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SCORM suspend_data 4,096 limit: how to check if your Storyline course is over

Updated 16 October 2026

Quick answer

When a learner leaves partway, a Storyline course saves their place in one SCORM field, suspend_data. SCORM 1.2 only guarantees 4,096 characters for it. If the course tries to save more, the LMS may refuse the save, and the learner comes back to an older place, or to the start.

The fix: save less, or publish for SCORM 2004 4th edition. To see how close you are, take the longest path in Alder's free test player (nothing is uploaded).

The limits

  • SCORM 1.2: 4,096 characters.
  • SCORM 2004 2nd and 3rd edition: 4,000 characters.
  • SCORM 2004 4th edition: 64,000 characters.

These are the sizes the standards promise. Some LMSs store more, but a course that relies on that works only there.

How to bring it down

  • Save less. Fewer tracked slides and shorter text entries mean less to save. Splitting a very long course into several packages also keeps each one smaller.
  • Publish for SCORM 2004 4th edition if your LMS supports it. Check that your LMS really accepts that much: we have not yet confirmed SCORM Cloud's SCORM 2004 limit.

How to check your course with Alder

Learners losing their place? Check your course for this. Alder puts the matching problems first and gives you a short test script.

  1. Open Alder and drop the published zip.
  2. Click “Launch the course” under “Test it as a learner”.
  3. Take the longest path a real learner would: every slide, every quiz question, and type into any text fields.
  4. Watch “Saved progress (suspend_data)” beside the course. It shows, for example, “2,310 / 4,096 characters (56%)” and updates every time the course saves. It turns amber from 80% of the limit and red when the course goes over.
  5. Click “I'm done”. If the largest save came close to the limit or went over it, the findings include RUNTIME-006, and the report says what an LMS would keep.
  6. Click “Test as a returning learner” to check that the course picks up where you left off.

What happens when a course goes over

We tested this on SCORM Cloud in September 2026. For SCORM 1.2 it refuses any save longer than 4,096 characters with error 405. It does not cut the data short: it keeps the last save that fit and throws the new one away.

On a real 25-question Storyline 360 quiz course published for SCORM 1.2, the saved progress reached 4,728 characters by the end of the quiz. SCORM Cloud refused every save from 4,167 characters up (six of them) and kept the last one that fit, at 4,026 characters. Everything the learner did after that point was lost. Other LMSs cut the data short instead, which can be worse: the course may not be able to resume at all.

Why Storyline courses grow past it

Storyline packs the learner's state into suspend_data: which slides they have seen, their quiz answers, and what they typed into text fields. It grows as the learner goes further, so a quick click-through can stay well under the limit while a full run through every slide and question goes over. Long courses, big quizzes and free-text questions are the usual cases.