within each group.
5. Control visibility using availability dates
Setting availability dates ensures quizzes appear to students at the correct time, even if they are visible in the list.
Best practice recommendation:
Use Modules for student-facing order and Assignments for grading organization. Modules provide the clearest and most structured learning pathway
Hi Rajith, I think you may have misunderstood my last comment. I was wondering how both of your earlier statements could be true.
Just to jump in on the reordering issue: we also have never seen the reorder functionality in Canvas for quizzes. That said, even when you take the time to order the various graded items in the Assignments Index, take note that students don't really see them in that order, per se. Quizzes are mixed with assignments and graded discussions, if you're using them, and while they may weave in using the order you set from the Assignments Index, the greater ordering paradigm in the student view is focused on their due dates: students see graded items organized into categories by Overdue Assignments, Upcoming Assignments, and, where applicable, Undated Assignments. That is the student view of the Assignment Index.
Your best bet is almost always to use Modules for your organization and student flow through your course. And be sure to preview the flow using the Student View button to confirm what they actually see.
Hi @User3247983247 ,
The best answer to your question "Why can't I manually reorder quizzes in Quizzes?" is "because that's how the Canvas engineers designed it to work."
The posters on this site are mostly other users of Canvas who are sharing their experience and expertise. They are not Canvas employees/engineers/designers. (Occasionally Canvas employees will post here.) So we don't know why they did it that way; we can only speculate and suggest other courses of action to suit your needs.
As for Rajith's seemingly contradictory posts, those appear to be generated by an LLM (ChatGPT or other). That's exactly the format and style I get from my interactions with ChatGPT.
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