# Finding and Organizing Courses
By default, the Dashboard and Courses links in the Global Navigation will display all courses in **active terms**. This includes:
- Credit-bearing courses in current or future terms
- Non-credit courses (e.g., development shells, organization shells) assigned to terms with no end date
Once you begin favoriting courses using the star icons in the **All Courses** list, only those favorited courses will appear on your Dashboard and in the Courses list. You will need to manually update your favorites each term to remove old courses and add new ones.
> **Note:** For users with the **Student** role, even favorited courses will be removed from the Dashboard after the course end date. This is based on either the **Term end date** (if using Term Participation) or the **Course end date** (if using Course Participation).
> **Tip:** Faculty should generally avoid favoriting courses unless they need a concluded course to remain visible for reference or follow-up. Favoriting can unintentionally hide active courses if not managed carefully.
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## Dashboard
The Dashboard is your landing page in Canvas.
Our dashboard defaults to the Card View, but you can switch that to a Recent Activity View instead.
To learn more, see the Canvas Instructor Guide: **[How do I use the Dashboard as an instructor?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Dashboard-as-an-instructor/ta-p/815)**
If you need, you can use the Move option in the Options menu for the Course Cards to organize your courses. You can also drag and drop the Course Cards to rearrange them.
To learn more, see the Canvas Basics Guide: **[How do I view my favorite courses in the Card View Dashboard?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-view-my-courses-in-the-Card-View-Dashboard/ta-p/618765)**
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## Courses
00:07: How do I view all my canvas courses as a student? 00:11: In global navigation, click the courses link. 00:13: Then click the all courses link. 00:17: Courses are organized into all courses past enrollments, future 00:21: enrollments and groups. 00:24: Courses can be sorted by favorite status name nickname 00:28: term enrollment status and publish status by selecting. 00:32: The sort icon in the header groups are sorted alphabetically by 00:36: group name. 00:38: If Allowed by your institution, you can do the institutions public course 00:42: index in a catalog format by clicking the browse more courses button. 00:47: All courses are courses that are part of the current semester or term. 00:50: However, depending on access settings, for a course, 00:54: my course is can also display courses that have not yet started or unpublished. 01:00: Active courses that are available to you are listed in blue text, these 01:04: courses have been published and include a link to the course to open 01:08: a course, click the name of the course. 01:11: Courses that are within the current term dates but are not yet available are listed in Black 01:15: text. These courses have not been published and no link is available. 01:20: You can also view any nicknames you have created for courses. 01:24: Is a course, includes a term date. The term date displays. 01:29: Each course includes your role in the course. 01:31: Your Role can be student teacher, ta Observer 01:35: designer or a custom roll created by your Institution. 01:40: Any all courses section. You can customize the courses list and Mark courses 01:44: as favorites. Favorite courses display in the card view dashboard. 01:50: You can change the order that courses are listed by clicking the sort icon in the header. 01:54: The column currently use for sorting displays either the ascending 01:58: or descending icon to indicate the sort order. 02:02: Courses under the past enrollments heading our courses that have concluded, but are still available 02:06: as a read-only archive course. 02:08: You can do course, material and grades but can no longer participate 02:12: in the course. 02:14: Future enrollments are courses. That will be made available as part of an upcoming term 02:18: or specific course start date. Future courses may be published or 02:22: unpublished. However, some institutions May restrict you from being 02:26: published courses before the start date. 02:28: If a future course, includes a link. 02:31: You can do course content but cannot fully participate in the course until 02:35: the start date. Participation include submitting, assignments and 02:39: replying to discussions. It's a future course, does not include 02:44: a link. The course, cannot be viewed until the start date. 02:49: If you are enrolled in groups, the group section displays any groups within 02:53: your current courses. You can do, all your groups in your groups list. 02:58: To view a group home page, click the group named link. 03:03: You can locate your course, ID number at the end of your course URL. 03:08: This guy covered how to view all my canvas courses as a student.
### All Courses
In Global Navigation, click the **Courses** link \[1\], then click the **All Courses** link \[2\].
Courses are organized into All Courses \[1\], Past Enrollments \[2\], Future Enrollments \[3\], and Groups \[4\].
Courses can be sorted by Favorite status, Name, Nickname, Term, enrollment status, and Published status by selecting the **Sort** icon in the header \[5\]. Groups are sorted alphabetically by group name.
If allowed by your institution, you can **[view the institution's public course index ](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-view-my-institution-s-Public-Course-Index/ta-p/618757)**in a catalog format by clicking the **Browse More Courses** button \[6\].
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## Using Nicknames to Organize Courses
You can assign nicknames to your courses to make them easier to identify on the Dashboard. This is especially helpful if you teach multiple sections with similar names.
### Create Nickname
To add a nickname, click the **Options** icon \[1\], then enter the name in the **Nickname** field \[2\]. Click the **Apply** button \[3\].
To remove a nickname, open the card options and delete the nickname. The Nickname field will display the original name of the course. Then, click the Apply button.
> **Notes:**
>
> - This change only affects your view and does not rename the course for students.
> - A course nickname does not affect the course code, which always displays on the course card for course reference.
> - Course nicknames appear in the Dashboard, Course Navigation Menu, course breadcrumbs, and notification emails. Nicknames do not display in the global Grades page and Dashboard sidebar elements such as the To Do list.
> - Course nicknames are limited to 59 characters.
#### View Original Name
If you added a nickname but need to know the original name of the course, hover the cursor over the nickname \[1\]; view the original course name in the tooltip hover text \[2\].
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## Troubleshooting Dashboard Visibility
If a course disappears from your Dashboard after a role or enrollment change, check the **All Courses** list and re-favorite it. Only favorited courses appear on the Dashboard. If you are marking courses as favorites, you will need to manually update which courses are favorited every term to remove past terms from your list and add the new courses.
### Banner Sync Delays
Changes in instructor assignments may take up to 24 hours to reflect in Canvas. If your course is missing, verify your Banner assignment and check again later.
> **Note:** Courses must be published before students can access them. If your course is listed but not visible to students, check the course’s publication status.
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## Learn More
- **[Getting Started](https://kb.astate.edu/books/learning-technology/page/getting-started)**
- **[Managing Course Access in Canvas](https://kb.astate.edu/books/learning-technology/page/managing-course-access-in-canvas-enrollments-roles-and-requests)**
- [**How do I change the start and end dates for a course?**](https://kb.astate.edu/books/learning-technology/page/how-do-i-change-the-start-and-end-dates-for-a-course-274)
- See the Canvas Basics Guides:
- **[How do I view all my Canvas courses?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-view-all-my-Canvas-courses/ta-p/618766)**
- **[How do I view my courses in the Card View Dashboard? ](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-view-my-courses-in-the-Card-View-Dashboard/ta-p/618765)**