# How do I change discussion settings to manually mark discussion replies as read as a student?

In discussion replies, a blue dot indicates the reply is new and unread. A white dot indicates a reply is read. When you navigate away from the discussion or refresh the page, the blue dots automatically change to white dots, indicating the replies are read.

You can tell Canvas not to automatically mark your discussion replies as read so that you can manually control which replies you haven't viewed. Your selection for this option applies to the Discussions settings for all of your courses. By default, manually marking posts as read is turned off.

You can [manually mark discussion replies as read or unread](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-mark-discussion-replies-as-read-or-unread-as-a-student/ta-p/284) at any time.

<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/cWGXM34ecBYEGwDYN8aAZf" title="How do I change discussion settings to manually mark discussion replies as read as a student?" width="700px"></iframe>

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

<div data-step-uuid="0604304b-7a81-4fe0-9871-a2f4fd4729ff" id="bkmrk-"><div data-step-uuid="0604304b-7a81-4fe0-9871-a2f4fd4729ff"><div>![Open Discussions](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/748/424/original/40811ed4-787e-474b-aa48-370c272f6b63.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>In Course Navigation, click the **Discussions** link.

## Open Settings

<div data-step-uuid="BD8AB34E-852F-4043-843A-CD0E8EA7F2AC" id="bkmrk--0"><div data-step-uuid="BD8AB34E-852F-4043-843A-CD0E8EA7F2AC"><div>[![Open Settings](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/229/662/medium/c7ba510f-cfad-4c9e-b2fb-f1ab37cafb2c.png)](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/229/662/original/c7ba510f-cfad-4c9e-b2fb-f1ab37cafb2c.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>Click the **Settings** icon.

## Manually Mark Replies as Read

<div data-step-uuid="7CE3BC89-16F1-4B42-BE4D-71F8EF2FD712" id="bkmrk--1"><div data-step-uuid="7CE3BC89-16F1-4B42-BE4D-71F8EF2FD712"><div>![Manually Mark Replies as Read](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/229/664/original/2226f8d3-b8f6-452e-888f-fb0652ff71bd.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>Click the **Manually mark replies as read** checkbox.

**Note:** Selecting this option will require you to [manually mark replies as read](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-mark-discussion-replies-as-read-or-unread-as-a-student/ta-p/284) for all of your courses.

## Save Settings

<div data-step-uuid="5417472B-9904-428F-8B10-538D03C465A4" id="bkmrk--2"><div data-step-uuid="5417472B-9904-428F-8B10-538D03C465A4"><div>![Save Settings](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/008/229/666/original/6771d647-03c8-4e30-91cf-c09487592706.png)</div><div><div></div></div></div></div>Click the **Save Settings** button.

\[Content retrieved from [https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-change-discussion-settings-to-manually-mark-discussion/ta-p/366](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-change-discussion-settings-to-manually-mark-discussion/ta-p/366)\]