This guide is for course providers who need to correct the date printed on a certificate that has already been issued. You can change its certificate date, change or remove its expiry, and choose whether to email the corrected certificate to the learner. You do not need to revoke it first.
A Registration is one person’s place on a course or course date. You need access to that Registration as a System Admin, Course Owner or Facilitator. Learners cannot edit their own certificate dates.
If the certificate has not been issued yet, choose its date while following Issue a Certificate Manually or in Bulk. To choose the default date rule for a course, use Set Up Automatic Certificates for a Course.
Change the Issue Date or Expiry on an Issued Certificate
In the Admin Dashboard, open Courses, select the course and open Registrants.
Open the learner’s Registration. Check the learner, course and course date, then expand Certificate or Certificate & CPD.
Find the certificate you want to correct. If there is more than one, check its template and dates. Open its Issued menu and select Edit Dates.
Set Certificate date to the date that should be printed as the issue date.
Check Expires. Choose an expiry date if one is needed, or select Clear to remove it. An expiry must be on or after the certificate date.
Leave Email the updated certificate to the participant clear to save without sending an email. Tick it to email the corrected certificate to the learner.
Select Save Dates. Check the Certificate dates updated message, then reopen the Registration and check its saved dates.
Open Issued > View to check the PDF. Download a fresh copy if you need the corrected document.
The corrected certificate keeps its existing link. Opening that link shows the saved dates. PDFs downloaded before the correction keep their old dates. The original creation time, shown as Issued when it differs from the certificate date, is unchanged.
Check the Expiry When You Change the Certificate Date
When an expiry still follows the course’s current validity period, changing Certificate date also moves that expiry by the same rule. For example, a certificate valid for 365 days expires 365 days after the date you choose.
An expiry that does not match the course’s current validity period stays as it is. If you type an expiry in the dialog, or clear it, a later change to Certificate date does not replace that choice. A certificate with no expiry keeps no expiry. Always check both fields before saving.
Email the Corrected Certificate to the Learner
Email the updated certificate to the participant starts unticked. Selecting it emails the learner only; it does not email the Order Contact, who may be the person who booked for them.
The email option is unavailable if the learner has no email address or emailing is switched off for the account. You can still save the dates. To send the link yourself, open Issued > Copy. To email it later, use Issued > Resend when emailing is available. See Issue a Certificate Manually or in Bulk.
Some certificates are shared across the same learner’s Registrations for the same course on one order. Editing a shared certificate changes it wherever that same certificate is used.
Can I Change Certificate Dates in Bulk?
No. You can change the issue date, expiry date or both on one issued certificate at a time using Edit Dates. There is no bulk Edit Dates action. Choosing a date during bulk issuing does not change active certificates already issued.
Which Certificate Dates Can Be Changed?
A revoked certificate must be issued again before its dates can be edited. Reissuing opens the issue dialog so you can check its date and expiry; see Issue a Certificate Manually or in Bulk.
Changing these dates does not change attendance, lesson progress, the Registration’s Completion Date or its CPD award. See Check Whether a Learner Has Completed a Course.
The template must contain a date field for that date to appear in the PDF. See Design a Custom Certificate Template.
Changing course certificate settings does not change dates saved on existing certificates. Use Edit Dates for a correction to one certificate.
If your account sends certificates to NetSuite, Edit Dates does not send that correction to NetSuite. See Connect Cademy to NetSuite before relying on the dates matching in both systems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I backdate a certificate after issuing it?
Yes. Set Certificate date to the required date in Edit Dates and check its expiry before saving.
Do I Need a Replacement Certificate to Correct Its Dates?
No. Edit Dates changes the existing certificate. Its link stays the same, so the learner can reopen it and download the corrected PDF.
Can I change the certificate date without adding an expiry?
Yes. Leave Expires empty, or select Clear, then save. The certificate will have no expiry date.