Lots of things are posted to Canvas. Including files. And the links to files come up with some cryptic symbols next to them.
Here’s how to decode them:

- Download If you click the name of a file, that file will be downloaded to your computer’s downloads folder. The location varies, but — out of the box — on new Macs and Windows computers there should be a shortcut to Downloads visible in the sidebar of Finder/Explorer windows.
- Preview A preview will appear in the web page that you’re looking at — no download! — this is a great option to take a quick look at something right now. (Mr. Battis loves this one!)
- New Window If the file is something that your browser can display “natively” (an HTML file, an image, maybe a PDF — it depends on the browser), this will open a new window or tab and display the file.