Why can't a candidate record new videos after I reinstated the exam?
A reinstated candidate who can see their earlier videos but can't record new ones has used up the question's recording attempts — reinstating doesn't give them back unless you turn on "Give back used attempts".
You reinstated a candidate's exam. They can sign in again and see the questions and the videos they recorded before — but they can't record a new video.
Reinstating reopens the session, but it doesn't reset everything inside it. The usual cause is the question's recording attempt limit.
Why it happens
Video and audio questions can limit how many times the candidate may record — for example, 1 attempt. Attempts already used stay used after reinstating. A candidate who used them all can open the question and watch their earlier recordings, but the recorder won't start a new one.
Having the candidate redo the entire exam
In the Reinstate dialog, open Quick Setup at the bottom left and choose Start over from the beginning, then click Reinstate. It unlocks every section and page with its original time limit, starts the candidate from the beginning, and gives back all used recording attempts. Their earlier answers and recordings are kept, and they can redo them.
The other option, Continue where they left off, is meant for resuming: it gives only the time that was left and locks sections and pages whose time ran out. A locked page is disabled for the candidate — they can't navigate to it — so don't use it when you want the whole exam redone.
Giving back attempts page by page
- In the Reinstate dialog, every unlocked page with video or audio questions that have an attempt limit shows an icon. An orange warning means some question has no attempts left.
- Click the icon to see how many attempts each question has left, then turn on Give back used attempts.
- The icon turns into a green arrow — that page's attempts will be given back. Click Reinstate to confirm.
The candidate gets their original number of attempts again: a question limited to 1 recording that was used becomes 2, leaving 1 new attempt. Earlier recordings are kept and stay visible to reviewers. If there's nothing to give back, the switch is disabled. Locked pages are skipped.
Already reinstated without this setting?
If the candidate hasn't resumed yet, simply reinstate the session again — the dialog opens with your previous setup, so you only add what's missing. If they're already in the session, end it first, then reinstate it again. Their answers and recordings are preserved.
Reinstating many candidates at once
When you reinstate several sessions at once, the dialog asks whether to give back used recording attempts. It's on by default and applies to every unlocked page of every selected session.
For the full walkthrough of the Reinstate dialog, see Reinstate a Session in the documentation.