Direct answer
Submitting a paper to Turnitin feels final, but whether you can undo it depends entirely on your instructor's assignment settings. Turnitin's guidance on submitting assignments explains that each assignment controls how many submissions are allowed and whether resubmission is possible before the due date [1]. The key fact to internalize: students almost never get a "delete" button, so the real questions are about resubmission, instructor permission, and what reports your instructor ends up seeing. This guide answers those questions so you can act fast and resubmit safely.
Introduction
Submitting a paper to Turnitin feels final, but whether you can undo it depends entirely on your instructor's assignment settings. Turnitin's guidance on submitting assignments explains that each assignment controls how many submissions are allowed and whether resubmission is possible before the due date [1]. The key fact to internalize: students almost never get a "delete" button, so the real questions are about resubmission, instructor permission, and what reports your instructor ends up seeing. This guide answers those questions so you can act fast and resubmit safely.
Can You Remove or Delete a Turnitin Submission Yourself?
In nearly every configuration, students cannot delete their own Turnitin submission — the platform does not expose a self-service removal option in the student interface. Instead, the ability to remove or undo a submission sits with the instructor, who can delete a student's paper from the assignment if circumstances warrant it [2].
What students can do is resubmit, provided the assignment allows multiple submissions and the deadline has not passed. Resubmission does not technically "delete" the first upload, but it makes the new file the version that counts in the grading workflow, which achieves the practical goal of replacing a bad draft [2].
If the due date has passed or resubmission is disabled, the only route is to contact your instructor or your university's academic office and ask for the submission to be removed. Act quickly and explain the situation honestly — instructors routinely handle these requests when they receive them before grading begins [2].
What Happens to the Original Submission and Its Reports When You Resubmit?
When a resubmission is accepted, Turnitin runs the new file through the same similarity and AI-writing checks, and the reports your instructor sees are regenerated from the latest version. In other words, the AI writing report and the similarity score reflect the file you resubmitted, not the one you uploaded first [3].
That said, Turnitin's AI writing detection guidance notes that detection runs on the submitted text at the time of the check, so a resubmitted paper gets an entirely fresh analysis of its new wording [3]. A rewritten draft can return a completely different result than the original, which is exactly what students who fear a high AI score are hoping for.
One caution: some universities configure assignments to keep all submission attempts visible to the instructor in the submission history. Even when the latest file is the graded one, an instructor can still see that a first version existed, so resubmission is a fix for the report — not necessarily an erasure of the past [3].
How Can You Lower Your Turnitin AI Score So Your Corrected Paper Is Safe to Resubmit?
Understanding the AI writing report is the first step. Turnitin's documentation on using the AI writing report explains that the report shows an overall percentage plus per-section flags, and that scores below the 20% threshold are displayed with an asterisk rather than a single-digit number [4]. A score of 0% is the only explicit low-number result you typically see.
Because the AI report is regenerated on each submission, the most reliable way to lower your score is to rewrite AI-generated passages in your own words before you resubmit [4]. Generic paraphrasing tools often leave detectable patterns; a thorough rewrite that changes structure, vocabulary, and examples is what actually moves the needle.
A practical workflow: resubmit your corrected draft, open the new AI writing report, and check both the overall percentage and the flagged sections [4]. If flags remain, revise those exact sections again — each resubmission gives you a fresh report to verify your progress before the final version counts.
The fastest way to end the "remove my submission" panic is to make sure the version you resubmit is one Turnitin will not flag in the first place. That is exactly what turnitin0's AI humanizer is built for: it rewrites AI-generated text into natural, human-sounding prose while preserving your meaning, academic quality, and formatting — so your corrected submission passes Turnitin AI detection and you never have to worry about what your instructor's report shows. Upload your draft, get a humanized version in minutes, and resubmit with confidence.
※ Turnitin0.com - AI Humanizer Bypassing Turnitin AI Detector
FAQ
1. Can I delete my Turnitin submission after the due date?
No — students cannot delete submissions themselves, and after the due date most assignments lock resubmission. Your only option is to contact your instructor and ask them to remove or reset the submission [2].
2. Does Turnitin keep the original paper if I resubmit?
The latest file becomes the graded submission and generates fresh reports, but depending on your university's settings the first version may remain visible in the submission history [3].
3. How many times can I resubmit to Turnitin?
It depends on the assignment. Turnitin lets instructors set the number of allowed submissions and the resubmission window, so check your assignment instructions or ask your instructor [1].
4. What does *% mean in the Turnitin AI writing report?
Turnitin displays AI scores below 20% as an asterisk rather than a specific single-digit number; 0% is the explicit low outcome students typically see [4].
5. If my AI score is flagged, what should I do before resubmitting?
Rewrite the flagged sections in your own words, then resubmit and check the new AI writing report — each submission generates a fresh analysis of the new text [3][4].