The product experience
How Safe Exam Browser works with Canvas.
For instructors
Start with the assessment, not a configuration file.
Safe Online Exam opens from Canvas course navigation and lists the published Classic Quizzes and New Quizzes the instructor already teaches.
- Enable Safe Exam Browser with one action
- Use course defaults or set an assessment-specific policy
- Add start and exit passwords without sharing the Canvas access code
Approved resources
Lock the device without stripping useful resources from the exam.
An instructor can provide a formula sheet, reference page, video, or web application as a named exam tool, then decide exactly which pages or sites it may load.
- Keep a tool on one exact page or approve a defined site
- Reuse course tools and school-managed presets
- Let students position the tool beside the Canvas assessment
For students
Follow Canvas instead of learning a separate testing portal.
Students connect Canvas once, can run a setup check before exam day, and begin from the normal assessment page. The approved configuration and access code are handled for them.
Prepare
Run the optional setup check before the assessment window.
Start
Choose the assessment in Canvas and accept the Safe Exam Browser launch.
Finish
Submit in Canvas and use the assessment-bound exit flow.
During the assessment
Stay focused without leaving instructors stranded.
Safe Exam Browser blocks the normal desktop and unapproved navigation. If a laptop problem or assessment change requires an early exit, the instructor has a controlled password-based recovery path.
- The Canvas access code is never handed to the student
- Approved tools remain available without general browser access
- A successful Canvas submission enables the normal exit
- The exit password provides supervised recovery without submission
The technical proof stays behind the experience.
The people taking and administering an exam get a direct workflow. Evaluators can still inspect the controls behind every handoff.
What happens behind the screen
- A current Config Key proof is required before the one-time access-code handoff.
- Changing protected settings invalidates the previous assessment configuration.
- Canvas continues to enforce course permissions and records the submission.
See the workflow with your own assessment team.
A live demonstration shows instructor setup, student launch, approved resources, normal completion, and supervised recovery.