# How do I use the Course Navigation Menu as an instructor?

The Course Navigation Menu is a series of links on the left side of your course that help you and your students access different course areas. The Course Navigation Menu is visible by default, but you can choose to collapse it.

Depending on the structure of your course, you can choose to [reorder and hide course navigation links](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-manage-Course-Navigation-links/ta-p/1020).

**Note:** If you have [enabled the Canvas Elementary Theme](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-an-elementary-level-theme-in-a-course-as-an/ta-p/672) for your course, the Course Navigation Menu displays a different font.

<div id="bkmrk-embed-this-video"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1" frameborder="0" height="400px" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-forms allow-same-origin allow-presentation" src="https://embed.app.guidde.com/playbooks/aUR6FjiigTy4scLeKKApJA" title="Untitled Guidde" width="700px"></iframe>

<button class="embed-button">Embed this Video</button></div>## Open Course

<div data-step-uuid="eae902ac-6c13-468f-81c9-1c3484b5a19a" id="bkmrk-"><div data-step-uuid="eae902ac-6c13-468f-81c9-1c3484b5a19a"><div>![View Courses](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/009/111/659/original/32eb40dd-ad82-4dce-bc86-b3424a9c3899.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>To open a course from the [Global Navigation Menu](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Global-Navigation-Menu/ta-p/618767), click the **Courses** link \[1\]. Then click a course link \[2\], or to view all courses, click the **All Courses** link \[3\].

## View Course Navigation Menu

<div data-step-uuid="8AB9B060-9628-485C-A7D4-A7E57F67D728" id="bkmrk--0"><div data-step-uuid="8AB9B060-9628-485C-A7D4-A7E57F67D728"><div>![View Course Navigation Menu](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/901/444/original/96a6989d-de1e-448c-b995-94ea4ea7cdc3.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>View the Course Navigation Menu \[1\]. The currently active link is highlighted with different color text and a line indicator \[2\]. This highlight helps you quickly identify the feature area you are currently viewing in Canvas.

Links that are hidden to students are indicated by the **Visibility** icon \[3\]. A link may be hidden to students because the feature area has no content or because the link is disabled. Learn more about [managing course navigation links](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-manage-Course-Navigation-links/ta-p/1020).

By default, new courses show links leading to the index pages for the following areas:

<div data-step-uuid="8AB9B060-9628-485C-A7D4-A7E57F67D728" id="bkmrk-home-announcements-a"><div data-step-uuid="8AB9B060-9628-485C-A7D4-A7E57F67D728"><div><div>- [Home](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Course-Home-Page-as-an-instructor/ta-p/1250)
- Announcements
- Assignments
- Discussions
- Grades
- People
- Pages
- Files
- Syllabus
- Outcomes
- Quizzes
- Modules
- Conferences
- Collaborations
- Settings
- Lucid (Whiteboard)

</div></div></div></div>**Note:** Configured external (LTI ) tools may create additional Course Navigation links. However, these links do not display the visibility icon. To prevent a link for an LTI tool displaying in the Course Navigation Menu for either you or your students, you can [disable Course Navigation links](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-manage-Course-Navigation-links/ta-p/1020) for LTI Tools in course settings.

## Open Course Navigation Link

<div data-step-uuid="ad22b152-5be0-41da-8e22-b09b0dd42337" id="bkmrk--1"><div data-step-uuid="ad22b152-5be0-41da-8e22-b09b0dd42337"><div>![Open Course Navigation Link](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/901/447/original/24c7bf59-6373-4cd5-afa6-c191bf73e2aa.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>To open a feature area in Canvas, click the name of a Course Navigation link.

## Collapse Course Navigation Menu

<div data-step-uuid="b186b783-c436-4f88-96a0-872976f105d1" id="bkmrk--2"><div data-step-uuid="b186b783-c436-4f88-96a0-872976f105d1"><div>![Collapse Course Navigation Menu](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/901/450/original/c6247fb4-6d45-453e-83a6-1212e694f37d.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>To collapse the Course Navigation Menu, click the **Menu** icon.

## Expand Course Navigation Menu

<div data-step-uuid="c77224d8-3530-4dc8-bef0-6aee30077937" id="bkmrk--3"><div data-step-uuid="c77224d8-3530-4dc8-bef0-6aee30077937"><div>![Expand Course Navigation Menu](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/901/452/original/2d29d739-4ac0-48a4-b24a-d9ac91b05b8f.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>When the Course Navigation menu is collapsed, it is not visible. To expand and view the Course Navigation Menu, click the **Menu** icon.

**Note:** When you expand or collapse the Course Navigation Menu, the menu is expanded or collapsed in all of your courses.

\[Content retrieved from [https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Course-Navigation-Menu-as-an-instructor/ta-p/941](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Course-Navigation-Menu-as-an-instructor/ta-p/941)\]