User retention policy (or user data retention policy) is a set of rules that define how long user data is stored before being automatically deleted.
In Learnster, this specifically refers to how long your users’ accounts are kept in the system, including when they are soft deleted and when they are permanently deleted. This applies if they:
Don’t log in for a certain period
Never log in at all
Have been deleted but not yet permanently removed
The purpose of a retention policy is to:
Keep the system clean and up-to-date
Protect user privacy
Comply with data protection regulations (like GDPR)
In Learnster, you configure how long your user data is retained by toggling on the setting and choosing the number of days. Go to Settings > General, then scroll down to the User Retention Policy section.
The options explained:
Automatically delete users
Automatically delete users who haven’t logged in for a long time
Users who haven't logged in to their Learnster account within the set number of days will be automatically deleted.
Users will receive a warning message 21 days, 7 days, and 1 day before their account is deleted. The message is titled "Student account is about to be deleted" and can be customized under Settings > System Messages.
Automatically delete users who never logged in
If a user has never logged in after being created in Learnster, their account will be automatically deleted after the set number of days.
Tip: You can view and download a report of users who have never logged in in Studio > Users > Invitations > Never logged in.
Automatically delete deactivated users
Users whose accounts have been manually deactivated (using the Inactive toggle in the top right corner of the User Card) will be automatically deleted after the configured number of days.
Permanently delete users
You can configure how long soft-deleted data is retained before it’s permanently deleted. When users are manually deleted, their data isn’t removed immediately—instead, it’s soft-deleted and kept in your Learnster database for a grace period (based on the number of days you set). This helps prevent accidental data loss.
ℹ️ If you're using the automatic deletion rules above, we recommend setting them to Soft delete to align with this retention setting.
About Soft delete users
Soft delete means that a user and their data are marked as deleted in the system but are still stored in your Learnster database for a limited time. This acts as a safety buffer in case the deletion was done by mistake. Soft-deleted users are hidden from the user list by default but can be restored by an administrator during the retention period.
What happens when you add a user who has been soft deleted?
When you add a user who was previously soft deleted — for example, via Add user, Teams in U, bulk upload, or an integration — the user will be restored with their original user information and course completion history. However, their roles, teams, tags, and ongoing courses will not be restored.
Will be restored:
Name
Email address
User attributes (e.g. Title, Company, etc.)
Course history (completed courses only)
User creation date (original)
Last login date
Will not be restored:
Roles (only the default role Learner will be added)
Teams
Tags
Assigned courses
Course progress