Use this guide when a course should no longer appear in your course list, or when you want to bring an archived course back. It explains how archiving differs from unpublishing, what archiving changes and what to check after restoring a course.
Before you begin: Start in the Cademy admin dashboard. You need System Admin access, or Course Owner access to the course, to archive or restore it. A Facilitator can view courses but cannot archive or restore them. For roles, see Invite Team Members and Manage Their Access.
Choose between Unpublished and Archived
Unpublished: the course is visible to you and enrolled users. It leaves your public course listings, and its page no longer opens for other visitors. Enrolled learners keep their access to the course content. The course stays in your course list.
Archived: the course leaves your course list and is unavailable to the public. Learners also lose access to archived on-demand and blended course content. You can find the course under Archived Courses and restore it later.
For example, if you want to stop offering an on-demand course while existing learners finish it, choose Unpublished. If you archive it instead, those learners cannot open its content while it is archived.
Check what archiving changes
Learners: learners lose access to the lessons of an archived on-demand or blended course, even if they had access time left. Check whether anyone still needs the content.
Orders and registrations: archiving does not cancel an Order or a registration and does not refund a payment. To cancel or refund, see Cancel an Order or Refund a Payment.
Dates and lessons: the course’s dates and lessons are archived with it and return when you restore the course.
Memberships and Collections: archiving removes the course from the memberships and Collections that included it, and restoring does not add it back. Note where the course is used before you archive it. See Create Memberships and Manage Subscribers and Organise Courses with Categories, Tags and Collections.
Synced calendar: if the course’s dates are synced to a Google or Outlook calendar, Cademy removes the events of its dates. See Sync Course Sessions with Google or Outlook Calendar.
Zoom: if the course is set to use Zoom, Cademy removes the meetings of its dates from Zoom. Restoring the course does not create them again. See Connect Zoom for Online Course Sessions.
Team access: a Course Owner who is assigned only to the course’s dates, and not to the course itself, can no longer find the course once it is archived.
Unpublish without archiving
Select Courses in the admin dashboard, then choose List View.
Find the course and select its current Public or Private visibility label.
Choose Unpublished. The change saves immediately.
Check for Visibility updated to unpublished and the Unpublished label.
You can make the same choice on the course’s Share tab. For publishing and sharing options, see Publish and Share a Course.
Archive a course
Select Courses and choose List View.
Find the course and select the three-dot menu at the right of its row.
If the course is published, select Unpublish & Archive. If it is already unpublished, select Archive.
Read the warning, then confirm with the matching Unpublish & Archive or Archive button.
Check for the Course archived confirmation. The course is now under the Archived Courses saved filter.
Archive from an opened course
Open the course from the Courses list.
At the top of the course page, select the three-dot menu.
If the course is published, select Unpublish & Archive. If it is already unpublished, select Archive.
Confirm the same action in the warning. Cademy returns you to Courses.
Important: An archived course is unavailable to the public. Learners also lose access to archived on-demand and blended course content.
Restore an archived course
Select Courses and choose List View.
Above the list, select the saved filter button. It shows the name of the current saved filter, or Select a Filter. Then select Archived Courses.
Find the course, select its three-dot menu, and select Restore.
Wait for the Course restored confirmation. Cademy opens the restored course.
Restore from the archived course page
From Archived Courses, open the course. The page shows This course has been archived.
Select Restore Course.
Wait for the Course restored confirmation.
Example archived-course message. Select Restore Course only when you intend to restore it.
A course archived through the current Archive or Unpublish & Archive action restores as Unpublished. Select Public or Private when you are ready to publish it again. Enrolled learners can open the lessons of a restored on-demand or blended course again before you publish it, where their registration and access rules allow it.
Check the course after restoring it
Open the restored course and check its details, lessons and dates. Check that the dates listed are the ones you want to offer.
Check the course’s memberships and Collections and add the course again where needed. See Create Memberships and Manage Subscribers and Organise Courses with Categories, Tags and Collections.
If the course’s dates are synced to a Google or Outlook calendar, Cademy sends its dates to the calendar again. Check that the events have returned.
If the course uses Zoom, check the joining details of each online date before you share them. A restored date can still show the link of a meeting that Cademy removed from Zoom when the course was archived.
When the course is ready, choose Public or Private as described in Publish and Share a Course, then open the public course page to check it. To check the course as a learner would see it, see Test a Course Before Launch.
The Course restored message confirms that the course was restored. It does not confirm that a connected calendar has finished updating.
Frequently asked questions
Should I unpublish or archive a course that learners still need?
Choose Unpublished. Enrolled learners keep their access while the course is hidden from the public. Archiving removes learner access to on-demand and blended course content.
Does archiving cancel bookings or refund customers?
No. Archiving does not cancel an Order or a registration and does not refund a payment. Handle a cancellation or refund on the Order itself; see Cancel an Order or Refund a Payment.
Can I delete a course permanently?
The admin dashboard has no action that deletes a course. Archive takes the course out of your course list and keeps it, so that you can restore it later.
Why can I not find an archived course?
Open Courses, choose List View, then select the saved filter button above the list and choose Archived Courses. Check that you are signed in to the right account and that no search or other filter is hiding the course. If you are a Course Owner assigned only to the course’s dates, you cannot see the course while it is archived: ask a System Admin to restore it. See Find Courses in List and Calendar Views.
Does restoring a course publish it again?
No. A course archived through the current Archive actions restores as Unpublished. Review its settings and connections before choosing Public or Private again.
Will restoring bring back memberships, Collections, calendar events and Zoom meetings?
Not all of them. Cademy sends the course’s dates to a synced calendar again. It does not add the course back to memberships or Collections, and it does not create new Zoom meetings. Check each of them after restoring.
Why can a learner still not open restored content?
Check that the learner is signed in with the registration’s email address, that their registration grants access, and that payment or access-expiry rules are not blocking it. Also check that the intended lessons are published.