The Canvas quiz log, explained
The log lists four kinds of events with a timestamp on each one: you viewed a question, you answered a question, you stopped viewing the quiz-taking page, you resumed. It shows no screen, no other tabs, no keystrokes, and no IP address to a teacher. Instructure says the log is not meant to detect cheating.
The four events
A Classic Quizzes attempt produces one event list. Your instructor opens it and reads entries of four kinds, each with a timestamp, as Instructure's quiz log guide sets out:
- Viewed (and possibly read) a question. The question came on screen.
- Answered a question. You picked or typed an answer.
- Stopped viewing the Canvas quiz-taking page. The quiz page lost focus.
- Resumed. The quiz page got focus back.
That is the whole vocabulary. Every line is one of those four events plus a time: no tab name, no web address, no application name, no image of your screen. A university mirror of that guide carries the same four items.
How a professor opens the log
Classic Quizzes
The instructor opens your attempt and follows the quiz log link. Instructure documents the path in a guide for instructors.
New Quizzes
New Quizzes puts the same idea on the Moderate page. Per the Moderate page guide, the instructor chooses View Log, which shows when the attempt started and finished plus each event inside it. Session Details on that page can flag an attempt that used more than one device or browser.
Both views are read-only event lists. Canvas ships no built-in proctoring, so neither adds a camera feed or a screen recording. Per the New Quizzes settings guide, the settings a teacher controls are things like shuffled answers, a time limit, an access code and an IP filter.
What is NOT in the log
Most worries about the log are about data it never collects. The table below splits two questions: is it in the log, and can anyone at your school see it another way?
| Item | In the quiz log? | Who can see it elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| Your screen | No | No one, unless your school adds a proctoring tool |
| Which tab or site you opened | No. Only the focus change | No one. A page sees only focus loss |
| Keystrokes and typing speed | No | Not in the quiz log; no Instructure guide describes keystroke logging |
| Copy and paste | No. Clipboard events are not logged | No Instructure guide describes clipboard logging |
| Your IP address | No | Admins, in New Quizzes multi-session details |
| Browser and operating system | No | Admins, in the same multi-session details view |
| Installed Chrome extensions | No | No one. Extensions run in an isolated world |
| Webcam or microphone | No | No one without an explicit browser permission prompt |
| Pages you opened in the course | No | Teachers, in the course access report |
Multi-session details and IP: who can see them
Multi-session details in New Quizzes is the one view with network information about an attempt. It shows
the client IP address, the browser and the operating system, and Instructure states it
“can only be viewed by admins” unless an admin grants teachers the
new_quizzes_view_ip_address permission, per the admin guide for multi-session details.
Teachers do see activity summaries outside the log. The People page lists Last Activity and Total Activity per student, and, per the access report guide, the course Access Report lists Content, Times Viewed, Times Participated and Last Viewed. Page views with user agent and IP sit at the admin level: the Canvas users API is where the remote IP appears. None of that is part of your quiz log.
How long logs are kept
Canvas retains quiz logs for six months, per university IT documentation of Canvas quiz logs. A dispute inside that window can still be checked against the event list.
How instructors actually read logs
Instructure sets the limit itself: “Quiz logs are not intended to validate academic integrity or identify cheating.” That line sits in the guide text a university mirror quotes in full.
A gap sits between a “Stopped viewing the Canvas quiz-taking page” line and the next “Resumed” line. That event fires when the quiz page loses focus. Another window, another tab, a system notification or a dropped connection can all fire it, and, per the quiz log guide, the log never records where the focus went.
So a gap tells your instructor that the page lost focus for forty seconds. It does not tell them what filled those forty seconds. If your log looks odd to you, ask your instructor to open it with you.
The extension and the log
Canvas Quiz Solver is a Chrome extension for Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes. It adds a button inside the Canvas quiz page and shows the answer in that same page, so you stay on the quiz-taking page instead of opening a second window. You get 5 free answers, then it is $4.99 per month. Support is at support@canvasquiz.com.
- How do I view a quiz log for a student?, checked 2026-09-10
- Quiz Logs, University of Illinois Answers, checked 2026-09-10
- Canvas Quiz Logs, checked 2026-09-10
- How do I use the Moderate page in New Quizzes?, checked 2026-09-10
- How do I view multi-session details in New Quizzes as an admin?, checked 2026-09-10
- How do I manage settings for a quiz in New Quizzes?, checked 2026-09-10
- How do I view the course access report for an individual user?, checked 2026-09-10
- Users - Canvas LMS REST API Documentation, checked 2026-09-10
- Content scripts, checked 2026-09-10
- Document: visibilitychange event, checked 2026-09-10
Common questions
Can professors see your screen through the quiz log?
No. The quiz log holds four kinds of events with timestamps: viewed a question, answered a question, stopped viewing the quiz-taking page, resumed. There is no image of your screen in it, and Canvas has no built-in proctoring that records one.
Does the quiz log show your IP address?
No. Your IP address is not one of the quiz log events. In New Quizzes, the client IP, browser and operating system appear in multi-session details, and Instructure says that view can only be seen by admins unless an admin grants teachers the IP address permission.
Does the log show copy and paste?
No. Clipboard actions are not in the four event types, and no Instructure guide describes clipboard logging in quizzes. If you copied from another window, the switch itself can show up as a stopped viewing entry, because the quiz page lost focus.
Can students see their own quiz log?
There is no student view of the log described in Instructure’s guides. Instructure documents the quiz log in guides written for instructors, who open it from a student attempt or from the Moderate page in New Quizzes. If you need your log, ask your instructor to open it with you.
Are quiz logs used as proof of cheating?
Instructure states that quiz logs are not intended to validate academic integrity or identify cheating. A gap between stopped viewing and resumed shows only that the page lost focus. The log does not record where the focus went, so it cannot show what happened.
Answers inside Canvas, without leaving the page
Canvas Quiz Solver reads the question you are on and puts an answer right below it.
Add to Chrome - free