what is a canceled check 
a canceled check is a check that has been paid or cleared by the bank it was drawn on after it has been deposited or cashed the check is canceled after it s been used or paid so that the check cannot be used again somebody who has written a check may also cancel it before it has been deposited or cashed by alerting the issuing bank thus voiding the check understanding canceled checksa canceled check has been paid after going through a check clearing process the check is canceled once the money has been drawn from the bank the check was written on or the drawee the payee is the person the check is written to and the payee s bank receives the deposit the process of a canceled check includes the following today nearly all checks are cleared through the federal reserve banking system electronically even in cases when the deposit is a paper check the deposit and check clearing process is still performed but the paper check almost never leaves the facility where it is deposited 1instead a special scanner creates a digital impression of the front and back of the check which it sends to the other bank when the check finally clears the account of the payor or the person who wrote it it s considered canceled in short a canceled check means the clearing process has finished and the check cannot be reused as a result canceled checks can be used as proof of payment 