How Do I Reply to a Discussion?

You can easily reply to any discussion. However, the reply option may vary depending upon how your instructor set up the discussion. Discussion replies can be edited or deleted, as long as your instructor has not restricted this setting in your course.

Before submitting a reply for a graded discussion, you may want to review all discussion information, such as the graded discussion rubric, if any.

Notes:

The discussion reply Rich Content Editor includes a word count display below the bottom right corner of the text box.
If your discussion looks different than what is displayed in this lesson, your instructor may be using Discussions Redesign in your course. Learn how to reply to a discussion in Discussions Redesign.

Open Discussions

In Course Navigation, click the Discussions link.

Open Discussion

Click the title of the discussion.

Reply to Discussion

To reply to the main discussion, type your reply in the Reply field.

Post Reply

Add your reply, links, files, and other media in the Rich Content Editor [1]. If allowed in your course, you may also attach files [2].

To post your reply, click the Post Reply button [3].

Note: If you post your discussion response before an attached image finishes uploading, Canvas displays a warning message.

View Your Reply

Your reply will be posted at the bottom of the discussion reply thread. The border of your post will flash indicating it has been newly posted. The unread icon next to your post will immediately change to the read icon if Canvas automatically marks your posts as read. However, if you manually mark your posts as read, the unread icon will remain until you manually mark it as read.

Thread a Discussion Reply

Reply to a Comment in a Focused Discussion

To respond to a discussion reply, click the Reply link.

Note: Depending on how your instructor set up the discussion, the reply field may look slightly different.

Post Reply

Add your reply, links, files, and other media in the Rich Content Editor [1]. If allowed in your course, you may also attach files [2].

To post your reply, click the Post Reply button [3].

Note: If you post your discussion response before an attached image finishes uploading, Canvas displays a warning message.

View Reply

Your reply displays at the bottom of the discussion thread. If your discussion replies are automatically marked as read, your new reply displays a Read icon [1]. If you have selected to manually mark read discussion posts, your post displays an Unread icon [2] until you manually mark it as read.