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Turn your notes into a practice quiz when Canvas has no preview

DeckOwl can't fix Canvas, but it can build multiple-choice, true/false or open questions from your PDFs, slides or notes, with an explanation for every answer.

Create quizzes nowFree · No credit card required

Drop files here or browsePDF, DOCX, PPTX, text or photos of your notes · several files with Plus

Free account · 3 sets a month · Creates quizzes in seconds

What to do when a Canvas quiz shows no preview

When a course page says Canvas quiz with no preview available, the quickest path to studying is usually not waiting for the quiz to load. Your lecture slides and notes already contain the material the quiz is testing.

Works from PDFs, slides, DOCX files, notes and photos of pages
Multiple choice, true/false and short answer questions with explanations
Free plan includes 3 generations per month and browser study
Plus and Pro plans add exports for files you can keep or import elsewhere

Example biology practice questions

Which organelle makes most of a eukaryotic cell's ATP?The mitochondrion. It runs oxidative phosphorylation, which produces most of the ATP in aerobic cells.

True or false: DNA replication is semiconservative.True. Each new double helix keeps one original strand and gets one newly synthesized strand.

In which phase of mitosis do sister chromatids separate?Anaphase. Spindle fibers pull the sister chromatids toward opposite poles of the cell.

What do the Krebs cycle steps produce that feed the electron transport chain?NADH and FADH2. They carry high-energy electrons to the electron transport chain.

Which gas is released as a byproduct of photosynthesis?Oxygen. The light reactions split water molecules, and the oxygen from that split is released.

Generate the full set

Questions from your own material

Upload a PDF, DOCX, PPTX, plain text notes or a photo of a page, and get a quiz built from what you actually studied.

Explanations for every answer

Each multiple-choice, true/false and short answer question comes with a short explanation, so a wrong answer teaches you something.

Export when you need it

Export to PDF or DOCX on Plus, or to QTI 2.1 and Moodle XML on Pro if your course platform accepts those files.

How it works

Upload your material

Add the lecture slides, readings or notes that the Canvas quiz covers. No credit card is needed to start.

Choose a question type

Pick multiple choice, true/false or open questions, then generate the quiz.

Study or export

Take the quiz in your browser on the free plan, or export it as a file on a paid plan.

DeckOwl reads those files and writes practice questions from them. You can check your own understanding before the real quiz, and the explanations show why each answer is right or wrong.

This does not repair Canvas or change your course settings. It gives you a separate practice set built from your own files.

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Frequently asked questions

How often should I take practice quizzes before an exam?

Take the quiz once to find gaps, review the explanations for the questions you missed, then retake it after a day or two. Repeated recall over several days works better than one long session.

Which questions should I study first from a practice quiz?

Start with the questions you got wrong or guessed on, since they point to the ideas that need the most review. Check whether the explanation matches your lecture notes before moving on.

Does DeckOwl fix Canvas preview problems?

No. DeckOwl is a separate study tool and does not change Canvas or your course content. It creates practice quizzes from files you upload.

Can I export my quiz to Canvas?

QTI 2.1 and Moodle XML exports are available on the Pro plan. Whether a file imports into your school's Canvas site depends on your instructor's settings and the import tools your school allows.

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Keep exploring the topic

Review the main ideas visually or practice recalling them.