# The LearnDash Migration Checklist: A No-Data-Loss Runbook (2026) https://cubite.io/blogs/learndash-migration-checklist **By:** Amir Tadrisi **Updated:** 2026-06-23 A practical, no-data-loss runbook for LearnDash operators. By Cubite. --- Migrating an LMS is mostly about one thing: not losing learner data on the way out. Courses are easy to recreate. Three years of progress records, quiz attempts, and issued certificates are not. This is the runbook we use when we move a site off LearnDash. Work through it top to bottom. Check each box only when you have actually verified the item, not when you assume it is fine. The order matters: audit and back up before you touch anything, validate before you cut over, and preserve your SEO before you change a single URL. Print it, copy it into a doc, or keep this tab open while you work. If you would rather hand the whole thing to someone who has done it before, there is a way to do that at the end. --- ## 1. Pre-migration audit You cannot migrate what you have not inventoried. Spend an hour here and you will save days later. The goal is a single document that lists everything LearnDash is currently doing on your site. - - - - - - - - - - Done with section 1 when: you have one document that a stranger could read and understand exactly what your LearnDash install does. --- ## 2. Back up everything Treat the backup as the thing that lets you sleep. If a migration step goes wrong, a verified backup is the difference between a bad afternoon and a lost month. - - - - Done with section 2 when: you have restored the backup at least once and confirmed it is complete, and your staging copy is live. --- ## 3. Export from LearnDash This is the step with the most hidden traps. Read every item before you start, because the order and the caveats here are where most "we lost our data" stories begin. - - - - - - Done with section 3 when: you have a course-structure export, a separate user/progress/certificate export, and you have written down which post-ID strategy your import will use. --- ## 4. Migrate With clean exports in hand, the move into Cubite is the straightforward part. Cubite's one-click LearnDash connector is built to handle the traps in section 3 for you, including the serialized post-ID remapping that breaks DIY migrations. - - - Done with section 4 when: reconciliation shows your counts match and the rollback plan is written down and understood by everyone involved. --- ## 5. Validate Migration success is not "the import finished without errors." It is "real learners see exactly what they saw before." Validate against actual accounts, not aggregate numbers. - - - - - Done with section 5 when: every sampled account on Cubite matches the same account on the old LearnDash site, with no resets and no missing certificates. --- ## 6. Preserve your SEO If your courses and lessons rank in Google or get linked from elsewhere, the URLs are an asset. Change them carelessly and you lose traffic, enrolments, and authority overnight. Do this section before go-live, not after. - - - - Done with section 6 when: every old URL resolves (via 301) to its true new counterpart, internal links point at the new URLs, and the new sitemap is submitted. --- ## 7. Cutover and go-live This is the moment the new platform becomes the real one. Plan it so learners notice as little as possible. - - - Done with section 7 when: DNS has propagated, learners were told in advance, and the first hours post-switch are clean. --- ## 8. Post-launch The migration is not over at go-live. The first couple of weeks are when slow-burning issues show up. - - - Done with section 8 when: Search Console is clean, the ticket queue has settled, and a fresh completion produces a correct certificate. --- ## You do not have to run this alone This checklist is the same process Cubite uses to migrate sites off LearnDash, including the parts DIY migrations get wrong: the serialized post-ID remapping, the enrollment-gated user export, the per-URL 301 mapping, and learner-by-learner validation. Cubite is a fully managed LMS at a flat $290/mo: unlimited users and courses, hosting, maintenance, and support all bundled, 0% transaction fees, native SCORM and xAPI, SSO, white-label, certificates, and analytics. The one-click LearnDash migration runs everything above, with reconciliation and a documented rollback, so you are not the one staring at a broken progress table at midnight. If you would like a second set of eyes (or to hand off the whole project) we will walk your specific LearnDash setup, flag the risky parts, and tell you honestly what your migration involves. No pressure, no obligation. ## Ready to get started? Join thousands of learners and start building your skills today. [Book a free migration assessment](https://calendly.com/cubite/30min) Want the full picture first? Read the LearnDash alternatives and migration guide or the step-by-step migrate from LearnDash to Cubite walkthrough. --- By Cubite. Built for operators who would rather keep their learner data than gamble with it.