The Complete Guide to Resetting Student Progress in LearnDash (Single Users, Groups, and Automatic Scheduling)

Instructors often run into situations where they need to reset student progress in LearnDash. A learner may want to retake a course, an enrollment issue might need fixing, or a training program could require a fresh start every year. The LearnDash Progress Reset tool makes all of this possible, giving admins simple ways to manage progress at both the individual and group level. You can even automate resets on a schedule to keep recurring training programs on track.

In this guide, we’ll look at everything you need to know about resetting student progress in LearnDash, including:

• Why resetting progress is sometimes necessary
• Common situations where admins reset student progress
• How to reset progress for one learner
• Resetting progress for a full group of students
• Automating resets for ongoing training or compliance programs

Why Resetting Progress in LearnDash Matters

Resetting course progress isn’t just a technical function. It’s a valuable tool for learning management. Some common scenarios where it’s needed include:

• Course retakes – Maybe someone didn’t pass the first time or just wants another shot. Clearing their progress gives them a clean slate.
• Compliance & certifications – Think of annual safety training or a certification that expires every year. Resetting student progress keeps those programs on schedule.
• Content updates – When lessons or quizzes get refreshed, giving learners the chance to go through the new material makes sense.
• Enrollment errors – Mistakes happen. A reset can fix situations where progress was marked complete by accident.
• Onboarding cycles – For businesses or schools that train new groups regularly, resetting group progress helps each batch start fresh.

What the LearnDash Progress Reset Add-on Does

• Let’s admins reset all existing course data for selected LearnDash content types (courses, quizzes, assignments), including partial progress, attempted quizzes, and submitted assignments.

• Does not affect users who have no progress (progress = 0%): those are ignored.
  

Supports resetting for:

• Specific user(s)
• Courses (all users enrolled or selected users)
• Groups (users in groups)
• User roles (e.g., reset progress for all users having a particular role)

• Has bulk options: export data via CSV, modify which users/courses/groups to reset, and import CSV to perform bulk resets.

• Allows scheduling: you can schedule progress resets at a specific date/time, have recurring intervals (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually), and also set a “yearly schedule” tied to course completion (e.g., once a user completes a course, after X years their progress is reset).

• Optionally, automatically unenroll users from courses when the reset is done. There’s also a Dry Run Report option so you can preview what will be reset (which users/courses) before actually doing it.

Permissions/roles management:

• You can control which user roles are allowed to perform progress resets in the backend. 
• There is also a frontend option: selected roles may be allowed to reset progress from the frontend (for example, letting learners reset their own progress) if enabled.

• Activity logs: when enabled, the add-on logs reset actions (who did what and when) so you have auditing.

Hit Reset: Step-by-Step Guide to Wiping Student Progress

Here are concrete steps covering reset for a single user, group, or via schedule, using the features in the add-on.

Resetting Progress for a Single User

1. Go to the WordPress Dashboard > LearnDash LMS > Progress Reset.

2. Under the Progress Reset section:
   
   • Choose which content types to reset (courses, quizzes, assignments).

• Select the specific user(s) whose progress you want to reset.

• Optionally exclude some users if needed.
• If you want, select which courses for that user to reset.

• Optionally enable “Unenroll User(s)” so that they are unenrolled after reset.
• If scheduling is needed, enable scheduling: set time/date, choose recurrence.

3. Optionally run the Dry Run Report to see which data would be reset.
   
4. Finally, click Reset Progress, confirm via pop-up warning.

Resetting Progress for Groups

For teams, classes, or cohorts, you can bulk reset progress at the group level:

1. Go to LearnDash LMS > Progress Reset.
2. Select Reset by Groups.
3. Pick one or more groups.
   

Choose:

• Which content types (courses, quizzes, assignments)?
• Specific courses tied to that group.
• Users to include/exclude.
• Whether to Unenroll Users after reset.

4. Preview with the Dry Run Report.
5. Execute reset.

Resetting for Courses, or Roles

• By Courses: select the course(s) first, then which user(s) to include, and whether to unenroll after reset. Use scheduling as desired. 

• By Roles: pick user roles (e.g., “subscriber”, “student”, “employee”), select role users and role courses, and optionally schedule or unenroll.

Set It and Forget It: Automating Student Progress Resets

One of the powerful features:

• You can define tasks via the Schedule Progress Reset Task option. You give the task a name, date/time, and set whether it repeats (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.).
  

• For the yearly schedule after course completion, you can turn on “Course Complete Scheduler” in the course settings, set years, and optionally unenroll on reset.

• Manage Schedules: view/edit/delete scheduled tasks; also, can execute a scheduled reset immediately from the “Manage Schedules” tab.

Avoid Reset Regrets (Tips to Keep Progress Resets Safe)

Before clearing student progress for a large group, a few precautions can save a lot of headaches:

• Run a Dry Run Report first. Think of it as a rehearsal. You’ll see exactly which learners’ progress is about to reset before it actually happens.
• Use exclusions wisely. If certain students, groups, or courses should keep their student progress, make sure they’re left out.
• Schedule with care. Automating student progress resets works well for yearly compliance or refresher training but give learners a heads-up so no one gets surprised.
• Check the “Unenroll” option. Enabling this will remove students from the course after their student progress is reset. Decide if you want them temporarily unenrolled or simply starting fresh.
• Monitor activity logs. Keep track of who performs resets, especially in compliance-heavy settings, to ensure student progress is managed responsibly.
• Test on a small batch first. Reset one or two users or a single course before tackling a large group. It’s the safest way to confirm everything works as expected.

Daily Life Cases of Resetting Progress

Here are real examples where these features shine:

• Corporate Training: Annual compliance or safety courses reset automatically, so every employee retakes them without manual tracking.
• Schools & Universities: Instructors reset quiz attempts for students who need fresh practice before finals, while leaving the rest of their course progress intact.
• Membership Sites: Monthly challenges (cooking, crafts, coding, etc.) reset for all members so everyone starts the new activity together.
• Coaching Programs: Trainers update fitness or skill programs and reset progress so learners complete the new versions.
• Nonprofits: Volunteer orientations reset before each campaign, ensuring all volunteers complete updated training.
• Certification Programs:  Professional certifications that expire annually can be scheduled for automatic resets, forcing learners to re-earn credentials.
• Language Learning Platforms: Admins reset selected lessons or quizzes so learners can revisit core exercises and strengthen weak areas.
• Sales Teams: Managers reset product knowledge courses each quarter so teams stay current with the latest offerings and policies.
• Onboarding Programs: HR teams reset onboarding courses for each new batch of employees, ensuring new hires start fresh while previous cohorts are archived.
• Seasonal Workshops: Creative or skills-based programs (like photography, gardening, or coding bootcamps) reset progress at the start of every new season, creating a repeating cycle.

The Key Takeaway

The LearnDash Progress Reset add-on is a robust tool that gives admins fine-grained control over resetting progress. With the ability to reset by user, course, group, or role, plus scheduling, dry runs, bulk import/export, and optional unenrollment, it covers almost every realistic scenario for eLearning management.

So, if you’re planning to use it, the best approach is to map out which learners or groups actually need resets and how often. Some organizations might only need it once a year, while others may schedule resets after site-wide updates or policy changes. The dry run and logging features are especially handy, since they let you preview and track changes without risking mistakes. This combination of flexibility and safety will certainly make it easier to manage the recurring training cycles without disrupting your courses.

Supercharge Your LearnDash Platform with WooNinjas

So, are you ready to take your eLearning site to the next level? WooNinjas will help you take the hassle out of manual reset with the LearnDash Progress Reset to keep your courses organized, compliant, and ready for every new training cycle.

So, stop struggling with manual course management and let WooNinjas smooth your LearnDash experience and make your site smarter, easier to manage, and learner-friendly.