Overview
Hovn offers several ways to remove sessions you no longer need. When you delete a session, it is removed from Hovn: it no longer appears in your admin session lists or on your public site, and it is excluded from reporting. Deletion is meant to be final—there is no simple “undo” in the product, so only delete when you are sure.
This article covers:
Delete a single session from the session’s Edit page (when no one has ever booked).
Bulk-delete empty sessions from the Sessions list using filters and row selection (service provider admins only).
Auto-cleanup in Settings → Maintenance, which automatically deletes old empty sessions after a retention period.
Available for: Service Provider Admins (bulk delete and auto-cleanup require admin). Instructors who can edit sessions can use single-session delete where permissions allow.
Before You Start: Empty vs Booked Sessions
Empty session — No bookings (not even canceled bookings) and no students. Empty sessions can be bulk-deleted and are eligible for auto-cleanup.
Session with bookings — If anyone has ever booked into a session, you generally cannot delete it from the admin the same way. The Edit page explains that no attendees should have ever booked into the session to delete it. For sessions that have a booking but should not run, use Cancel (and handle active bookings first—see Cancel vs delete below).
1. Delete One Session From Edit Session
Use this when you want to remove a single session and it has never had a booking.
Steps
Go to Sessions and open the session you want to remove.
Open Edit (or use your session edit URL: Sessions → choose the session → Edit).
Scroll to the Delete card at the bottom.
Read the note: you should only delete if no attendees have ever booked this session.
Click Delete Session, confirm in the dialog, and wait until the action completes.
After deletion, you are returned to the Sessions list.
Important
This path is for sessions without bookings. If students have registered, resolve bookings first and use Cancel instead of delete.
The confirmation dialog warns that the action cannot be undone and that the session is removed from reporting—plan accordingly.
2. Bulk Delete Empty Sessions From the Sessions Page (Filters + Selection)
Use this to clean up many empty sessions at once after you’ve narrowed the list with filters.
Who can use it
Only service provider admins can bulk-delete. If you do not see the bulk delete action or get a permission error, ask an admin on your account.
Steps
Go to Sessions for your provider (Upcoming, Past, or All, depending on which list you use).
Use the toolbar filters to find the sessions you want—for example:
Select Session dates (date range)
Courses, Course Offerings, Formats, Locations, Clients, Instructors, Status
Select the rows you want to delete. Only empty sessions can be selected; rows that have bookings or roster students cannot be checked.
When one or more empty sessions are selected, a bar appears showing how many empty session(s) selected.
Click Delete (trash), confirm Delete Empty Sessions, and confirm again.
What happens
Sessions that are empty are deleted.
If some selected rows were not empty (for example, data changed between loading and deleting), those are skipped. The success message may say how many were deleted and how many were skipped because they were not empty.
Tips
Use Clear Selection if you need to start over.
Combine filters so you only see the time range and courses you intend to clean up.
3. Auto-Cleanup Configuration (Maintenance)
Auto-cleanup automatically deletes old empty sessions so you do not have to remove them manually.
Steps
Go to Settings → Maintenance for your service provider.
Find Auto-Cleanup Sessions.
Turn Enable Auto-Cleanup on.
Choose a Retention Period: 30, 60, or 90 days.
Click Save.
How it works (in plain language)
Hovn looks for sessions that:
Ended longer ago than your retention period (relative to today),
Have no bookings,
Have no one on the roster (empty roster).
Those sessions are deleted automatically on a schedule (the Maintenance page describes the daily run time in your timezone).
Auto-cleanup does not delete sessions that still have bookings or roster students. It only targets empty sessions past their retention window.
Cancel vs Delete
Cancel session (on Edit) marks a session as canceled when it cannot be deleted—for example, when bookings existed. You may need to remove active bookings first; follow the on-screen guidance.
If you are unsure whether to delete or cancel, use Cancel when the session ever had real registrations; use delete only for empty sessions you want removed from the system.
Troubleshooting
I can’t select a session for bulk delete
I can’t select a session for bulk delete
Only empty sessions are selectable. If the session has bookings or roster students, remove or resolve those first, or use Cancel on the Edit page instead.
Bulk delete says some sessions were skipped
Bulk delete says some sessions were skipped
Those sessions were not empty at the time of the action. Refresh the list and check bookings/roster, or cancel sessions that had registrations.
Auto-cleanup isn’t removing a session
Auto-cleanup isn’t removing a session
Confirm the session ended long enough ago for your retention period, and that it has no bookings and no roster students. Sessions still in the future or with any roster activity are not removed by auto-cleanup.
I need an empty session gone immediately
I need an empty session gone immediately
Use bulk delete on the Sessions page or single Delete on Edit—you do not have to wait for the next auto-cleanup run.