Collaborations (Office 365)

Collaborations in Canvas allow you to create a shared Microsoft Office 365 document (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) that students can co-edit. This is a great option for group work, shared note-taking, project planning, peer editing, and collaborative analysis.

Canvas makes it easy to start a collaboration from within your course and invite specific students or groups—without needing to manually share a OneDrive file link.

How Instructors Commonly Use Collaborations

Group project planning documents (roles, timelines, task lists)
Shared research logs, annotated bibliographies, or data collection sheets
Collaborative writing drafts or peer editing
Study guides or shared “class notes” documents
Lab/report templates that students complete together

Key Things to Know Before You Create a Collaboration

Collaborations open in a new tab and users may be prompted to sign in to Office 365.
You can invite individual students, groups, or both into the same collaboration.
One collaboration = one shared document. If you add multiple groups, they will all be editing the same file.
Access persists once shared. Uninviting users or deleting the collaboration in Canvas does not necessarily remove their access once the file has been added to their OneDrive.
If you do not see Office 365 as an option, the feature may not be enabled for the course.

Tip: For group-specific documents (each group needs its own copy), create a separate collaboration for each group or create group work directly from within each group space.

How to Create an Office 365 Collaboration in Canvas

In Course Navigation, click Collaborations.
Click Start a new collaboration.
In the Collaborate using drop-down menu, select Office 365.
Select the file type: Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
Enter a Document Name and (optional) Description.
Add collaborators by selecting individual People and/or selecting Groups.
Click Save.

After you create the collaboration, students will be able to access it from the Collaborations page and it will also appear in their Office 365 (OneDrive) environment.

How to Create an Office 365 Collaboration

This video walks through starting a new Office 365 collaboration, choosing the file type, and inviting students or groups.

Creating Office 365 Collaborations

Best Practices for Student Success

Set expectations: Tell students what “done” looks like (format, length, required sections, and how collaboration will be evaluated).
Use roles: Assign roles (editor, recorder, reviewer, timekeeper) to increase accountability and participation.
Align to Groups: If the work is group-based, set up Groups first so you can assign collaborations cleanly.
Keep it simple: A single shared document works well for brainstorming and planning; multiple documents may be better for major projects.

Related Canvas Guides

If you need more information about any of the topics on this page, the links below connect you to the most relevant Canvas Guides. These step-by-step articles provide additional detail and screenshots.

You can find all the Canvas Guides by clicking on the Help Button at the bottom of the Green Global Navigation Bar (left side of window).

Click Previous to go back

Back to Checklist

Click Next to continue