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Can Canvas detect split screen?

Written by the Canvas Quiz Solver team. Last verified: 2026-09-25

Short answer

Not the split screen itself, but the quiz log can record when you click into the other window.

  • Canvas cannot see how your windows are arranged or what the other half shows.
  • On a Classic Quiz, the page listens for focus: a click or typing in the other window moves it.
  • The log can then write Stopped viewing, then Resumed when you click back.
  • A window you only look at gives the page nothing to record.

Our pickCanvas Quiz Solver puts the answer right below the question, inside the quiz page. No other window to click into, so there is no page switch to log.

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What a web page can know about your screen

A Canvas quiz is a web page, and a web page gets two signals about the rest of your screen. Both are standard browser events, documented by MDN.

Split screen sits between the two. MDN puts it plainly: "While onblur and onfocus will tell you if the user switches windows, it doesn't necessarily mean it's hidden." With split screen the quiz page stays visible, but it loses focus the moment you click the other half. Neither signal describes the other window: the page learns when it lost focus, not which app took it or what it shows.

What Canvas records when you click the other half

Instructure's quiz log guide says the entry "Stopped viewing the Canvas quiz-taking page" "displays when a student navigates away from the quiz (closes the browser tab, opens a new browser tab, or navigates to a different program)", and "Resumed" "displays when the student has returned". Clicking a window beside the quiz counts as a different program.

Canvas is open source, so the trigger for Classic Quizzes is on record. In Instructure's canvas-lms code, the tracker for page_blurred listens to the window blur event, and the tracker for page_focused listens to the window focus event. Neither uses visibilitychange. So on a Classic Quiz the trigger is focus, not visibility: a quiz page that stays visible in split screen can still be logged when you click away. The same file skips the event when focus moves into an embedded frame inside the quiz page. Canvas cares about focus leaving the page, not about moving around inside it.

The Canvas API stores the pair as page_blurred and page_focused, both with "event_data": null: a type and a time, with no field for the other window.

What is certain and what is not

Question Answer Based on
Classic Quiz: can a click in the other window be logged? Yes. The tracker listens to window blur. canvas-lms source, Instructure quiz log guide
Does the log name the other window or app? No. The event data is null. Canvas API reference
New Quizzes: same trigger? Not documented. Its log shows stopping and resuming, but Instructure does not publish how it detects them. Instructure Moderate page guide
Does every quiz have a log? No. Quiz Log Auditing "is currently a course opt-in feature". Instructure quiz log guide

For New Quizzes, the View Log on the Moderate page shows start and finish, each event, the elapsed time, and "moments of stopping and resuming the quiz". Plan as if a click in the other window shows up there too.

Split screen still needs a click into the other window, and that click is what the quiz log can record. Canvas Quiz Solver puts the answer right below the question, inside the Canvas quiz page. You do not open a second tab, you do not copy the question into ChatGPT, and you do not switch windows, so there is no page switch for the quiz log to record. A web page cannot list the Chrome extensions you have installed. It works on Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes, and you can start free.

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Split screen on Mac, Windows, Chromebook and iPad

Every major system can put two windows side by side. The browser rule is the same on all of them: the quiz half stays visible, and a click in the other half moves focus.

Device Built-in split screen What the quiz page can notice
Mac Split View "lets you work in two apps side by side at the same time". Focus leaves the browser when you click the other app.
Windows 10 and 11 Snap: drag a window to the left or right edge, and Snap Assist fills the other half. The same: a click in the other window moves focus.
Chromebook Split or partial screen, also with Alt + [ and Alt + ]. The same focus rule.
iPad Split View: "two apps appear side-by-side". Not documented by Apple or Instructure. Treat a tap in the other app like a click.

The layout is never the signal. But the useful things you do in the other half need focus there: typing into ChatGPT, clicking a search result or selecting text to copy. That is the moment the quiz page loses focus. On a school Chromebook, the Chrome Web Store help page adds that "your organization might block some extensions".

Can Canvas see a second monitor?

No. Canvas has no documented monitor check, and Instructure's trigger list names tabs and programs only. A window on a second monitor works like the other half of a split screen: clicking into it fires the blur event the log listens for.

Proctors differ. Honorlock's faculty and student FAQ says it can "require test takers to use only a single screen". Its extension permissions page says it can "detect window resizing to ensure a test taker is only looking at their exam window" when BrowserGuard is on.

Can Canvas detect split screen on mobile?

On a phone, MDN says visibilitychange fires when the user "switches from the browser to a different app", so the quiz page is hidden, not only unfocused. On an iPad in Split View both apps stay on screen. Neither Apple nor Instructure says what a web page sees when you tap the other app, so plan as if a tap counts like a click.

Students can also take quizzes in the Canvas Student app on iOS and Android. Instructure documents no separate logging rule for the app.

Can Canvas detect two devices?

Not as a rule. The quiz log records events on the quiz page, so a phone on the desk is not part of it. The documented exception is the same quiz opened twice. In New Quizzes, if the instructor turns on Detect Multiple Sessions, students receive a notification if they try to continue the quiz in a different session. The multi-session details are for admins only.

Under a proctor, a second device is exactly what the tools look for. Honorlock markets cell phone detection tools, and its FAQ says it records "a webcam video recording that includes your desktop activity and audio recording". A second device is also slow: you retype or photograph each question, then read the answer across two screens.

Can teachers see split screen on Canvas?

Teachers see timestamps, not your screen. On a Classic Quiz, the instructor opens the log by hand, one student at a time, via Options > Show Student Quiz Results > the student > View Log. Instructure describes no alert. After a click in the other half, the log could look like this.

Illustration - not a real student log

Time Event in the log What the instructor learns
14:10:03 Viewed question 4 Question 4 was on screen.
14:10:21 Stopped viewing the Canvas quiz-taking page The quiz page lost focus. No window or app is named.
14:10:58 Resumed The quiz page has focus again, 37 seconds later.
14:11:06 Answered question 4 An answer was saved right after the return.

The log cannot tell a split screen from a new tab or a message app. Instructure also says quiz logs "are not intended to validate academic integrity or identify cheating for a quiz", and "quiz logs are only retained for six months".

For every event type, read a sample quiz log in our quiz log guide. For tabs, see split screen and second monitors in the tab switching guide.

Split screen under LockDown Browser and Honorlock

A proctoring tool changes the answer, because it controls the computer during the exam instead of only logging the quiz page. From each vendor's own pages:

  Canvas quiz log LockDown Browser Honorlock
Split screen Cannot see the layout The assessment is full-screen and cannot be minimized Can detect window resizing (BrowserGuard)
Other windows and apps Logs the focus loss, no name Prevents access to other applications; task switching is disabled Can close open tabs, block new ones, and record the desktop
Second screen No documented check Full-screen on the exam Can require a single screen
Webcam Not recorded Added by Respondus Monitor, which "adds webcam technology to LockDown Browser" Webcam video with desktop activity, plus audio

Respondus LockDown Browser is a separate browser with the assessment full-screen and task switching disabled, so there is no second half of the screen.

Honorlock works through a Chrome extension. It can record the screen when Screen Record is on, and it can disable other extensions after the student consents, for the duration of the exam. Some schools add a desktop Honorlock Application, "designed to detect any apps on your device". Check the quiz page or syllabus to know which case you are in.

Answer without a second window

Split screen still needs a click into the other window, and a click is what the quiz page can notice. Canvas Quiz Solver is a Chrome extension that puts the answer right below the question, inside the Canvas quiz page. You do not open a second tab, you do not copy the question into ChatGPT, and you do not switch windows, so there is no page switch for the quiz log to record. A web page cannot list the Chrome extensions you have installed (Chrome runs extension code in an isolated world).

It works on Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes, in Chrome on a Mac, a Windows PC or a Chromebook that allows extensions. You can start free, then it costs $9.99 a month. AI answers can be wrong, so check them against your course material.

Set it up before the quiz: the one-time consent page and the checkout open in a new tab.

It does not run inside LockDown Browser, and Honorlock can turn Chrome extensions off during a proctored exam.

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Sources we checked

Common questions

Can Canvas detect split screen?

Not the split screen itself. Canvas cannot see your window layout or the other half of the screen. On a Classic Quiz the page listens for the browser blur event, so clicking in the other window can write Stopped viewing in the quiz log, with no name for that window.

Can teachers see split screen on Canvas?

No. Teachers see timestamps such as Stopped viewing and Resumed, in a log they open by hand. The log does not show your screen or the other app, and Instructure says quiz logs are not intended to identify cheating.

Does Canvas track split screen if I never click the other window?

A window you only look at gives the page nothing to record, because the quiz page keeps focus and stays visible. Anything else that takes focus from the browser can still write an entry.

Can Canvas see a second monitor?

No. Canvas has no documented monitor check. Clicking a window on a second monitor moves focus away from the quiz page, like split screen. Honorlock can require a single screen and detect window resizing.

Can Canvas detect split screen on mobile?

On a phone, switching to another app hides the quiz page, and the browser reports that. On an iPad in Split View the page stays visible, and no official source says what a tap in the other app does, so plan as if it counts.

Can Canvas detect two devices?

Not as a rule. The quiz log covers the quiz page only. In New Quizzes, Detect Multiple Sessions records a second session of the same quiz for admins and notifies the student. Honorlock records webcam video and markets cell phone detection.

Can Canvas actually detect cheating?

Not on its own. Canvas records focus loss and timing with no destination, and Instructure says quiz logs are not intended to identify cheating. LockDown Browser and Honorlock see much more.

How to use split screen on a Canvas quiz without getting flagged?

Split screen only helps if you click or type in the other window, and that click is what a Classic Quiz log listens for. Canvas Quiz Solver puts the answer below the question inside the quiz page, so there is no second window to click. Proctored exams follow different rules.

Related guides: Everything Canvas can and cannot see during a quiz · Does Canvas detect tab switching? · What the Canvas quiz log shows a professor · Does Canvas detect Chrome extensions? · Can Canvas detect copy and paste? · All Canvas guides · What "Stopped viewing" means · How to cheat on Canvas without leaving the page

Answers inside Canvas, without leaving the page

Canvas Quiz Solver puts the answer right below the question you are on, so there is no second window to click. You can start free.

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