Need to suspend access for a learner who's left the organisation, gone on leave, or shouldn't log in right now? Deactivating a user blocks their access immediately — without deleting any of their data. 🔒
How to deactivate a user
Go to Studio → Users and open the user's profile.
In the top right corner of the user card, click the Active toggle to switch it to Inactive.
The user is now deactivated.
What changes when a user is deactivated
The user can no longer log in to Learnster.
Any active session is ended immediately.
The user will not receive course invitations or notification emails.
The user is hidden from the default All Users list (but can still be found by filtering for inactive users).
What is preserved
Deactivating a user is non-destructive — nothing is deleted:
Course history and completion records
In-progress course enrollments
Roles, teams, and tags
Profile attributes
How to reactivate a user
To restore access, flip the same toggle back to Active on the user's profile. The user can log in again immediately, and all their data is intact.
ℹ️ If your organisation has configured a User Retention Policy to auto-delete deactivated users after a set number of days, make sure to reactivate the user before that period expires — otherwise their data will be permanently removed. See User Retention Policy for details.
Managing course enrollments for inactive users
Because deactivating a user hides them from the default All Users list, they also disappear from individual course Learner lists — even if they are still enrolled in ongoing courses. This means you cannot remove them from a course using the standard three-dot menu in the Learners tab while they are inactive.
To remove an inactive user from an ongoing course:
Go to Studio → Users and open the inactive user's profile.
Click the Inactive toggle in the top right corner to reactivate the user. This makes them visible in course Learner lists again.
Navigate to the course and open the Learners tab.
Find the user, click the three-dot menu (…) next to their name, and select Remove.
Return to the user's profile and deactivate them again by flipping the toggle back to Inactive.
💡 Tip: To remove an inactive user from multiple courses at once, consider using an Advanced Rule with the Remove user from a course action — this avoids the need to reactivate and re-deactivate manually for each course. See Advanced Rules for details.
Related Articles
User Retention Policy — configure automatic deletion of inactive or deactivated accounts.
User Roles and Permissions — overview of all roles and what they can access.