Purge users
Know more about purging user data in Learning Manager.
Overview overview
Use the purge user feature to remove personal identifiable information and learning records of the user from Learning Manager. Note that Delete and Purge User are two different features. While a deleted user can be restored, all user data and learning records associated with a purged user cannot be restored.
Purge user action can have the following results:
- If a user is purged, the links in import logs does not work to avoid the download of old CSVs and bringing back the user data again into the system.
- If an Author is purged, his name is replaced by the name of the administrator who purged that user.
- If Instructors are purged, they are removed from sessions. Administrator has to replace/add instructors for such sessions.
- Purging a user in Learning Manager does not remove the user in any external applications (third-party systems or other applications written by you). Contact external application owners to get the users removed from such applications.
- If a purged user is referred in the configuration settings of a connector, the connector is disabled. The connector needs to be reconfigured by the administrator to resume.
How to purge users
To purge users, follow these steps:
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As an Administrator, select Users from the left pane. The Internal Users page opens.
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Delete the users you want to purge. To delete, select one or more users using the checkbox. Open the Action drop-down and select Delete User.
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In the left pane, select User Cleanup. The User Cleanup page appears with the list of deleted users. Use the radio buttons to select the user to purge. You can only purge one user at a time.
Select a user to purge
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Open the Actions drop-down menu and select Purge User.
Select the Purge User option
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A dialogue box appears seeking confirmation. Once purged, all user data and learning records associated with the selected user is deleted permanently. Once purged the action cannot be undone. To confirm, click Purge.
Confirmation message after purging a user
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Once you confirm and click Purge, the purge request is accepted. You receive a notification once the action is complete. A purge request ID is also provided. You can provide this ID to the CSM to track the request.
Bulk purge of users
You can select the first 50 users and purge the users in one shot. This allows administrators to select 50 users at once and purge them together. This helps administrators when they wish to purge users in bulk. It’s always a best practice to check the users who are selected for purging. This is important to ensure only the correct set of users are getting purged.
Purge users in bulk
Filter deleted users before purging
Adobe Learning Manager allows administrators to permanently remove users who have already been deleted from the platform. This process, called purging, helps organizations maintain a clean learner database, comply with data retention policies, and prevent any unauthorized access to user data.
This is particularly useful for maintaining data hygiene and ensuring that old, unused user data is removed from the system.
Purging users is essential for complying with data privacy guidelines or maintaining a sanitized datastore by removing redundant records.
Filter deleted users by month
You can filter deleted users by selecting a specific month and then permanently delete them.
To filter the deleted users using deletion month:
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Select Users in the administrator home page and then select User Cleanup.
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Select the Select Deletion Month date picker and select the date.
Select the month when the users were deletedThe list of users deleted in the selected month appears.
List of deleted users displayed for selected month
Sort deleted users by month
You can sort the filtered users by their Unique User ID and Date deleted.
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In the list of deleted users, sort the users according to their user IDs or deletion date.
User list filtered by Unique User ID -
Select one or multiple users.
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Select Actions and then select Purge User.
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Select Purge on the confirmation message to delete the user records permanently from Adobe Learning Manager.
Final confirmation before permanently purging users
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|---|---|
| Purge using Learning Manager UI- Enterprise | |
| Delete selected user from the requesting enterprise account. | Yes |
| Delete all users from all Trial accounts whose email, adobe_id matches selected users email. | Yes |
| Delete all users from all Trial accounts whose email, adobe_id matches selected users email and he/she is the creator of the trial account. | No |
| Delete User's email from all the other fields of the requesting Enterprise account and All Trial Accounts. | Yes |
| Notify initiator of deletion confirmation. | Yes |
| Purge using Learning Manager UI- Non-Enterprise | |
| Delete Selected User from the requesting Trial Account. | Yes |
| Delete all users from all Trial accounts whose email, adobe_id matches selected users email. | Yes |
| Delete all users from all Trial accounts whose email, adobe_id matches selected users email and he/she is the creator of the trial account. | No |
| Delete User's email from all the other fields of the All Trial Accounts. | Yes |
| Notify initiator of deletion confirmation. | Yes |
| Purge other users- Enterprise (individuals who are not internal or external Learning Manager users) | |
| Delete selected user from all other fields of the requesting Enterprise account and All Trial Accounts. | Yes |
| User deletion from accounts. | No |
| Notify initiator of deletion confirmation. | Yes |
| Purge other users- Non-Enterprise (individuals who are not internal or external Learning Manager users) | |
| Delete selected user from all other fields of All Trial accounts. | Yes |
| User deletion from accounts. | No |
| Notify initiator of deletion confirmation. | Yes |
| Purge using Adobe IMS- Enterprise | |
| Notify Enterprise administrator about the request. | Yes |
| Check Email fields for sending notifications. | No |
| Purge using Adobe IMS- Non-Enterprise | |
| Delete all users having the provided AdobeID/Email from All Trial Accounts. | Yes |
| Delete all users of a Trial account if the provided Email/AdobeId was the creator of the Account. | Yes |
| Delete the select email id from all other fields of all Trial Accounts. | Yes |
Auto-purge of deleted users auto-purge
The Auto-purge of deleted users is a feature that purges data for users who have already been deleted in ALM. Purging happens after a configurable retention period, focusing on bulk operations so large customer accounts can be handled efficiently without hurting performance.
The bulk deletion flow can process up to 10,000 users per batch. The feature is positioned as a background, reliability-focused service for large-volume deletion.
As administrator, you can specify the duration within which purged users can be deleted. View Admin settings for more information.
What it does:
- Provide configurable auto‑purge for deleted users at the account level
- Ensure users are purged within 24 hours once they meet the purge criteria
- Support bulk deletion of up to 10,000 users per day** without degrading system performance
- Maintain overall system responsiveness and database health while these operations run
- Enforce automated data‑retention management to uphold GDPR obligations
What it doesn’t:
- The bulk deletion flow will run only as a scheduled cron job (not on‑demand per request)
Enabling the Auto-purge option
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Log in to Adobe Learning Manager as an Admin.
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Navigate to Configure section > Settings > Basics section > General.
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Scroll down the page to Auto-purge Deleted Users.
Auto-purge optionnote NOTE If Auto-purge Deleted Users is not enabled, the section displays a message which says, Not configured at the bottom of the option’s section. -
Select Edit.
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Select the Enable checkbox.
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Enter the duration after which the purge has to take effect.
note NOTE The minimum value should be one year. You can also increment it by 1. However, you cannot enter a value such as 1.5 years or 2.5 years. If you require a custom value as a duration, please contact our customer support. -
Select Save. ALM displays a detailed confirmation message.
Activating and entering the duration -
Select Yes to confirm and save the setting.
Confirmation message