---
title: 'Update, unpublish or retire a course'
sidebarTitle: Update or retire a course
description: >-
  Edit a live course without disrupting students, and know what happens when you
  unpublish, archive or delete it.
audience: luminary
feature: courses
type: guide
availability: live
last_verified: '2026-10-13'
keywords:
  - edit course
  - unpublish course
  - archive course
  - delete course
  - retire course
  - update lessons
url: >-
  https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/offerings/courses/update-or-retire-a-course
---

# Update, unpublish or retire a course

> Edit a live course without disrupting students, and know what happens when you unpublish, archive or delete it.

You can change a published course at any time. What matters is knowing which changes students see straight away, and which ones take the course away from them.

## When to use this

- Fix a typo, swap a video or add a new lesson to a live course.
- Take a course down for a while to rework it.
- Retire a course you no longer offer.

## Edit a live course

| Change                    | How                                                        | What students notice                                |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| Title, description, cover | ⋯ → Edit details                                           | Updates immediately.                                |
| Price                     | Course details → Course settings → Price → Edit            | New buyers only. Enrolled students keep access.     |
| Add a lesson              | Content builder → module → New Lesson, then Publish Lesson | Appears as soon as it's published.                  |
| Change a lesson           | Open it, edit, Save Changes                                | Updates immediately.                                |
| Hide a lesson             | Open it, Unpublish                                         | Disappears for everyone until you publish it again. |
| Reorder                   | Drag the handles in Course Structure                       | Updates immediately.                                |
| Delete a lesson or module | ⋯ → Delete                                                 | Gone for everyone.                                  |

**Tip:** 
Working on a big change? Build the new lessons as Draft, then publish them all at once when
they're ready. Students never see the work in progress.

## Take a course down

| Option    | How                                                                      | What happens                                                                                                                                       |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Unpublish | Unpublish at the top of the course page (or Move to Draft from the list) | The course disappears from your portal and nobody can open it, including enrolled students. Publish again and their access and progress come back. |
| Archive   | ⋯ → Edit details → Status → Archived                                     | Same as unpublishing for students. The course stays on your list under the Archived filter.                                                        |
| Delete    | ⋯ → Delete course                                                        | Permanently removes the course. _"This action cannot be undone."_                                                                                  |

**Warning:** 
There's no way to stop new enrollments while keeping the course open for current students.
Unpublishing or archiving cuts off everyone. To wind a course down gently, tell students in
advance with an [announcement](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/audience/announcements) to the course's enrollees, give
them time to finish, and only then unpublish.

## Good to know

- Don't delete a course people have paid for unless you've told them and sorted out any refunds. See [Refunds](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/business/refunds).
- Changing visibility to Private stops non-subscribers from enrolling. People already enrolled keep their access.
- Deleting a module deletes the lessons inside it.

## What your members see

Edits appear the next time they open the course. An unpublished, archived or deleted course is no longer available: anyone who opens its link sees _"This course may have been unpublished or is no longer available."_

## Related

- [Courses introduction](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/offerings/courses/introduction)
- [Track enrollments and progress](https://help.bringsoul.life/luminaries/offerings/courses/track-enrollments-and-progress)