Is there a permission to view hidden assignments?

Maureen.B.923

Is there a permission to let users view hidden assignments?

I have a user role that should be able to see hidden content. They have the following permissions:

• Content > View Content that is Not Released
• Quizzes > See Conditionally Release Exams
• Assignments > See and Submit Files to Assignment Submission Folders

But because the two assignments in question are hidden, they can't see those assignments. (For context, we're updating a course, and have the new content temporarily hidden while we test it.)

Prithvi.A.2575

Hello @Maureen.B.923

Thanks for reaching out via the Brightspace community!

In D2L Brightspace, there is no standalone "See Hidden Assignments" permission for learners. Visibility for draft or hidden assignments is governed by tool-specific permissions, which is why your custom role cannot view them currently:

1. Assignments > See and Submit Files to Assignment Submission Folders provides student/submitter-level access. By design, Brightspace strictly enforces the "Hidden from users" toggle for anyone with submitter permissions to prevent learners from accessing draft activities.
2. Content > View Content that is Not Released allows users to see unreleased modules and topics within the Content (Lessons) tool, but it does not override the hidden status of the underlying assignment object in the Assignments tool itself.

Recommended Solutions for Testing

Depending on how you would like your testers to interact with the course, here are three ways to handle this:

• Option 1: Grant Management Permissions (Quickest for Testers/Instructors)
  If the custom role is specifically for course editors or QA testers, you can add the Assignments > See and Manage Assignment Submission Folders permission. This allows users to view and manage hidden/draft assignments in the course.
• Option 2: Use Special Access (Best for Testing Learner Workflows)
  If you need users in this role to test the assignment as a student without giving them administrative edit rights:
  1. Set the assignment toggle to Visible.
  2. Go to Edit Assignment > Availability Dates & Conditions > Manage Special Access.
  3. Grant access exclusively to your test user account(s), while setting availability dates or restricting access for regular enrolled students.
• Option 3: Use Availability Dates with Restricted Visibility
  Instead of hiding the assignment entirely:
  1. Set a future Start Date.
  2. Under Before start, choose Visible with access restricted.
     This allows users to see that the assignment exists in the folder list without allowing them to view details or submit before you are ready.

Please let me know which approach works best for your setup, or if you need help configuring any of these options. Otherwise, feel free to reach out to us via a support case so we can investigate in more detail.

Kind regards,
Prithvi Anvekar
Technical Support Analyst
D2L Corporation