Top Hat - Account Setup (Students) [UW-Madison]
Use your UW-Madison credentials to log on to Top Hat.
Guidance from your instructor will be provided about how Top Hat will be used within your course. Please keep in mind that instructors can chose to use Top Hat differently; some may choose to send you an email invitation to their course. Others may include a link on the Canvas course page, which you can follow to join the Top Hat course.
Creating a Top Hat Account at tophat.com
- From a web browser, go to www.tophat.com.
- Click the Sign-up link in the upper right side of the screen.
- Click Student.
- Enter the six-digit Top Hat join code provided by your instructor (Note: If your instructor is using the Top Hat-Canvas Integration, you will not use the join code to join your course. Rather, after creating your Top Hat account, go to your course's Canvas site and click on the Top Hat link in Canvas). If you were not provided a join code, click the Search by school link and select University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- You will be redirected to the UW-Madison identity management system where you will enter your UW-Madison NetID login credentials.
- After entering your information you will be redirected back to the Top Hat login page where you will have two options to select from to continue.
If you have not already created a Top Hat account:
- Click Continue creating a new student account.
- This option is for users who do NOT yet have a Top Hat account and are registering with Top Hat for the first time.
- Complete the registration steps to finalize your account; you will automatically be taken through the Top Hat account creation steps.
- Enter your first and last name. Your email and username are automatically populated and you will not be able to edit those fields. Make sure you do NOT edit your email later, it must be your university email to match grades in Canvas.
- The password you enter here is ONLY for logging on to the Top Hat mobile app. Using the mobile app is optional, but a password must be created in order to complete this registration process.
- Be sure to select "I agree with the terms and conditions."
- Going forward, you will use your UW-Madison NetID login credentials to access Top Hat. To do this, go to https://app.tophat.com/login.
If you have previously created a Top Hat account:
- Click Update with an existing account.
- This option is for users who ALREADY have a Top Hat account and need to associate their account to their UW-Madison NetID account.
- Enter your existing Top Hat user credentials in the Username and Password fields that appear.
- Click the Login button. This will automatically associate your Top Hat account with your UW-Madison NetID credentials.
- Going forward, you will use your UW-Madison NetID login credentials to access Top Hat. To do this, go to https://app.tophat.com/login.
Creating a Top Hat Account through Canvas
- From a web browser, go to your Canvas course
- Click on the Top Hat link in the Navigation Bar of your Canvas course
- Click Log In with School Account.
- The following page asks you to Create Account or Merge Existing account. This will depend on whether you've previously created a Top Hat account.
- You will be redirected to the UW-Madison identity management system where you will enter your UW-Madison NetID login credentials.
- After entering your information you will be redirected back to the Top Hat login page where you will have two options to select from to continue.
If you have not already created a Top Hat account:
- Click Continue creating a new student account.
- This option is for users who do NOT yet have a Top Hat account and are registering with Top Hat for the first time.
- Complete the registration steps to finalize your account; you will automatically be taken through the Top Hat account creation steps.
- Enter your first and last name. Your email and username are automatically populated and you will not be able to edit those fields. Make sure you do NOT edit your email later, it must be your university email to avoid a paywall and to match grades in Canvas.
- The password you enter here is ONLY for logging on to the Top Hat mobile app. Using the mobile app is optional, but a password must be created in order to complete this registration process.
- Be sure to select "I agree with the terms and conditions."
- Going forward, you will use your UW-Madison NetID login credentials to access Top Hat. To do this, go to https://app.tophat.com/login.
If you have previously created a Top Hat account:
- Click Update with an existing account.
- This option is for users who ALREADY have a Top Hat account and need to associate their account to their UW-Madison NetID account.
- Enter your existing Top Hat user credentials in the Username and Password fields that appear, then click the Login button. This will automatically associate your Top Hat account with your UW-Madison NetID credentials.
- Going forward, you will use your UW-Madison NetID login credentials to access Top Hat. To do this, go to https://app.tophat.com/login.
Enrolling in the Course
In Top Hat, next to the course name, click the Enroll button.
Getting Help
If you have questions or are having technical difficulty with Top Hat, please contact them at their Support Center or by phone at (888) 663-5491.
Complying with UW-Madison Policies
UW-Madison's Responsible Use of Information Technology Policy applies to Top Hat.
Students using Top Hat for UW-Madison courses must abide by the Dean of Students Office's Guidelines for Academic Integrity.