CAT > Brightspace support > Manuals > Course content > Recover data

Recover data

In some cases, it is possible to recover deleted data from your course. This article explains which data you can recover yourself and which data can be restored with the help of D2L (the provider of Brightspace).

This article covers the following topics:

• Which data can I recover myself?
• Which data can be recovered by D2L?
• Guidelines for a support request

Which data can I recover myself?

The following Brightspace data can be recovered, regardless of when you deleted it:

• Content
• Discussions
• Assignments
• Assignment Submission
• Grade Items
• Announcements
• Quiz attempts

Content

When you delete something within Content, Brightspace offers two options: deleting the data within Content and permanently deleting the data within the entire Course.

Discussions

Note: You cannot recover Topic Posts yourself. You must submit a support request (via the faculty key user).

1. Go to ‘Discussions’ via ‘Activities’.

2. Under ‘Discussions List’, click ‘More Actions’ and then ‘Restore’.

3. You will now see a list of deleted forums. Click ‘Restore’ next to the forum you want to recover.

Whenever you recover a forum with more than one topic, you can choose which topics to restore.

Assignments

1. Go to ‘Assignments’ via ‘Activities’.

   

2. Click ‘More Actions’ and then ‘Event Log’.

   

3. Click ‘Restore’ next to the assignment you want to recover.

   

Assignment Submission

1. Go to ‘Assignments’ via ‘Activities’.

   

2. Go to the assignment where you deleted a submission. Students cannot delete their own submission. Click ‘Submission Log’.

   

3. Click ‘Restore’ next to the assignment you want to recover.

   

Grade Items

Note: You cannot recover ‘Formula’ or ‘Calculated Grade’ items.

1. Go to ‘Grades’ in the navigation bar.

   

2. Click ‘Manage Grades’. Click ‘More Actions’ and then ‘View Event Log’.

   

3. Click ‘Restore’ next to the grade item you want to recover.

   

Announcements

1. Go to your course homepage.
2. Click the arrow next to ‘Announcements’.
3. Click ‘Go to Announcements Tool’.

   

4. Click ‘More Actions’ and then select ‘Restore’.

   

5. Select the announcement(s) you want to recover. Optionally, use the ‘Search by Title’ tool in the right corner to find a specific announcement. Click ‘Restore’.

   

Quiz attempts

1. Go to ‘Quizzes’ via ‘Activities’.

   

2. Click the arrow next to the quiz where you deleted an attempt. Click ‘Attempt Logs’ (You may need to scroll in the menu to see this).

   

3. Click ‘Quiz Attempt Deleted’ to see all deleted quiz attempts. Click ‘Restore’.

   

Which data can be recovered by D2L?

Sometimes, deleted data can only be recovered by D2L. An instructor/Brightspace user can recover most data accidentally deleted from various Brightspace Tools themselves. However, within Content, there is also the option to permanently delete data. If you have done this by mistake, you can send a request to the key user of the faculty you are affiliated with to recover the data. The key users cannot guarantee that all requests will be accepted, as the provider (D2L) must be involved. When you send a request, Functional Management will of course consider the amount of lost data.

Note: Please note that D2L can only recover data from the last 30 days.

The table below shows which data you can recover and what information you need to provide in your Support Request.

Component type	Required information
Assignments – Overwritten submissions	Course code, assignment name, student username and submission date. Note: You can only recover submissions upon request that have been overwritten by the setting “Only the most recent submission is kept”.
Content modules	Course code and module name. Note: you can only recover deleted modules. Returning to a specific state is not possible.
Manage Files	File name and the date the file existed.
Manage Files	Folder name and username.
Emails	Folder name and username.
External Learning Tools	Name of the External Learning Tool and the date it existed.
Groups	Course code, group name and the date the group existed.
Quizzes/Self Assessments/Surveys*	Course code, component name and whether there were user attempts
Quiz questions	Course code, quiz name and details about the questions.

Guidelines for a support request

• The request must be submitted as soon as possible. Data can only be recovered if it was deleted in the last 30 days
• Components can only be recovered to their ORIGINAL organizational unit (no transfer of data between organizational units, for example, recovering deleted course items from one course to another)
• Components are only recovered if you cannot do so yourself (recover items listed in the section above, for example, grades, user grades, discussion forums, etc.)
• For the safety of our users and their data, no full courses can be restored. A list of specific components must be submitted if a full recovery is needed
• When requesting component recovery, please note that we can only recover deleted items. Unfortunately, items cannot be restored to a state on a specific date/time
• Components are recovered as ‘Draft’ in the table of contents. The Instructor can decide what to publish
• The provider (D2L) can only provide an older backup of the Content data
• If a component is not listed above, restoration is unfortunately not possible at this time