Find answers to common questions about Better Canvas extension, including installation help, better canvas themes, features, troubleshooting, and more.
Plus FAQs for browser extensions on Moodle, Brightspace, and Blackboard — switch platforms with the filter below.
Better Canvas is a free browser extension developed by the UseBetterCanvas team that enhances the Canvas LMS experience with powerful features like dark mode, custom better canvas themes, GPA calculator, enhanced todo lists, smart reminders, and productivity tools. It's designed to make studying more enjoyable and efficient for students and educators.
Installing Better Canvas is easy and takes less than 2 minutes:
Yes, Better Canvas extension is completely safe. It's open source, verified by browser stores, and regularly scanned for malware. The extension doesn't collect personal data, doesn't access your grades or assignments, and only enhances the visual appearance and functionality of Canvas. Trusted by thousands of students for their daily Canvas usage.
Yes! All better canvas themes are completely free to use. The collection includes a wide variety including dark themes, colorful themes, minimalist designs, and seasonal themes. You can switch between themes anytime without any cost or limitations. New themes are regularly added to the collection based on community requests.
Changing better canvas themes is simple:
Yes! Better Canvas includes a built-in theme creator that allows you to design custom themes. You can customize colors, fonts, layouts, and visual elements to create your perfect Canvas experience. Once created, you can save your theme and share it with friends.
Better Canvas includes many powerful features:
The Better Canvas GPA calculator is highly accurate and works with all standard grading systems. It automatically pulls your grades from Canvas and calculates your GPA in real-time. The calculator supports weighted grades, different grading scales (4.0, 5.0, etc.), and what-if scenarios to help you plan your academic goals. However, always verify important calculations with your academic advisor.
Try these troubleshooting steps:
If you can't see better canvas themes, make sure: 1) Better Canvas extension is properly installed and enabled, 2) You're on a Canvas page (themes only work on Canvas LMS), 3) Your browser allows the extension to run on Canvas domains, 4) You've clicked the Better Canvas icon and navigated to the Themes section. If themes still don't appear, try refreshing the page or reinstalling the extension.
Better Canvas extension works on mobile browsers that support extensions, such as Firefox Mobile and Kiwi Browser (Chrome-based). However, most mobile browsers don't support extensions, so Better Canvas is primarily designed for desktop use. For the best experience with better canvas themes and all features, we recommend using Chrome or Firefox on a computer.
Yes! Better Canvas extension is completely free to download and use. All features including dark mode, custom better canvas themes, GPA calculator, enhanced todo lists, and productivity tools are available at no cost. There are no premium features, subscriptions, or hidden fees.
No, Better Canvas extension only enhances the visual appearance and user interface of Canvas. It doesn't modify, access, or interfere with your grades, assignments, submissions, or any academic data. The extension works purely on the frontend to improve your Canvas experience with better canvas themes, dark mode, and productivity tools while keeping all your data safe and unchanged.
Yes! You can install Better Canvas extension on multiple browsers. It's available for both Chrome (and Chromium-based browsers) and Firefox. You'll need to install it separately on each browser, but your settings and preferred better canvas themes can be configured independently on each browser to match your preferences.
Moodle Buddy is published on both the Chrome Web Store and Mozilla Add-ons — open the appropriate store, search "Moodle Buddy", and click "Add to Chrome" or "Add to Firefox". Moodle Downloader is Chrome-only and installs the same way from the Chrome Web Store. Both activate automatically the next time you visit a Moodle course page; no manual configuration is required.
Both extensions are designed to work on standard Moodle sites regardless of the domain. Because Moodle is open source, every institution hosts its own version — so compatibility depends on how customized your school's Moodle theme and plugins are. The best test is to install the extension and try it on a course page; if the page structure is standard, it will work.
Yes. Both Moodle Buddy (Chrome and Firefox) and Moodle Downloader (Chrome) are free to install, open source, and have no paid tier or premium features. Always verify on the official store page before installing, as ownership of open-source extensions can change over time.
Moodle Buddy is broader: it downloads files, scans all your enrolled courses, and shows notifications when new content is posted. Moodle Downloader is narrower and simpler: it gives you a click-and-drag interface on a course's Resources page to pick files and download them in one batch, with no tracking or extra features. If you mainly want downloads, Moodle Downloader is lighter; if you want course-wide awareness, Moodle Buddy is more complete.
Yes — this is one of Moodle Buddy's main features. It periodically scans your enrolled courses and surfaces a "What's new since last visit?" view, so newly posted resources, assignments, or forum threads show up in one place rather than requiring you to click through each course. Moodle Downloader does not include notifications; it focuses purely on bulk downloading.
Both extensions support bulk download, with different workflows. Moodle Downloader gives you a visual file picker on the course page so you can select files and grab them in one batch. Moodle Buddy can download all files for a course (or for all your enrolled courses) and supports filtering by file type. Note: course materials are normally copyrighted by your instructors or institution, so use bulk-download for personal study only and check your school's acceptable-use policy.
Moodle releases updates twice a year, and universities deploy them on different schedules. An extension that worked last semester may need a patch after an upgrade. If this happens, check the extension's GitHub repository for recent issues or releases, try the latest version from the store, or temporarily disable the extension until a fix is published. Both Moodle Buddy and Moodle Downloader are open source, so fixes often arrive quickly after major Moodle versions.
Most Moodle extensions discover courses by reading your Moodle dashboard. If a course is hidden, archived, or filtered out of your dashboard view, the extension cannot see it either. Open your Moodle dashboard, switch the course filter to "All" (instead of "In progress" or "Starred"), then re-open the extension popup — your full course list should appear. Some institutions also restrict the dashboard via custom themes, which can prevent enumeration entirely.
Both Moodle Buddy and Moodle Downloader are open source — anyone can inspect the source code on GitHub. Their store listings declare no data collection, and all processing (course scanning, file selection, downloads) happens locally in your browser. They are independent third-party projects, not developed or endorsed by Moodle HQ or any institution. Always review the requested permissions before installing.
All three are browser extensions installed from the Chrome Web Store (or Mozilla Add-ons where available) — search for the extension name and click "Add to Chrome" or "Add to Firefox". Desire2Improve additionally lets you add multiple Brightspace school URLs in its options page, which is required if your institution uses a non-default subdomain. The Grade Calculator and Dark2L activate automatically as soon as you open a Brightspace page.
All three extensions target standard Brightspace / D2L page structures. Because each institution hosts its own Brightspace URL and can enable or disable certain tools (like the What-If grade view), some features may behave differently school-to-school. Desire2Improve specifically supports adding multiple school URLs, which helps students whose institution uses a non-default domain.
Yes. All three listings — D2L Grade Calculator, Dark2L, and Desire2Improve — are free to install with no paid tier or premium features. Only Desire2Improve is explicitly open source (MIT). Always verify on the official store page before installing, and review the permissions requested.
Yes — Dark2L is a dedicated dark theme for Brightspace that re-skins the dashboard, course pages, and content widgets in a consistent dark palette. If you only want a basic dark conversion without the bundled focus-audio library, a generic extension like Dark Reader with a Brightspace-specific color preset achieves similar visual results at a much smaller install size.
Desire2Improve is the most customization-focused option in the Brightspace ecosystem: it supports custom course nicknames, dashboard layout tweaks, and per-school configuration. Dark2L handles the visual theme layer specifically. Brightspace itself does not expose a native theme picker, so any visual customization will come through these third-party extensions rather than a built-in setting.
Most of the install size is the bundled ambient-sound library (rain, café, white noise). Dark2L ships these as local audio files so that focus sounds work offline and don't rely on streaming. If you only want the dark theme and do not care about the audio layer, a smaller alternative like Dark Reader with a Brightspace-specific color preset achieves similar visual results without the audio payload.
The calculator reads the weighted categories and current scores from your visible Brightspace grade page and applies the same weighting formula your instructor configured. It is not an official D2L tool, and its accuracy depends on whether your instructor uses weighted grades versus points-based grades, whether extra credit is configured, and whether any manual grade adjustments have been made. Treat its numbers as estimates, not as official course totals.
Yes — the Brightspace Grade Calculator lets you edit any score on the grade page and instantly see the projected course total recompute, which is the core "what-if" workflow. You can also clear an existing score to see what's needed on a remaining assignment to reach a target grade. Brightspace itself includes a native "What-If" view for some institutions, but it has to be enabled per-school; the extension fills in when that view is disabled.
D2L ships monthly continuous-delivery updates to Brightspace, and each release can change DOM structure or class names. An extension that worked last term may need a patch after an update. If this happens, check the extension's store page reviews or (for open-source listings like Desire2Improve) the GitHub issue tracker; disable the extension temporarily until a fix lands. The Grade Calculator in particular is sensitive to grade-book layout changes.
Yes. Desire2Improve was built specifically with the multi-domain reality of Brightspace in mind: open the extension's options page and add your school's Brightspace URL (for example, brightspace.example-university.edu) to the allowlist. Once added, the extension's customization features apply on that domain. This is one of the main reasons Desire2Improve is recommended over generic D2L extensions for students at institutions with custom subdomains.
Better Blackboard Learn and Direct PDF Viewer install from the Chrome Web Store — search the extension name and click "Add to Chrome". Blackboard+ is a Mozilla Add-ons listing for Firefox. After install, open any Blackboard course page and the extension activates automatically. Blackboard+ is the only currently maintained generic Firefox option we found; the rest of the Firefox Blackboard ecosystem is dominated by single-school add-ons.
Better Blackboard Learn and Blackboard+ target the general Blackboard Learn UI and work on both Ultra and Classic surfaces, but small DOM differences between institutions can affect specific features. Direct PDF Viewer only runs on Blackboard Ultra attachment links — it will not do anything on a Classic course. If your school is mid-migration between Ultra and Classic, expect mixed results across courses.
Yes. All three listings — Better Blackboard Learn, Direct PDF Viewer for Blackboard Ultra, and Blackboard+ — are free to install with no paid tier, no in-app purchases, and no premium features. Better Blackboard Learn and Blackboard+ publish their source on GitHub (Blackboard+ is explicitly MIT-licensed). Always verify on the official store page before installing and review the requested permissions.
Log into Blackboard and open any course. If you see a modern single-page layout with a left-hand icon-based "base navigation" and side panels for content, you're on Ultra. If you see tabbed top navigation with a left-side course menu of custom content areas, that course is on the Classic/Original Experience. Many schools run both side-by-side during a multi-year migration, so different courses in the same account can use different versions. Direct PDF Viewer only runs on Ultra; Better Blackboard Learn and Blackboard+ work on both.
Better Blackboard Learn supports both Ultra and Classic and is the most general-purpose option. Blackboard+ also works on both surfaces and adds productivity tweaks. Direct PDF Viewer is Ultra-only — it intercepts attachment links in the Ultra content viewer to render PDFs inline, which Classic does not need. If your school is still on Classic, install Better Blackboard Learn or Blackboard+ and skip Direct PDF Viewer.
Blackboard Learn does not ship a native dark theme on either Ultra or Classic. Better Blackboard Learn includes dark-mode styling as part of its broader UI improvements, which is the most direct route. For a more aggressive page-wide dark conversion, a generic extension like Dark Reader with a Blackboard-tuned color preset works on both Ultra and Classic, though it can occasionally over-darken images and inline content viewers.
On Blackboard Ultra, PDF attachments normally open inside Anthology's document viewer, which can be slow on large files and lacks browser-native shortcuts. Direct PDF Viewer rewrites the attachment link so the PDF opens in your browser's built-in viewer instead, giving you native search, zoom, and print. It only acts on PDF attachments — other file types are unchanged. The extension does nothing on Classic courses.
We list it with a disclosure because its user count is well below our usual threshold. The reasons we still included it: the source is MIT-licensed and published on GitHub (anyone can audit it), the Firefox Add-ons listing declares no data collection, and it was released in January 2026 — so "6 users" reflects a new release rather than an abandoned project. It is the only actively maintained, free, open-source Firefox add-on we found that targets Blackboard Learn generically. If you want to be conservative, wait a few months for the user count and review volume to grow.
Anthology ships regular updates to Blackboard Learn Ultra, and each release can change DOM structure or class names. An extension that worked last term may need a patch after an update. If something breaks, check the extension's store page reviews or — for open-source listings like Better Blackboard Learn and Blackboard+ — the GitHub issue tracker. Disable the extension temporarily until a fix lands. Because Blackboard also maintains the Classic codebase in parallel, extensions that support both versions can break on one while continuing to work on the other.
No. All extensions listed here are independent third-party projects published on the Chrome Web Store or Mozilla Add-ons. They are not developed, endorsed, or maintained by Anthology (the company behind Blackboard Learn) or any specific educational institution. Always review permissions before installing, and uninstall if you notice any unexpected behavior on grade, assignment, or content pages.
Canvas has by far the largest and most active third-party extension ecosystem — partly because it has the largest higher-ed market share in North America and partly because Instructure publishes a stable DOM. Moodle is second thanks to its open-source community (Moodle Buddy and Moodle Downloader cover most needs). Brightspace and Blackboard ecosystems are smaller, with three to four solid generic extensions each; the Firefox side of Blackboard in particular is dominated by single-school add-ons rather than general tools.
In general, no — each LMS has its own DOM structure, grade-book layout, and content viewer, so most enhancement extensions are platform-specific. Generic utility extensions (Dark Reader for dark mode, an ad-free PDF viewer, a focus-timer extension) work on any LMS because they operate at the browser level. If you use more than one LMS, expect to install one specialized extension per platform plus one or two cross-cutting browser tools.
Browser extensions run locally in your browser and modify what you see on the page; they don't change anything on the LMS server, and they don't submit anything on your behalf. Your school's LMS administrators cannot directly detect that an extension is installed. That said: install only extensions from official stores, prefer open-source listings whose source is auditable, review the permissions before installing, and never use any extension that claims to "auto-submit" assignments or bypass academic-integrity tools — those are out of scope for this site and can violate school policy.
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Get Better Canvas extension and transform your Canvas experience with dark mode, better canvas themes, and productivity tools.