---
title: How to find and fix Orphaned Google Classrooms?
description: "Orphaned Google Classrooms are Google Classrooms where the **owner** account of the **classroom** (teacher's account) is **deleted**, so the classroom becomes orphaned (the classroom has no owner). And just like unattended physical classrooms, Orphaned Google Classrooms can get super messy…"
url: "https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/tech-tips/how-to-find-and-fix-orphaned-google-classrooms/"
updated: "2022-02-15"
category: "Classroom Audit & Management"
tags:
  - GAT+
---

# How to find and fix Orphaned Google Classrooms?

Orphaned Google Classrooms are Google Classrooms where the **owner** account of the **classroom** (teacher's account) is **deleted**, so the classroom becomes orphaned (the classroom has no owner).

And just like unattended physical classrooms, Orphaned Google Classrooms can get super messy and bring K-12 IT teams unexpected admin pains when left unfixed/ unattended.

For instance, students can post inappropriate content there, share fake news, even have unchecked conversations, etc.

That's why as a K-12 admin it's very important to [audit](https://gatlabs.com/education/blog/k-12-admins-ultimate-google-classroom-audit-checklist/) these classrooms regularly, especially when performing start and end of school year Google Classroom tasks.

## How to find Orphaned Google Classrooms?

1. First, when a Google Classroom becomes orphaned you'll see these tell-tale signs:
    -'**Unknown User'**is displayed for the Classroom owner on the Classroom homepage and in the Stream.
    - The teacher account is removed completely from the **People page**.
2. In **GAT+ > Classroom** you can filter and find classrooms where the **owner is deleted.**

![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2022-01-10-17_57_47-GAT.png)

## How to fix Orphaned Google Classrooms?

There are two ways to address these Classrooms:

**I. Change Ownership of Orphaned Google Classrooms to another teacher:**

*(This is ideal for when you don't want to lose these classrooms, but would only like to  fix their orphaned status)*

1. Reactivate the “deleted” owner account.
2. [Change ownership](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/tech-tips/how-to-change-ownership-of-a-google-classroom/) of these classrooms to any other teacher in your domain.
3. Re-delete or suspend the now 'previous owner's account.

**II. Delete or Archive Orphaned Google Classrooms:**

1. Reactivate the “deleted” owner account.
2. Delete or archive any Google Classrooms under that account.
3. Re-delete or suspend the now 'previous owner's account.

*PRO TIP: While you're there you may also want to identify and delete unused Google Classrooms on your domain,*[*here’s how*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml-uD3-RDZc)*.*

---

**Closing thoughts:**

1. **Co-teachers in Orphaned Google Classrooms:**
    When a Google Classroom is orphaned, existing co-teachers will still be able to access the classroom. However, unless the deleted account of the primary teacher (owner) is reactivated you won't be able to transfer ownership to co-teachers, or any other teachers in your domain.
2. **Transfer Classroom Ownership before offboarding:**
    Make sure to transfer Classroom ownership before deleting the original owner’s account when offboarding teachers. Otherwise, classrooms belonging to deleted accounts will become orphaned.
3. **Suspend more, delete less:**
    Suspending teacher accounts is always better than deleting them to protect your domain against Orphaned Google Classrooms, as well as improve the retention of important resources linked to teacher accounts.