🔒 Pro upgrade required. Secure Mode is available to teachers at schools with the pro upgrade.
Enabling Secure Mode
Create a new assignment or open an existing one in the Assignment Builder, then click the Recipient Settings tab at the top center of the screen.
Below the due date, toggle Secure Mode on.
This setting behaves like any other default assignment setting — if you enable it at the default level, it will apply across all classrooms automatically.
Need to enable or disable Secure Mode for a specific class or student? You can customize Secure Mode at the class or individual student level from the same Recipient Settings tab.
To customize for a class
Click the Customize button to the right of the class name.
Adjust the Secure Mode toggle and click Done.
To customize for a student:
Click the > to the left of the class name to expand the student list.
Click the Customize button to the right of the student's name.
Adjust the Secure Mode toggle and click Done.
Learn how to customize settings by class or students.
The Student Experience
Before the Assignment
Students will see a notice on the assignment details page indicating that Secure Mode is enabled. Once they click Start Assignment and confirm, the browser will automatically enter full-screen.
Supported browsers and devices: Secure Mode only works on Chrome on a desktop or laptop (including Chromebooks in standard laptop mode). If a student tries to start from a mobile device, tablet, Safari, Firefox, or another browser, they'll see a message directing them to switch to Chrome desktop before they can begin.
What Counts as a Violation
A violation is triggered when a student:
Exits full-screen
Switches to another tab or opens a new tab
Minimizes the browser window
Opens the browser console or developer tools
Anything else that shifts focus away from Albert
The Grace Window and Auto-Submission
1st and 2nd violation: The student has 10 seconds to return to full-screen. If they do, the assignment continues normally. If the 10 seconds elapse before they return, the assignment is auto-submitted.
3rd violation: The assignment is immediately auto-submitted with no grace window.
When an assignment is auto-submitted, students see a message letting them know they've exceeded the maximum number of violations and that their teacher can see their violation history.
Note: Auto-submitted assignments are graded normally. Whatever the student had answered up to that point is submitted and graded the same way as a manual submission — no partial penalty, no data loss.
The Teacher Experience
Viewing Submission Statuses
When an assignment has Secure Mode enabled, you may see a Auto-submitted status next to a student's name in the assignment report. This means the assignment was submitted automatically by Albert because the student exceeded the allowed number of violations — not by the student themselves.
This is separate from the standard submission statuses you'd see on any assignment. If you don't see Auto-submitted, the student's status reflects their normal submission state.
Viewing the Violation Log
Click the Auto-submitted badge to open the violation log — a timestamped record of exactly what the student did and when. You'll see labels like Exited fullscreen or Switched tab or minimized so you can quickly tell what happened.
Resetting a Submission
If you'd like to give a student a fresh start, you can reset their submission from the violation log or the submission status menu. Resetting will:
Clear the student's violation history
Return the student to an unsubmitted state so they can start the assignment again
Limitations to Be Aware Of
Secure Mode is designed to deter the most common forms of cheating, but it has some limitations:
Separate devices: Secure Mode cannot detect activity on a phone, tablet, or other device the student may have open alongside their computer.
External monitors: If a student has a second display connected to their computer, Secure Mode cannot monitor what's shown on that screen.
Developer tools: Secure Mode cannot always detect students who use browser developer tools to interfere with detection.
We recommend asking your IT administrator to disable developer tool access on student devices and pairing Secure Mode with appropriate classroom controls (e.g., managing device access) for the most secure testing environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Secure Mode work on Chromebooks?
Yes, on standard Chromebooks. Secure Mode runs on Chrome on any desktop or laptop, including Chrome OS. The exception is Chromebooks folded into tablet mode — those are treated like touch-primary devices and will see the unsupported browser message.
What if a student's assignment is auto-submitted but it was an accident?
You can reset the submission to clear their violation history and let them start fresh. See "Resetting a Submission" above.
Does the violation log show up for normally submitted assignments?
No. The violation log only appears when a student's submission status is Auto-submitted.